Biopsychology: Ways of studying the brain

Question 1

Name the 4 different ways of studying the brain

Answer 1

1-Post mortem examination
2-EEGs (Electroencephalogram)
3-ERPs(Event related potentials)
4-fMRIs (Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging)

Question 2

Describe how post mortem examination is used to study the brain

make 3 points and include who is most likely to have this type of examination

Answer 2

-the brain is examined after death to try and correlate structural abnormalities and damage to behaviour

-their brain is compared to normal brain to identify differences

-individuals with a rare disorder /have experienced unusual deficits in mental processes are most likely to have a post mortem

Question 3

Evaluate post mortem examinations

1 strength and 2 weaknesses

Answer 3

+evidence from them has been vital in early understanding of key processes in the brain (Broca and Wernicke both relied on PM exams for their research) , means its an influential technique for studying the brain

-special admission needs to be granted resulting in small sample sizes so research can lack validity

-neuronal changes can occur during/after death so causation can be an issue

Question 4

Describe EEGs

3 points

Answer 4

-its a recording of general brain activity , usually linked to states like sleep/arousal
-electrodes are put on the scalp and detect neural activity directly below where they are placed
-the recording represents brainwave patterns that are generated from the action of millions of neurons

Question 5

Describe ERPs (they are an extension of EEGs)

make 3 points

Answer 5

-electrodes are put on the scalp and detect the neural activity in response to a stimulus introduced by the researcher

-there are types of brainwave patterns that are triggered by particular events nd researchers have generated ways of isolating responses from EEGs

-its a statistical averaging technique that filters out unnecessary info so researchers can see responses that relate to presentation of a specific stimulus

Question 6

What are the 2 strengths of EEGs and ERPs?

Answer 6

+they have a high temporal resolution , meaning researchers can be confident that the activity shown is occuring at that point in time

+they are cheaper so can be more widely used in research leading to larger sample sizes and more confident generlisations

Question 7

What does temporal resolution mean?

Answer 7

it means brain activity is detected within a millisecond

Question 8

What is a weakness of EEGs and ERPs?

Answer 8

-they have poor spatial resolution and info is too generalised as its from thousands of neurons , meaning it is not useful for pin pointing the exact source of neural activity

Question 9

Describe how fMRIs work

make 3 points

Answer 9

-uses magnetic field and radio waves to monitor blood flow in the brain
-measures the change in magnetic energy of haemoglobin which reflects activity of the brain in that area(more oxygen consumed the more activity there is in that rea)
-provides a moving picture of brain to map activity in regions of interest

Question 10

Evaluate fMRIs
1 strength and 2 weaknesses

Answer 10

+they produce 3D images meaning they have high spatial resolution and provide info on localisation , meaning they are an effective way of studying the brain

-they are expensive compared to others which can lead to smaller sample sizes and issues with generalising research

-has poor temporal resolution (5 sec time lag) making it difficult to tell exactly what kind of brain activity is being represented