ways of investigating the brain ao3

Question 1

Strength of fmris - good spatial resolution

Answer 1

• Unlike other scanning techniques such as PET scans, it does not rely on the use of radiation.
• It has very good spatial resolution.
  (1-2mm)
  making it possible to get a clear picture of how activity is localised in the brain.

Question 2

Weakness of fmris

Answer 2

MRis can only measure blood flow, it cannot hone in on the activity of individual neurons and so it can be difficult to tell exactly what kind of activity is being shown on the screen. This means it is not a truly quantitative measure of mental activity in these areas of the brain.
- low temporal resolution
(1-4 seconds)
- more expensive than erps and eegs so limited access to everyone

Question 3

EEGS - Invaluable in clinical diagnosis (strength)

Answer 3

EEGs are useful in clinical diagnoses.
Record the abnormal neural activity associated with epileptic seizures. This can help to determine whether someone experiencing a seizure has epilepsy.
- issues w sleep

Question 4

EEGS weakness - poor spatial resolution

Answer 4

Poor spatial resolution. EEGs only provide very generalised information. Electrical activity can be picked up by several neighbouring electrodes, which makes the source of any activity difficult to pinpoint.
Researchers can’t distinguish between activities originating in different but neighbouring locations in the brain.

Question 5

Strength - ERPS - specificity

Answer 5

Provides increased specificity of neural processes compared to EEGS
excellent temporal resolution (1-10ms)
as ERPs are derived from EEGs
Led to their widespread of cognitive functions and deficits

Question 6

strength - post mortem - increased detail

Answer 6

Post-mortems allow for a more detailed examination of the brain, which would not be possible with less invasive methods such as MRis and EEGs.
Have deepened our understanding of areas of the brain involved in speech production eg broca did post mortem on pateint tan. who could only respond to questions w tan tan. revaled leisons of damage to left frontal lobe - brocas area - speech prod

Question 7

Weakness - other factors thag can influence a post mortem

Answer 7

People die in a variety of circumstances and at varying stages of disease, both of which can influence the post-mortem brain.
* Drugs treatments, age at death and time between death and PM are possible confounding variables. This means that the observed damage to the brain may not be linked or may paint an incorrect picture of the behaviour under review.
- hard to establish cause and effect

Question 8

limitations of post mortem - consent

Answer 8

issues w consent
patients not be in full capacity to deliver full informed capactity
so other scanning tech like erps and eegs that occur when patient alive is better

Question 9

strength of erps and eegs is that theyre less _____ than fmri

Answer 9

less expensive w fmris costing anywhere bet 500 000 to 3M dollars
- more accessible and can use larger sample size in studies to draw conclusions ab brain function