Ways Of Studying The Brain

Question 1

What ways are there of studying the brain?

Answer 1

• Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI)
• Electroencephalogram (EEG)
• Event related potentials (ERP)
• Post-mortem examinations

Question 2

What does fMRI measure?

Answer 2

• A method used to measure brain activity while a person is performing a task
• FMRI detects radio waves from changing magnetic fields.
• This enables researchers to detect which regions of the brain are rich in oxygen & thus are active

Question 3

What are the benefits and problems of using fMRI?

Answer 3

Benefits:
* Non-invasive-look at detailed images of the brain allowing accurate observations to be made (rather than surgery)
* Decreases the chance of ethical issues of physical harm
* Images have higher spatial resolution than EEGS-fMRIS are more accurate at detecting specific areas of the brain-increasing its validity as a way of studying brain

Problems:
* Very expensive (each machine costs over 2m),therefroe research very costly, may not get funding to do all the research want to do
* Lower temporal resolution than EEG & lag is around 5-6 seconds following brain activity-so delay in viewing brain activity

Question 4

What is an electroencephalogram (EEG)?

Answer 4

• Measures electrical activity within the brain via electrodes that are fixed to individuals skull
• The EEG waves are recorded & presented on a computer screen
  Each recording represents the potential differences between the recording electrode & the refrence electrode

Question 5

What are EEG’s used for?

Answer 5

• Used for recording various mental states such as wakefulness,drowsiness & stages of sleep
• Also used for identifying brain tumours

Question 6

What are the benefits & problems of using EEG?

Answer 6

Benefits:
* Non-invasive so dont require operation & instead look at recordings of brain activity
* High temporal resolution- record data in real time
* Can use over long periods of time as cheap to use unlike fmri which is v expensive

Problems
* Low spatial resolution & can only measure general regions of the brain unlike fMRI which is more precise

Question 7

What is an event related potentials (ERP)?

Answer 7

The electrophysiological response of the brain to a specific sensory,cognitive or motor event can be isolated through statistical analysis of EEG data

Question 8

What are the benefits and problems of ERP?

Answer 8

Benefits:
* Can get data on non-speaking ppts in response to stimulus e.g. babies

Problems:
* One problem with ERP is identifiying where the ERP is coming from as there is so much backround noise

Question 9

What is a post-mortem study?

Answer 9

• Involves the analysis of a persons brain after their death

Individuals who’s brains are subject to a post mortem are likely to be those who have rare disorder & have experienced unusual deficits in their lifetime

Question 10

What are the benefits and problems of post-mortems?

Answer 10

Benefits:
* Detailed examination of the anatomical structure
* Can access areas like the hypothalamus & hippocampus which other scanning techniques cannot

Problems:
* The issue of causation- the defecit a patient displays during their lifetime (e.g.) an inability to speak may not be linked to the deficits founds in the brain e.g. brocas area
* The deficits reported could have been the result of another illness
* Therefore psychologists are unable to conclude that the deficit is caused by damage found in the brain