ways of studying the brain

Question 1

what are the 4 ways of studying the brain

Answer 1

post mortem examinations
the 3 scanning techniques:
functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI)
electroencephalograms (EEG)
event related potentials (ERPs)

Question 2

what do fMRIs measure and what does this indicate

and is the person performing tasks whilst in the scanner

Answer 2

changes in the blood flow and oxygen which indicates increased neural activity in specific areas whilst the person is actually performing the task

Question 3

what are fMRIs useful for identifying

Answer 3

which areas of the brain are involved in particular mental activities

Question 4

is fMRI direct or indirect

Answer 4

indirect because it measures one thing to indicate the other thing

Question 5

is fMRI invasive or non

Answer 5

non invasive

Question 6

when a brain area is more active it consumes …. oxygen and to meet this demand the blood flow to this area …. this is known as the …… response

fMRI

Answer 6

more o2
increased blood flow
haemodynamic response

Question 7

strengths of fmri

Answer 7

no invasive and “risk free” as it doesnt relay on radiation (unlike pet)

have very high spatial resolution and provides a clear image of how the brain activity is localised

dynamic brain activity which purely show physiology (unlike mri and pm)

more objective and reliable measure of psychological processes than is possible with verbal reports

Question 8

limitations of fmri

Answer 8

expensive=low sample sizes=reduce validity of studies

low/poor temporal resolution as there is a 5 sec time lag behind image on screen and initial firing of neuronal activity

not a direct measure of neural activity so not a truly quantitative measure of mental activity in particular brain areas

makes complex data which can be affected by how it is interpreted and baseline task used

can only capture a clear image if the person remains completely still

“overlooks networked nature of brain activity as it only focusses on localised activity”

Question 9

what is spatial resolution

Answer 9

the ability to depict detail by the millimetre

Question 10

is EEG direct or indirect

Answer 10

direct

Question 11

what do EEGs record and how

Answer 11

general brain activity by recording changes in electrical activity using electrodes attached to the scalp

they detect small electrical changes from the brain cells

Question 12

EEGs are useful for measuring states of

Answer 12

sleep or arousal

Question 13

for EEGs what happens with the data

Answer 13

it is mapped over time

Question 14

on an EEG what happen for epilepsy patients and alzheimers patients

Answer 14

epilepsy- spikes of electrical activity

alzheimers- slowing of electrical activity

Question 15

strengths of EEG

Answer 15

extremely high temporal resolution (IN REAL TIME) not a still image, accurately detect activity at a resolution of a single millisecond wmt accurately measure brain activity associated with task

very safe, doesnt do anything to the brain just passively records electrical activity

useful in clinical diagnosis eg recording abnormal neural activity associated with epilepsy and has also contributed to our understanding of the stages of sleep

Question 16

limitations of EEG

Answer 16

can only detect activity in superficial regions of the brain (cant reveal whats going on in deeper regions)

Question 17

ERPs are a more …. version of the …… EEGs

Answer 17

more specific or the more general

Question 18

are ERPs direct or indirect

Answer 18

direct

Question 19

how is neural activity elicited in an ERP

Answer 19

by the specific stimuli presented to the participant

takes raw EEG data and uses it to investigate cognitive processing for a specific event

Question 20

how do ERPs cut out all brain activity that is not related to the appearance of the stimulus

Answer 20

they take multiple readings and then take an average to filter it out

Question 21

what are post mortems used for: to establish the

Answer 21

to establish the underlying neurobiology of a particular behaviour

a technique involving the analysis of a persons brain following death

assess the areas of damage as a means of establishing the cause of the affliction the person suffered

Question 22

for pms they can compare the damage region of the brain to

Answer 22

a neurotypical brain to ascertain the extent of the difference

Question 23

example of pm done by broca

Answer 23

on patient Tan had speech problems when alive and it was found he had a lesion in brocas area which is important for speech production

Question 24

in order for a cause and effect relationship between electrically activity in specific neurones and behaviour what do we need to do and how can we do it

Answer 24

directly manipulate neurones
either by removing the neurones or stimulate the neurones to make them generate electrical activity

Question 25

what are invasive methods and are they ethical

Answer 25

involving cutting open the body and working on it inside it. not really ethical usually only done when the patient already requires brain surgery or post mortem

Question 26

how is the detail of a persons brain advantageous when doing a pm

Answer 26

D In a post-mortem examination, a person’s brain can be examined at a very high level of detail, to identify very small brain abnormalities.

Question 27

con of pm

Answer 27

One weakness is that we don’t know when the brain abnormality occurred making it difficult to establish a cause and effect relationship.

It is hard to control confounding or extraneous variables/unrelated trauma/decay eg pm delay, stage of disease, age at death, drug treatment/medication (which might also affect the patients’ brain)
wmt establishing causation is problematic

retrospective
ethical issues of consent

Question 28

strengths of pm

Answer 28

have made significant contribution to our understanding of origins of certain conditions eg schizophrenia

more detailed examination of anatomical and neurochemical aspects of the brain than non-invasive scanning techniques, enables researchers to examine deeper regions of the brain eg hippocampus and hypothalamus

Question 29

which method of studying the brain would most accurately identify specific brain areas activated during a cognitive task

Answer 29

fMRI

Question 30

identify the 2 components of the peripheral nervous system and explain 2 differences in their organisation and/or functions

Answer 30

the components are the somatic nervous system and the autonomic nervous system

the sns has sensory and motor pathways while the ans is purely motor

the ans controls internal organs and glands of the body while sns controls skeletal muscle and movement

the ans control centres are in the brain stem whilst sns carries commands from the motor cortex