ways of studying the brain

Question 1

how does an fMRI work?

Answer 1

detects changes in both blood oxygenation + flow that occur as a result of neural activity in specific parts of the brain

Question 2

what does an fMRI produce in order to show which parts of the brain are involved in certain mental processes?

Answer 2

3D images/activation maps

Question 3

how does a brain area meet the increased demand of oxygen when it’s active?

Answer 3

blood flow is directed to the active area (haemodynamic response)

Question 4

true or false?
fMRI has high spatial resolution

Answer 4

true

Question 5

list 2 other strengths of fMRI

Answer 5

doesn’t rely on use of radiation
virtually risk-free, non-invasive, straightforward to use

Question 6

list 2 limitations of fMRI

Answer 6

expensive
poor temporal resolution

Question 7

how does an EEG work?

Answer 7

measures electrical activity within the brain via electrodes that are fixed to a person’s scalp using a skull cap

Question 8

how is an EEG used as a diagnostic tool?

Answer 8

unusual patterns of activity may indicate neurological abnormalities (e.g. epilepsy, tumours, sleep disorders)

Question 9

what does the scan recording represent in an EEG?

Answer 9

brainwave patterns that are generated from the action of thousands of neurons, providing an overall account of brain activity

Question 10

list 2 strengths of EEG

Answer 10

extremely high temporal resolution

has been useful in studying stages of sleep + in the diagnosis of conditions such as epilepsy

Question 11

list 2 limitations of EEG

Answer 11

information received is rather generalised

isn’t useful for pinpointing exact source of neural activity, therefore doesn’t allow researchers to distinguish between activity in different places

Question 12

what are ERPs?

Answer 12

types of brainwave that are triggered by particular events

Question 13

how can an EEG recording be filtered out to create ERPs?

Answer 13

using a statistical averaging technique, all extraneous brain activity from the original EEG recording is filtered out, leaving only responses to a specific stimulus/task (these are ERPs)

Question 14

what are ERPs used to frequently measure?

Answer 14

cognitive functions/deficits such as the allocation of attentional resources + maintenance of working memory

Question 15

list 2 other strengths of ERPs

Answer 15

high temporal resolution

more specificity than EEG in terms of measurement of neural processes

Question 16

list 2 limitations of ERPs

Answer 16

in order to establish pure data in ERP studies, extraneous material must be completely eliminated, which is a problem because it’s not always easy to achieve

lack of standardisation in methodology between different research studies - makes it difficult to confirm findings

Question 17

what is a post-mortem examination?

Answer 17

analysis of a person’s brain following their death

Question 18

who is likely to receive a post-mortem?

Answer 18

individuals who have a rare disorder + have experienced unusual deficits in cognitive processes/behaviour

Question 19

list 3 strengths of post-mortems

Answer 19

used to study HM’s brain to identify areas of damage (shows usefulness)

post-mortem evidence was vital in providing a foundation for early understanding of key brain processes

Broca + Wernicke both relied on post-mortems in establishing links between language, brain + behaviour decades before neuroimaging was created

Question 20

what are the issues of causation within post-mortems?

Answer 20

observed damage to brain may not be linked to deficits under review but to some other unrelated trauma/decay

Question 21

list 1 other limitation of post-mortems

Answer 21

ethical issues of consent from individual before their death