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Psychology - IN FOCUS Biopsychology > Ways of studying the brain > Flashcards

Ways of studying the brain Flashcards

1
Q

What does fMRI stand for?

A

Functional magnetic resonance imaging

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2
Q

fMRI works by…

A

detecting the changes in both blood oxygenation and flow

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3
Q

What do changes in blood oxygenation and flow occur as a result of?

A

Neural activity in specific parts of the brain

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4
Q

When a brain area is more active it consumes more/less oxygen

A

more

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5
Q

Why is blood flow directed to active areas of the brain?

A

To meet increased demand as the area is consuming more oxygen

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6
Q

When a brain area is more active it consumes more oxygen - to meet this increased demand, blood flow is directed to the active area. What is this called?

A

Haemodynamic response

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7
Q

fMRI produces 2D/3D/4D images

A

3D

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8
Q

fMRI produces 3D images called what?

A

Activation maps

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9
Q

What do activation maps produced by fMRI show?

A

Which parts of the brain are involved in particular mental processes

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10
Q

fMRI show which parts of the brain are involved in a particular mental process. This has important implications in our understanding of what?

A

Localisation of function

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11
Q

True/False: fMRI relies on the use of radiation

A

False, it doesn’t

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12
Q

True/False: If administered correctly, fMRI is virtually risk-free

A

True

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13
Q

In what ways is fMRI virtually risk-free?

A

It’s non-invasive and straightforward, doesn’t use radiation

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14
Q

fMRI produces images that have very high/low spatial resolution

A

high

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15
Q

How much detail does fMRI offer?

A

They depict detail by the millimetre and provide a clear picture of how brain activity is localised

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16
Q

True/False: fMRI can safely provide a clear picture of brain activity

A

True

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17
Q

fMRI is cheap/expensive compared to other neuroimaging techniques

A

Expensive

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18
Q

fMRI has a high/poor temporal resolution

A

poor

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19
Q

Why does fMRI have a poor temporal resolution?

A

There is around a 5-second time-lag behind the image on screen and initial firing of neuronal activity

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20
Q

The fact that fMRI has poor temporal resolution means it may…

A

not truly represent moment-to-moment brain activity

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21
Q

Post-mortem examinations

A

A technique involving teh analysis of a person’s brain following their death

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22
Q

Why are post-mortem examinations carried out?

A

Areas of damage within the brain are examined as a means of establishing the likely cause of the affliction the person experienced

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23
Q

Why may post-mortem examinations involve comparison with a neurotypical brain?

A

In order to ascertain the extent of the difference

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24
Q

In psychological research, who are individuals whose brains are subject to a postmortem most likely to be?

A

Those who have a rare disorder/experienced unusual deficits in cognitive processes or behaviour during their lifetime

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25
Post-mortem examinations are vital in providing a foundation for...
early understanding of key processes in the brain
26
True/False: Broca and Wernicke both relied on post-mortem studies
True
27
How did Broca and Wernicke both rely on post-mortem studies?
In establishing links between language, brain and behaviour decades before neuroimaging ever became a possibility
28
True/False: Post-mortem studies were used to study HM's brain to identify the areas of damage
True
29
Post-mortem studies were used to study HM's brain to identify areas of damage when could then be associated with...
his memory deficits
30
The fact that post-mortem studies were used to study HM's brain to identify the areas of damage means that post-mortems...
continue to provide useful information
31
C________ is an issue within post-mortem studies
Causation
32
How is causation an issue within post-mortem studies?
Observed damage to the brain may not be linked to the deficits under review - could be to do with some other unrelated trauma or decay
33
What is the main ethical issue involved in post-mortem studies?
Consent from the individual before death
34
Why may have HM not been able to provide informed consent?
He lost his ability to form memories and was not able to provide such consent
35
True/False: Although HM lost his ability to form memories and was unable to provide informed consent, post-mortem research was still conducted on his brain
True
36
The issue of conformed consent challenges the usefulness of ____-______ studies in psychological research
post-mortem
37
What are techniques for investigating the brain often used for?
Medical purposes in the diagnosis of illness
38
The purpose of scanning in psychological research is often to investigate ____________
localisation
39
Why is the purpose of scanning in psychological research often to investigate localisation?
To determine what parts of the brain do what
40
What does EEG stand for?
Electroencephalogram
41
What does an EEG do?
Measures electrical activity within the brain that are fixed to an individual's scalp using a skull cap
42
What does the scan recording in an EEG represent?
Brainwave patterns generated from the action of thousands of neurons
43
The scan recording in an EEG represents brainwave patterns generated from the action of how many neurons?
thousands
44
What does an EEG provide with its scan?
An overall amount of brain activity
45
When are EEGs often used?
By clinicians as a diagnostic tool
46
Unusual __________ patterns of activity in an EEG may indicate neurological abnormalities
arrhythmic
47
Unusual arrhythmic patterns of activity in an EEG may indicate neurological abnormalities such as (name one)
Epilepsy, tumours and sleep disorders
48
Which way of studying the brain is crude and overly general in its raw form?
EEGs
49
Within EEG data are contained all the neural responses associated with...
specific sensory, cognitive and motor events
50
Why did researchers develop ERPs
Within EEG data contained all the neural responses associated with specific sensory, cognitive and motor events which may be of interest to cognitive neuroscientists - so researchers developed a way of teasing out and isolating these responses
51
How does the data received from an EEG have a generalised nature?
They are the data of many thousands of neurons
52
True/False: EEG signal is useful for pinpointing the exact source of neural activity
False, it isn't
53
The fact that EEG signal isn't useful for pinpointing the exact source of neural activity means it doesn't allow researchers to...
distinguish between activities originating in different but adjacent locations
54
True/False: EEG has been useful in studying the stages of sleep and in the diagnosis of conditions such as epilepsy
True
55
Why has EEG been useful in the diagnosis of conditions such as epilepsy?
It's a disorder characterised by random bursts of activity in the brain - this can easily be detected on screen
56
Unlike fMRI, EEG technology has extremely high/low temporal resolution
high
57
EEG technology can accurately detect brain activity as a resolution of a single...
millisecond, and even less in some cases
58
What does the high temporal resolution of EEG technology show?
The real-world usefulness of the technique
59
What does ERP stand for?
Event-related potentials
60
What kind of technique do ERPs use?
A statistical averaging technique
61
With ERPs, what activity is filtered out?
All extraneous brain activity from the original EEG recording
62
After all extraneous brain activity from the original EEG recording is filtered out, what is left?
Only those responses that relate to, say, the presentation of a specific stimulus or performance of a specific task. These are event-related potentials
63
Event-related potentials
Types of brainwave that are triggered by particular events
64
True/False: Research has revealed many different forms of ERP
True
65
Research has revealed how ERPs are linked to cognitive processes such as...
Any from attention, perception, etc.
66
What do ERPs bring that EEGs don't?
Much more specificity to the measurement of neural processes that could ever be achieved using raw EEG data
67
Because ERPs are derived from EEG measurements they have excellent/awful ________ resolution
excellent temporal
68
ERPs have excellent temporal resolution especially compared to neuroimaging techniques such as...
fMRI
69
What are ERPs frequently used to measure?
Cognitive functions and deficits such as the allocation of attentional resources. Maintenance of working memory
70
True/False: There is a lack of standardisation in the ERP methodology between different research studies
True
71
The fact that there's a lack of standardisation in the ERP methodology between different research studies makes it...
difficult to confirm findings
72
What needs to be done in order to establish pure data in ERP studies?
Background 'noise' and extraneous material must be completely eliminated
73
What's the problem with the elimination of background 'noise' and extraneous material in ERP studies?
It may not always be easy to achieve

Psychology - IN FOCUS Biopsychology (7 decks)

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