Ways of studying the brain

Question 1

how do psychologist investigate brain localisation

Answer 1

medical techniques

Question 2

what is the purpose of scanning in psychological research

Answer 2

often to investigate localisation - to determine which parts of the brain do what

Question 3

what does the FMRI scan

Answer 3

highlights active areas of the brain

Question 4

what happens during FMRI scan

Answer 4

it detects changes in the both blood oxygenaton and flow that occur due to neural activity in specific brain areas

Question 5

what is haemodynamic response

Answer 5

when a barin area is more active it consumes more oxygen and blood flow is directed to the active area

Question 6

what do FMRI produce

Answer 6

3D image showing which parts of the brain are more active and therefore must be involved in particular mental processes

Question 7

what does EEG scan show

Answer 7

overall electrical activity

Question 8

what does the EEG scan do

Answer 8

measures electrical activity within the brain via elctrodes using a skull cap

Question 9

what does the scan recording represent

Answer 9

the brainwave pattern generated from the thousands of neurons. this shows overall brain activity

Question 10

what is EEG used for

Answer 10

diagnostic tool. for example unusual arrhythmic patterns of brain activity may indicate abnormalities such as epilepsy, tumours or sleep disorders

Question 11

what are ERPs

Answer 11

what is left when all extraneous brain activity from an EEG recording is filtered out. And ERPs are type of brainwaves that are triggered by particular events

Question 12

how is ERP used

Answer 12

using statistical technique, leaving only those response that relate to the presentation of a specific stimulus

Question 13

what has research revealed about ERP

Answer 13

many different forms of ERP and how these are linked to cognitive processes

Question 14

what is a port mortem examinations

Answer 14

a technique involving the analysis of a persons brain following their death

Question 15

what happens during a postmortem examinations

Answer 15

areas of the brain are examined to establish the likely cause of a deficit or disorder that the person experienced in life
This may be also involve comparison with neurotypical brain in order assesses the extent of the different

Question 16

What are Strengthd of FMRI

Answer 16

risk spatial and high spatial resolution
Unlike other scanning techniques (e.g PET), FMRI does not rely on the use of radiation and is safe .
It also produces images with high spatial resolution showing detail by the millimetre.
This means FMRI can safely provide a clear picture of how brain activity is localised

Question 17

what is Limitation of FMRI

Answer 17

expensive and poor temporal resolution
FMRI is expensive compared to other techniques
It has poor temporal resolution because of 5-second lag between initial neural activity and image. This mean FMRI may not truly represent moment to moment brain activity

Question 18

What are the Strength of EEG

Answer 18

EEG has contributed to our understanding of the stages of sleep.
It has high temporal resolution- brain activity in one millisecond
this shows the real world usefulness of the technique

Question 19

what are the Limitations of EEG

Answer 19

the EEG produces a generalised signal from thousands of neurons.
Its difficult to know the exact source of neural activity
Therefore EEG cant distinguish the activity of different but adjacent neurons

Question 20

what are Strengths of ERP

Answer 20

Measures of neural processes more specific with ERPs and EEGs
ERPs have excellent temporal resolution better than FMRI
This means that ERPs are frequently used in cognitive research

Question 21

what are Limitations of ERP

Answer 21

lack of standardisation makes it difficult to confirm findings in studies involving ERPs
Background noise and extraneous material must be completely eliminated. These issues are a problem because they may not always be easy achieve

Question 22

what are strengths of post mortems

Answer 22

Broca and Wernicke both replied on post- mortem studies
used to link HM’s memory deficits to damage in his brain
This means they continue to provide useful information

Question 23

what are limitations of post mortem

Answer 23

observed damage in the brain may not be linked to the defects under review
Poat modern studies raise ethical issues of consent after death (e,g HM) This challenges their usefulness in psychological research