Ways of Studying the Brain

Question 1

techniques of investigating brian often used for

Answer 1

medical purposes in diagnosis of illness

Question 2

what is the purpose of scanning in psycho redearch

Answer 2

investigate localisation (investigate what part sof brain do waht )

Question 3

FMRI stands for

Answer 3

Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging

Question 4

fmri work
by detecting changes in ….

Answer 4

in blood oxygenation flow

and flow that occurs as a result of the neural activity

in specific parts of the brain

Question 5

neural meaning

Answer 5

brain

Question 6

what happens when a brain area is more active

Answer 6

consumes more o2 and to meet this demand increased blood flow is directed to the active area
(haemodynamic response)

Question 7

fmris porduce

Answer 7

3d images (activition maps )

Question 8

activation maps( fmris) produce show which part…

this has important implications for our understanding of…

Answer 8

of brain involved in particular mental processes

understanding of localisation of functino

Question 9

outline 2 strngth of fmri

Answer 9

unlike other scan tech like PET
dont rely on use of radiation if admin done properly its virtually risk free, non invasive and straightforward to use

also produces images with very high spatial resolution, depicitng detail by the mm and providing a clear pic of how brain activity is localised
this means fmris can safely provide a clear pic of brain activity

Question 10

FMRI LIMITATION -

Answer 10

can only measure bloodflows , 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 its not a truly quantitiative measure of mentla activity in these brain areas

Question 11

EEG stands for

Answer 11

electroencephalogram

Question 12

EEGS measure

Answer 12

leccy cactivity wihtin brain

Question 13

how do eegs emasure leccy activity within the brain

Answer 13

via electrodes that are fixed to an indis scalp using a skull cap

Question 14

EEGS- what does scan recording represent

Answer 14

brainwave patterns

generated from action of ks of neurons ,

providing an overall account of brain activity

Question 15

EEGS- often used by …

Answer 15

clinicians

Question 16

EEGS- how does clinicians use EEGs

Answer 16

as a diagnostics tool

Question 17

EEGS- why do clinicians use EEGS as a diagnostic tool

Answer 17

becasue arrhythmic patterns of activity may indicate neurological abnormailities such as epilepsy , tumors or sleep disorder

Question 18

EEGS- what is a arrhythmic pattern

Answer 18

no particular rhtm

Question 19

Event Related Potential - Although EEG has many scientific and clinical applications in its raw form it is a

Answer 19

crude and overly general measure of brain activity

Question 20

Event Related Potential - However within EEG data what is contained

Answer 20

all neural responses associated with specific sensory

cognitive

and motor events that may be of interest to cognitiv neuroscientists

Question 21

Event Related Potential - becasue EEGs contain neural respones associatesd with specific x events what have researchers developed

Answer 21

a way of teasing out and isolating neural respones

Question 22

Event Related Potential - how have researchers developed a way of teasing out and siolating the neural repsonses

Answer 22

using a statstical avg technique

Question 23

Event Related Potential - how does the stastical asvg tech work

Answer 23

all extraneoys brain activity from og EEGs recording is fitered out leaving only responses relevant to for example e.g presentaiton of specific stimulus or performance of specfic tasj

Question 24

Event Related Potential - what remains after the statistical avg test

Answer 24

ERPs

Question 25

Event Related Potential - what are they

Answer 25

types of brainwaves triggerd by particular events

Question 26

Event Related Potential - what has research revealed about ERPs

Answer 26

there are many different forms

how e.g they are linked to cog processes such as attention and perception

Question 27

POST MORTEM EXAMINATIONS - what is this

Answer 27

technique involving analysis of person brain following their death

Question 28

POST MORTEM EXAMINATIONS - in psych research what typeof indis are brains are subject to a PME

Answer 28

likely to be those of

have a rare disorder and have xp unusual deficits in cog processes

or behaviour in theri lifetime

Question 29

POST MORTEM EXAMINATIONS - what are examined after death

Answer 29

areas of dmage within the brain

Question 30

POST MORTEM EXAMINATIONS - why are areas of teh brain examined after death

Answer 30

as means of establishing likely cause of the affliction the person experienced

Question 31

POST MORTEM EXAMINATIONS - examining areas of damage within the brain may also involve

Answer 31

comparison with a neurotypical brain to understand the extent of the difference

Question 32

STRENGTH EEG - useful in clinical diagnoses

Answer 32

useful in clincal diagnoses of conditions e.g epilepsy

as record abnormal neural activity that can be associated with eplieptic seizures ( as random bursts of activity)

this cna help determine whether someone xp seizure has epilepsy or alt condition

Question 33

EEG LIMITATION - spatial resolution

Answer 33

poor spatioal resolution

EEGs only provide generalised info

leccy activity can be picked up by several neighbouring electrodes

mkaing source of any activity difficult to pinpoint

therefore researchers uable to distinguish between activities originating in diff but neighbouring location in brain

Question 34

ERP strength - specificty

Answer 34

limitations of EEG partly addressed through use of ERPs

bring about increased specifity to measuremnt of neural processes than could ever be achieved use raw EEG data

Question 35

ERP strenght - temporal resolution

Answer 35

as derived from EEP measurements have high temporal resolution

esp when copared to neuroimagin techs sucha s FMRIS

therfore ERPs reg used to measure cog functions and deficits such as allocation of attentional resources and maintenance fo working memory

Question 36

ERP limitation - small and difficult to pick up

Answer 36

ERPs are very small and foten difficult ot pick up from the other electrical actiivty in the brian

this means a large number of trials often have to be conducted in order to gain meaningful data - which costs money and takes a lot of time -

also limits types of q erp can ralistially answer - so only useful for certian things

Question 37

POSTMORTEM STRENGTH - DETAIL

Answer 37

Allow for more detailed examination of anatomical and neurochemical elemts of brian

which woudlnt be possible with less invasive methods like fMRIs and EEGs

meaning we can explore regions of brian that wouild otehrwise be unacccesible

Question 38

POSTMORTEN STRENGHT(as a result od the detail point) - understandign

Answer 38

have deepened understanding of certain disorders such as s chizo

as provded evidence for structural anomalies and changes to neurot systems both assocuiated with schizo

Question 39

POSTMORTEM LIMTATION - CV

Answer 39

people die in variety of circum & at avrying stages of disease , both whic cna influence the post mortem brian

drug treatments , age of death , tim between death and PM can act as confounding variables

so observed damage to teh brian may not be linked or may paint an incorrect pciture of behaviour under review