biopsych - ways of investigating the brain - y13 Flashcards

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1
Q

what is functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) ?

A

-a method used to measure brain activity while a person is performing a task.
-fMRI detects radio waves from changing magnetic fields.
-this enables researchers to detect which regions of the brain are rich in oxygen and thus are active (haemodynamic response)

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1
Q

what is an electroencephalogram? (eeg)

A

-a record of tiny electrical impulses produced by the brains activity.
-by measuring characteristic wave patterns
-the EEG can help diagnose certain conditions of the brain such as epilepsy.
-electrodes fixed onto someones scalp
-records thousands of neurons firing.

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2
Q

what are event-related potentials? (ERP’s)

A

-The electrophysiological response of the brain to a specific sensory, cognitive, or motor event can be isolated through statistical analysis of EEG data.

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3
Q

what are post-mortem examinations?

A

the brain is analysed after death to determine whether certain observed behaviours during the persons lifetime can be linked to structural abnormalities in the brain.

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4
Q

which ways of measuring the brain have high temporal resolution but low spatial resolution?

A

EEG’s and ERP’S

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5
Q

which ways of measuring the brain have high spatial resolution but low temporal resolution?

A

fMRI’s and post-mortem examinations.

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6
Q

what are the strengths of fMRI’s?

A

-unlike other scanning techniques such as PET scans, they do not rely on the use of radiation.
-meaning it is virtually risk-free and non-invasive.
-therefore, fMRI can safely provide a clear picture of brain activity

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7
Q

what are the limitations of fMRI’s?

A

-expensive compared to other neuroimaging techniques
-poor temporal resolution as it has a 5 second time-lag.
-meaning that fMRI may not truly represent moment-to-moment brain activity.

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8
Q

what are the strengths of electroencephalograms?

A

-useful in studying the stages of sleep
-extremely high temporal resolution
-useful in the diagnosis of conditions such as epilepsy, meaning it has real world usefulness.
-non-invasive

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9
Q

what are the limitations of electroencephalograms?

A

-the main drawback of EEGs lies in the generalised nature of the information received - thousands of neurons, making it difficult to pinpoint which part of the brain it had come from.
-therefore, it does not allow researchers to distinguish between activities originating in different but adjacent locations.

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10
Q

what are the strengths of event-related potentials?

A

-bring much more specificity to the measurement of neural processes that could ever be achieved by just using raw EEG data.
-good temporal resolution

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11
Q

what are the limitations of event-related potentials?

A

-one issue is that, in order to establish pure data in ERP studies, background ‘noise’ and extraneous material must be completely eliminated, which is a problem because it may not anyways be easy to achieve.

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12
Q

what are the strengths of post-mortem examinations?

A

-Broca and Wernicke both relied on post-mortem studies in establishing links between language, brain and behaviour decades before neuroimaging ever became a possibility.
-also used to study HM’s brain to identify areas of damage, which could then be associated with his memory deficits, meaning post-mortems continue to provide useful information

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13
Q

what are the limitations of post-mortem examinations?

A

-raise ethical issues of consent from the individual before death as they may not be able to give informed consent.
-observed damge to the brain may not be linked to the deficits under review but to some other unrelated trauma or decay.

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