4 - Ways Of Studying The Brain

Question 1

When might the brain be studied?

Answer 1

• Investigating illness

- Completing psychological research

Question 2

What was the traditional way of studying the brain?

Answer 2

Post mortems

Question 3

Why has the way of studying the brain changed?

Answer 3

Advances in technology has produced 3 new ways, with more focus on brain scanning

Question 4

What are the four ways of studying the brain?

Answer 4

• Post mortems
• FMRIs (Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging)
• EEGs (Electroencephalogram)
• ERPs (Event-related potentials)

Question 5

What are post mortems?

Answer 5

Analyse the internal structures of the brain (e.g. limbic system) after death

Question 6

When are post mortems usually used?

Answer 6

When studying an individual who had a rare disorder, to see if brain damage or structural differences (when compared to a neurotypical brain) may have caused this

Question 7

What is good about post-mortems?

Answer 7

• Can look at internal structures (e.g. limbic system)

- Vital in laying foundations for understanding the brain (e.g. Broca + Wernicke, who couldnt use scans)

Question 8

What is bad about post-mortems?

Answer 8

• Ethical issue of lack of informed consent, as they may not have given it before death (e.g. HM didn’t give consent - unethical)

Question 9

What are fMRIs?

Answer 9

Analysing brain activity when a task is being performed, using radio waves

Question 10

Outline how fMRIs work

Answer 10

• Radio waves from changing magnetic fields (changes in blood oxygenation and flow) are detected
• These changes are result of changes in brain activity
• When brain is more active: consumes more oxygen
• When brain is more active: greater blood flow to deliver this oxygen
• The detected changes are displayed in 3D images: activation maps

Question 11

What are activation maps?

Answer 11

The 3D images of brain activity in fMRIs

• Detailed
• High spatial resolution

Question 12

When may fMRIs be used?

Answer 12

When studying localisation of function during a certain task

Question 13

What is good about fMRIs?

Answer 13

• Safer than other scanning techniques (don’t involve radiation)
• Activation maps are detailed with high spatial resolution

Question 14

What is bad about fMRIs?

Answer 14

• Poor temporal resolution (5 sec time lag between image on screen + neural activity, so don’t represent moment-to-moment brain activity)
• Comparatively expensive

Question 15

What are EEGs?

Answer 15

Record of tiny electrical impulses produced by brain activity

Question 16

What equipment is used in EEGs?

Answer 16

Electrodes are fixed to the head using a skull cap to measure brain’s electrical activity (patterns from neurones)

Question 17

Why may EEGs be used?

Answer 17

To diagnose disorders in the real world

Question 18

What rhythm from EEGs may indicate neurological abnormalities?

Answer 18

Arrhythmic activity patterns (no rhythm)

• E.g. epilepsy, sleep disorders

Question 19

What is good about EEGs?

Answer 19

• High temporal resolution (1millisec delay or less, useful in moment-by-moment activity study)

Question 20

What is bad about EEGs?

Answer 20

• General measure (measures neurones throughout whole brain, rather than pinpointing brain activity to show root of localised issues)

Question 21

What are ERPs?

Answer 21

Statistically analysing EEG data to isolate the brain’s response to a particular event

Question 22

How do ERPs focus on a particular event?

Answer 22

• Uses statistical averaging to remove extraneous brain activity from regular EEG recordings
• This isolates the response to a specific stimulus/task

Question 23

Why may ERPs be seen as better than EEGs?

Answer 23

Can show a response to a specific task, rather than general overview of neural activity

Question 24

What is good about ERPs?

Answer 24

• Good qualities of EEGs (i.e. high temporal resolution)

- More specific, looking at a particular event

Question 25

What is bad about ERPs?

Answer 25

• Lack of standardisation in the method of using statistical averaging to remove extraneous brain activity, so hard to create reliable conclusions (that can be repeated)