Ways Of Studying The Brain

Question 1

Post-mortem AO1

Answer 1

Brain studied after death to see structural abnormalities/damage and correlate these with behaviour e.g HM where lesions were found in his hippocampus after death.

Question 2

Post Mortem AO3:

Answer 2

+ clearly see structural damage and differences between ‘normal’ and ‘abnormal

• small sample sizes
• unique cases (lacks generalisability)
• lacks validity due to changes during death and we don’t know what the individual was like before death (e.g what was ‘normal’ and ‘abnormal’)

Question 3

EEG (sleep/epilepsy) AO1

Answer 3

Electrodes placed on the scalp to detect neural activity, used to look at the stages of sleep, sleep disorders and epilepsy.

Question 4

EEG (sleep/epilepsy) AO3:

Answer 4

+ Cheap so there’s lots of research and accessibility.
+ the process is also non-invasive, safe and painless in seeing where and when a person is thinking meaning it is ethical.

• poor spatial resolution, meaning it is hard to read and it is also restricted to the neocortex which is the outer layer of the brain, as it cannot be safely used in deeper parts of the brain.

Question 5

FMRI AO1:

Answer 5

FMRI is the use of a magnetic field and radio waves to measure blood flow, specifically as tasks are performed to see what area is involved in that task.

Question 6

FMRI AO3:

Answer 6

+ it’s able to show tumours and other damage, whilst being safe, painless and non-invasive.

• however, it’s very expensive which is the reason for the minimal research using FMRI.
• FMRI also can’t be used if the patient has a pacemaker or any metallic device which decreases the sample size.

Question 7

ERP (event related potential) AO1

Answer 7

Electrodes placed on the scalp to detect neural activity WHEN PRESENTED WITH A STIMULUS.

Question 8

ERP AO3

Answer 8

+ ppts can be given different stimuli to see how processing works and In which area of the brain is activated in response to the stimuli.