The Brain Flashcards
What are the 4 lobes
Frontal
Parietal
Occipital
Temporal
What is the frontal lobe
Area behind forehead
Intellectual activities- planning and organising
Personality and control of emotions and behaviour
What is the temporal lobe
Nestled behind ears
Hold bulk of memories
Ability to understand things and speak
What is the Parietal lobe
Back of brain above ears
Perception, spatial awareness, manipulating objects and spelling
What is the occipital lobe
Very back of the head
Responsible for sight
MRI scans
Method
Can it scan brain activity
- magnetic resonance imaging
- Uses detection of radio frequency signals produced by displayed radio waves. Provides an anatomical view of the brain. Shows organs and blood flow (sort of brain activity) if a contrast medium dyes is injected (makes invasive)
- no
MRI scan
Strengths
Weaknesses
- more detailed image of the soft tissue in the brain than a CAT scan and doesn’t use x-rays so best used if a patient needs many in a short space of time
- can take a long time and are uncomfortable
fMRI scan
Method
Can it scan brain activity
- Functional magnetic resonance imaging
- Radio waves measure blood oxygen levels in the brain (more oxygen more activity) activity is picked up through radio signals which produce a series of images of successive slices turned into a 3-D image by computer
- yes scans brains response to neutral stimuli
fMRI scan
Advantages
Disadvantage
- Shows the areas of the brain being used, doesn’t use radiation, images are clear, spacial resolution
- takes place in a setting with low ecological validity, magnetic field could disrupt pacemakers, the person has to stay perfectly still
PET scan
Method
Can it scan brain activity
- Positron emission tomography
- Measures metabolic activity in the brain, injection of a small amount of radiotracer is given (radioactive glucose) most active areas use more of it and are represented as yellow as opposed to blue
- yes

PET scan
Advantages
Disadvantages
- It gives chemical information which isn’t available with other imaging, reading it can distinguish between benign and malignant tumours. It also shows the brain in action and shows specific brain areas link to experience
- The results are not always easy to interpret and requires an injection of radioactive substance and it can be difficult to isolate the different parts of the brain and Is expensive
CAT scan
Method
Can scan brain activity
- Computed axial tomography
- A series of x-rays taken of the brain creating a cross-sectional image of the brain sharing its structure
- no
CAT scan
Advantages
Disadvantages
- reveals abnormal brain structures like damage and are very high quality image compared to a normal x-ray
- uses high levels of radiation ( can’t be used on pregnant women) and only provides information about brain structure
