Studying The Brain

Question 1

What are the 4 main types of studying the brain?

Answer 1

1. FMRI
2. EEG
3. ERP
4. Post mortems

Question 2

How does an FMRI studying the brain?

Answer 2

It record energy released by haemoglobin

Question 3

How does an FMRI work?

Answer 3

1. Haemoglobin reacts differently with O2 then without O2
2. FMRI detects haemoglobin with and without O2
3. When an area is more active it uses more O2
4. The FMRI detects and measures the energy released

Question 4

Describe the pictures produced by FMRI’s

Answer 4

• moving picture
• delayed by about 1 second
• 3D map that shows what areas are involved in certain things
• red = high activity
• blue = low activity

Question 5

When are FMRI’s used on participants?

Answer 5

• when they’re resting

- then again when completing different tasks to activate different areas

Question 6

Describe a key researcher who used FMRI’s

Answer 6

• emmorey (2006)
• used FMRI’s to measure Broca’s area
• p’s used could express themselves using spoken and sign language
• findings : regardless of the type of Lang Broca’s area was always active

Question 7

What are the 2 strengths of FMRI’s?

Answer 7

• non invasive

- high spatial resolution

Question 8

How are FMRI’s non invasive?

Answer 8

• nothing is inserted into body
• doesn’t require exposure of brain to radiation
• more ethical
• p’s more willing to participate
• makes repeatedly testing a p easier

Question 9

How do FMRI’s have high spatial resolution?

Answer 9

• spatial resolution of 1-2mm
• more accurate as to where there is increased O2 in the brain
• precise at researching localisation

Question 10

What are the weaknesses of FMRI’s

Answer 10

• low temporal resolution

- impractical

Question 11

How does FMRI’s have low temporal resolution?

Answer 11

• delayed by around 1 second
• not accurate
• difficult to establish the extent to which a task has influences the activity in the brain

Question 12

Why are FMRI’s impractical?

Answer 12

• expensive
• can only capture a clear image if the person is still
• can be uncomfortable
• noisy
• if the person isn’t still the image is useless
• reduces sample size
• lack population validity

Question 13

How does an EEG measure brain activity?

Answer 13

• electrodes are placed on a scalp
• these detect small electrical changes
• electrical signals are shown on a graph

Question 14

What are EEG’s used for?

Answer 14

• measure electrical energy in the brain
• measure abnormalities in the brain
• e.g epilepsy or sleep disorders

Question 15

Describe key research using EEG’s

Answer 15

• Dement and Kleitman (1995)
• used EEG’s to monitor sleep patterns in 9 p’s
• sleep lab
• everyone had periods of REM sleep
• if they woke during REM they were more likely to remember dreams

Question 16

What are the strengths of EEG’s?

Answer 16

• high temporal resolution

- cost

Question 17

How do EEG’s have high temporal resolution?

Answer 17

• shows a recording in real time
• data is recorded to the millisecond
• can accurately measure a particular activity in the brain
• more accurate at detecting brain activity

Question 18

Why is the cost of EEG’s a strength?

Answer 18

• cheaper than FMRI
• uni’s more likely to have their own EEG
• easier to carry out research
• larger sample size
• increase population validity

Question 19

What are the weaknesses of EEG’s?

Answer 19

• low spatial resolution

- surface measurements

Question 20

How do EEG’s have low spatial resolution?

Answer 20

• only give a general overview
• can’t pinpoint the exact source of energy
• only picks up activity close to electrode
• can’t help as much with localisation

Question 21

How is surface measurement a weakness of EEG’s

Answer 21

• only detects energy in superficial regions
• can’t reveal what happens in deeper regions
• e.g hypothalamus or hippocampus
• limited to what it can study

Question 22

What is an ERP?

Answer 22

• researchers use statistical averaging to filter out extraneous brain activity from original EEG recordings

Question 23

How does an ERP work?

Answer 23

• a stimulus e.g sound is shown to p
• look for electrical responses to stimulus
• same stimulus is repeatedly shown
• this allows for change in brain activity to be detected

Question 24

Describe key research using ERP’s

Answer 24

• Costa (2003)
• showed p’s nude pics of both genders 19 - 29
• asked p’s about arousal levels to opposite gender
• ERP showed higher rate of arousal than p’s self reports

Question 25

What are the strengths of ERP’s?

Answer 25

• high temporal resolutions

- reduces demand characteristics

Question 26

How do ERP’s have high temporal resolutions?

Answer 26

• provides a continuous measurement

- can show how processing is affected by specific manipulations e.g stimuli

Question 27

How do ERP’s reduce demand characteristics?

Answer 27

• measures responses without p actually giving a response
• e.g can measure a response as p reads a sentence rather than waiting until they finish the sentence
• reduce social desirability bias
• p’s can’t control brain responses

Question 28

What are the limitations of ERP’s?

Answer 28

• low spatial resolution

- surface measurement

Question 29

How does ERP’s have low spatial resolution?

Answer 29

• only give a general overview of electrical activity
• can’t pinpoint exact source of energy
• only picks up energy close to electrode
• can’t really help with researching localisation

Question 30

How is surface measurement a weakness of ERP’s?

Answer 30

• only detect activity of a certain strength
• only detects energy at scalp surface
• can’t detect energy deeper
• e.g amygdala which controls emotions
• info is missed

Question 31

Describe what and how post-mortems examinations happen?

Answer 31

• not scans
• carried out after death
• brain is sliced into very thin pieces
• can be used to see where damage has occurred

Question 32

On who and why are post - mortems carried out?

Answer 32

• on p’s who have rare disorders or experience abnormal mental processes or behaviour
• can identify the causes
• brain will be compared to healthy controls

Question 33

Describe key research using post mortems

Answer 33

• post mortem done on tan’s brain

- tan had a large lesion in the frontal lobe specifically Broca’s area

Question 34

What have post mortems specifically found about disorders?

Answer 34

• found a link between psychiatric disorders (e.g schizophrenia and depression) and underlying brain abnormalities

Question 35

What are the strengths of post mortems?

Answer 35

• full access to the brain

- precise

Question 36

How do post mortems have full access to the brain?

Answer 36

• detailed analysis of brain that’s not possible through other methods
• can examine deeper areas
• e.g hypothalamus and hippocampus

Question 37

How are post mortems precise?

Answer 37

• direct access to brain
• can see specific neural circuits and groups of neutrons
• not possible through other methods
• spatial resolution in post mortems is extremely high
• gives more detailed info

Question 38

What are the weaknesses of post mortems?

Answer 38

• Lack of control

- retrospective

Question 39

Why is their a lack of control in post mortems?

Answer 39

• multiple confounding variables e.g:
• cause of death
• length of time between death and post mortem
• drug treatment
• age of death
• difficult to make comparisons
• lack validity

Question 40

How are post mortems retrospective?

Answer 40

• issue establishing causation
• person is dead so can’t follow up with anything that arises
• any damage might not be a result of suspected cause
• difficult to draw conclusions