ways of studying the brain

Question 1

fMRI scans

Answer 1

• identify changes in oxygen in blood that occurs due to brain activity
• brain area active = more oxygen meaning increased blood flow
• produces 3d image known as an activation map
• used to identify when specific brain areas are active in particular mental processes.

Question 2

fMRI AO3

Answer 2

:) - safe technique due to it being non invasive
doesn’t use radiation to identify difference in brain areas
therefore more appropriate technique

:) - higher spatial resolution than EEG and ERP
depicts detail by the mm providing clear image of localisation

:( - low temporal resolution due to 5 second time lag between image and initial firing
may not truly represent moment to moment brain activity

Question 3

EEG’s

Answer 3

• electrodes placed on scalp
• detects small electrical changes from brain cell activity
• graphed over a period of time to see general brain activity
• used to detect sleep patterns and/or to diagnose brain tumors and epilepsy

Question 4

EEG AO3

Answer 4

:) - high temporal resolution
researcher can take real time recordings
accurate measure of general brain activity
provides greater insight, increasing validity

Question 5

ERP’s

Answer 5

• electrodes placed on scalp
• stimulus presented many times to individual, activity measured in same way as EEG
• only responses that link to presentation left
• graphed, baseline measure shown with test line
• used to study a range of cog processes (memory)

Question 6

ERP AO3

Answer 6

:) - high temporal resolution
identify brain activity every millisecond so researchers see activity in real time

:( - low spatial resolution
only detect general brain activity rather than specific location

:( - hard to obtain meaningful data
affected by external factors
can take many trials as is hard to control EV’s
limits validity

Question 7

Post Mortems

Answer 7

• brain dissected after death
• brain compared with neurotypical brain
• mainly used on people with rare disorder
• used to identify parts of brain (eg Broca’s)

Question 8

Post Mortems AO3

Answer 8

:) - only invasive method meaning more detailed examination can be achieved
can study deeper areas of brain
increasing validity

:( - hard to establish cause and effect
many EV’s that cant be easily controlled
makes more challenging to interpret role of brain areas
limits validity