Section 6 : Biopsychology - Studying the Brain

Question 1

what are fMRI scans

Answer 1

scans that are 3d providing structural and functional information, as well as showing changes in brain activity as they happen.

Question 2

how do fMRI’S identify the active areas of the brain

Answer 2

• more oxygenated blood moves to active areas of the brain
• the molecule in the o2 rich blood respond differently to magnetic fields than deoxygenated blood so can therefore show the active areas

Question 3

what are the uses of fMRI scans

Answer 3

• research the function and structure of the brain
• can be used to diagnose medical problems
• study abnormal activity in the brain

Question 4

what are the advantages of fMRI scans

Answer 4

• non invasive
• not reliant on radiation

Question 5

what are the limitations of fMRI

Answer 5

• expensive (can lead to reduced sample size so negatively impacts validity)
• poor temporal resolution (means it has a five second time lag behind the image shown)
• problem for ppl who suffer from claustrophobia
• cant investigate activity of individual neurons
• can be tough to interpret

Question 6

what does fMRI stand for

Answer 6

functional magnetic resonance imaging

Question 7

what is a EEG

Answer 7

an electroencephalogram shows the overall electrical activity of the brain

Question 8

how does the EEG work

Answer 8

• multiple electrodes are placed on the scalp and electrical brain activity is recorded for a period of time
• it produces a pattern of waves
• patterns of wave represent different arousal levels or consciousness

Question 9

what are the uses of EEG’s

Answer 9

• used in sleep studies
• used in studies for depression and schizo
• used as diagnostic tool

Question 10

what are the strengths of EEG’s

Answer 10

• very good at diagnosing patients
• cheap
• high temporal resolution (detect brain activity within a single millisecond)
• non invasive

Question 11

what are the limitations of EEG’s

Answer 11

• poor spatial resolution (hard to work which area of the brain the waves originate from)
• lacks precision (can’t measure impulses in individual neurons)

Question 12

what is an ERP

Answer 12

when psychologists use stimuli to look at changes in the wave pattern in response to the stimuli

Question 13

what are the uses of ERP’s

Answer 13

• used in memory research, gives clues of how information is processed in the brain
• to find difference in people who are and aren’t mentally healthy

Question 14

what are the strengths of ERP’s

Answer 14

• specific to the measurement of neural processes than raw EEG data
• very good temporal resolution

Question 15

what are the weaknesses of ERP’s

Answer 15

• lack of standardisation in the methodology, can make it hard to confirm findings
• to establish pure data, background noise and extraneous material must be eliminated

Question 16

what is a post mortem examination

Answer 16

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

Question 17

what are the uses of post mortem examinations

Answer 17

• looking to see if there were in patterns between mental disorders and the patients brain. e.g. enlarged ventricles in the brain of schizophrenics

Question 18

what are the advantages of post mortem examinations

Answer 18

• vital in providing early understanding key processes in the brain
• improves medical knowledge (help create hypothesis for further studies)

Question 19

what are the limitations of post mortem examinations

Answer 19

• person has died before the exam and does not benefit from the findings
• ethics; may not give consent therefore lead to lack of validity due to small sample size

Question 20

what are limitations of all the methods

Answer 20

hard to establish cause and effect. for example the enlarged ventricles in people with schizophrenia haven’t necessarily been caused by schizophrenia