FMRI SCANS Flashcards
Fmri scans procedure 1/4
Participant is given a task and put inside of a scanner
This scanner uses magnets which causes the nuclei of some atoms in certain molecules to spin a certain way in this case it’s blood
fmri scans procedure 2/4
Is neural activity increases in the brain blood flow increases in the active areas to keep up with the demand for oxygen
fmri scans procedure 3/4
Blood repels the magnetic field but deoxygenated blood follows the direction of the magnetic field when it spins and it’s the change in the spinning Direction that the scanner detects creating an STILL image of brain activity and sttucture
fmri scans procedure 4/4
Fmri scans allow us to see the structure of the brain and whether damage or tumors need treatment
the scanner send the information to a computer that is then able to create a map of activation to show changing levels of neural activity in different brain areas and tasks this are being completed
fmri generalisability
Pacemaker
Not suitable for those of Pacemakers due to the magnets which may result in the misplacement of the pacemaker and therefore death
this reduces the availability to participants and it also restricts a sample size and therefore they cannot be generalisation to the general population as it is not available to everybody this results in its having a lower generalisability
fmri reliability
standardised procedure
Highly reliable due to a standardized procedure of taking a test and being put in a scanner with magnets spin blood and certain directions
thus making it replicatable and giving it high test retest reliability
fmri validity
objective + demand characteristics
Objective interpretation of both structure and function
red = high activity
Can only be changed by demand characteristics during the test making the results less valid overall there is still a high internal validity due to being extremely objective
fmri Ethics
no magnets
There is no radiation exposure and the only risk Factor is due to individual difference if somebody has a metal prosthetic limb or a pacemaker therefore it has extremely high ethics you do not have any radiation unlike other methods of brain scanning including pet scans and cat scams
fmri practical issues
time + cost
It costs approximately £500 so a medium expense and it only last 30 minutes to one hour maximum
fmri images
The images are still and red = high activity
It not be used to study moving activity is the pictures of frickin’ still