Section 6 : Biopsychology - Studying the Brain Flashcards
what are fMRI scans
scans that are 3d providing structural and functional information, as well as showing changes in brain activity as they happen.
how do fMRI’S identify the active areas of the brain
- 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
what are the uses of fMRI scans
- research the function and structure of the brain
- can be used to diagnose medical problems
- study abnormal activity in the brain
what are the advantages of fMRI scans
- non invasive
- not reliant on radiation
what are the limitations of fMRI
- 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
what does fMRI stand for
functional magnetic resonance imaging
what is a EEG
an electroencephalogram shows the overall electrical activity of the brain
how does the EEG work
- 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
what are the uses of EEG’s
- used in sleep studies
- used in studies for depression and schizo
- used as diagnostic tool
what are the strengths of EEG’s
- very good at diagnosing patients
- cheap
- high temporal resolution (detect brain activity within a single millisecond)
- non invasive
what are the limitations of EEG’s
- poor spatial resolution (hard to work which area of the brain the waves originate from)
- lacks precision (can’t measure impulses in individual neurons)
what is an ERP
when psychologists use stimuli to look at changes in the wave pattern in response to the stimuli
what are the uses of ERP’s
- 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
what are the strengths of ERP’s
- specific to the measurement of neural processes than raw EEG data
- very good temporal resolution
what are the weaknesses of ERP’s
- 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
what is a post mortem examination
When the brain is examined after death to try and correlate structural abnormalities to behaviour
what are the uses of post mortem examinations
- looking to see if there were in patterns between mental disorders and the patients brain. e.g. enlarged ventricles in the brain of schizophrenics
what are the advantages of post mortem examinations
- vital in providing early understanding key processes in the brain
- improves medical knowledge (help create hypothesis for further studies)
what are the limitations of post mortem examinations
- 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
what are limitations of all the methods
hard to establish cause and effect. for example the enlarged ventricles in people with schizophrenia haven’t necessarily been caused by schizophrenia
