Brain Investigation Techniques

Question 1

What are 4 ways of investigating the brain

Answer 1

1. Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI)
2. Electroencephalogram (EEG)
3. Event-related potentials (ERPs)
4. Post-mortem examinations

Question 2

Which investigating technique is most likely to measure whole brain activity rather than specific areas of activity

Answer 2

EEG

Question 3

Which investigating technique detects changes in blood oxygenation and flow that occur as a result of neural activity

Answer 3

FMRI

Question 4

Which investigating technique uses a statistical averaging technique to remove extraneous scan data

Answer 4

ERP

Question 5

What is post-mortem

Answer 5

Analysis of a person’s brain after their death

Question 6

What is an advantage of using EEGs over fMRIs

Answer 6

EEG have a high temporal resolution, whereas fMRIs have a poor temporal resolution

Question 7

Which investigating technique is a useful diagnostic tool for epilepsy

Answer 7

EEGs

Question 8

What is an advantage of using post-mortem over non-invasive techniques (fMRIs and EEGs)

Answer 8

Allows a more detailed examination of anatomical and neurochemical aspects of brain that wouldn’t be possible with non-invasive techniques

Question 9

What are two limitations of using post-mortems

Answer 9

1. Issues with causation- damage may not be linked to deficit under review but to some other trauma
2. Ethical issues of consent from before death

Question 10

What is an advantage of using fMRIs

Answer 10

Produce images that have very high spatial resolution and clear picture of how brain activity is localised