Ways Of Studying The Brain

Question 1

fMRI

Answer 1

•Measures blood flow when a
person performs a task and creates a dynamic 3D map of the brain. This highlights which areas are involved in different neural activities

•non-invasive
• temporal resolution- poor 1-4 seconds
•spatial resolution- good 1-2mm

Question 2

EEG

Answer 2

•Measures electrical activity through electrodes
attached to the scalp. Small electrical charges are detected by the electrodes that are graphed over a period of time, indicating the level of activity in the brain

• non-invasive but can be uncomfortable
•temporal resolution- good 1-10ms
•spatial resolution- poor superficial general regions only

Question 3

ERP

Answer 3

Uses similar equipment to
EEG but the researcher presents a stimulus to the participant and activity related to that stimulus is looked for

• non-invasive but uncomfortable
• temporal resolution- good 1-10ms
• spatial resolution- poor superficial general regions only

Question 4

Post-mortems

Answer 4

when researchers study the physical brain of a person who displayed a particular behaviour while they were alive that suggested possible brain damage

•N/A . Would be invasive but the person is not alive
• temporal resolution- N/A
•spatial resolution- N/A - although allows researchers to perform a more detailed examination of the anatomical structure of the brain