Ways Of Studying The Brain

Question 1

Event released potentials - ERP

Answer 1

Electrodes attached to scalp to record the change in electrical activity but a stimulus is presented to a pps and researcher looks for activity related to that stimulus

Question 2

Strengths of ERPs

Answer 2

• continuous measure of processing in response to stimulus - researcher can measure accurately of a particular task
  -used in clinical diagnosis- eg epilepsy- record neural activity - epileptic seizures are caused by disturbed brain activity
  Good temporal resolution

Question 3

Functional magnetic resonance imaging - FMRI

Answer 3

Measures blood flow of the brain when a person performs a certain task
- it shows increase neural activity
-produces a 3D map of brain showing which areas are involved in different neural activities

Question 4

Strengths for FMRI

Answer 4

• non invasive - doesn’t involve insertion of instruments into the body or doesn’t expose to harmful radiation
• more objective and reliable- able to see psychological processes that people wouldn’t be able to provide in verbal reports

Question 5

Limitations of ERP

Answer 5

Only detects activity in superficial regions not deeper regions eg hypothalamus - poor spatial resolution

Electrical activity detected in specific regions of the brain simultaneously- difficult to pin point exact activity in brain

Question 6

Limitations of FMRI

Answer 6

• only focuses on localised areas of the brain- limiting in showing the communication that takes place among different areas of the brain
• doesn’t provide a direct measure of neural activity- measures blood flow, doesn’t show mental activity in these areas of brain - not quantitive measure

Question 7

What are EEGs

Answer 7

Records the changes in the electrical activity of the brain using electrodes attached to scalp
- small electrical changes are detected by electrodes

Question 8

Strengths of EEGs

Answer 8

• useful in clinical diagnosis- eg recorded the neural activity of epilepsy - epileptic seizures are caused by disturbed activity in the brain
• provides a recording of the brains activity in real time rather than still image-of brain- researcher can accurately measure a particular task or activity with the brain

Question 9

Limitations of EEGs

Answer 9

• electrical activity detected in several regions of the brain simultaneously- difficult to pinpoint the exact activity in brain/ make valid conclusions
• only detects activity in superficial regions not deeper regions eg hypothalamus- poor spatial resolution

Question 10

What are post Mortem examinations

Answer 10

• studying a physical brain of a person who displayed particular behaviour while they were alive to establish causes of this behaviour

Question 11

Strengths of post Mortem examinations

Answer 11

• more detailed examination -examine deeper regions ie hypothalamus- anatomical and neurochemical regions of the brain

Question 12

Limitations of post Mortem examinations

Answer 12

• ethical issues- informed consent not given- patient has psychological problems- unable to provide informed consent
• length of time between post Mortem examination- extraneous variables eg people die at different stages of life for various of factors