Ways of studying the brain - AO1 Flashcards
What are the four ways of studying the brain?
- Post mortems
- EEGs
- ERP
- fMRIs
What are post mortems?
Brain is analysed after death to determine the correlation between living behaviour and structural abnormalities
What are post mortems used on?
Most are carried out on people with rare disorders or particularly abnormal cognitive processes
Any areas of damage discovered may therefore be linked to functioning
Comparison to a neurotypical brain may be necessary to determine the extent of the damage and its impact on functioning
What are EEGs?
Electroencephalogram
EEGs involve connecting electrodes to a person’s scalp to detect the neuronal activity directly below where they are placed
These electrical impulses are recorded in graphs that represent brain waves that give an overall account of brain activity
What are EEGs used for?
Used by clinicians to determine arrhythmic patterns of acitivity that link to neurological abnormalities such as epilepsy or sleep disorders
What are ERPs?
Event related potential
- ERPs work under the same methods as an EEG in that electrodes are fixed to the scalp to detect neuronal activity
- ERPs are measures of brainwaves in response to a particular event, such as being presented with an image or other stimulus
- Using statistical averaging, extraneous brain activity can be filtered out to leave only the electrophysical response of the brain to a specific event
What are fMRIs?
Functional magnetic resonance imaging
* fMRIs use radiowaves to detect changes in blood oxygenation and flow as a result of neural activity
* When a brain area is more active, it consumes more oxygen and blood flow is directed to the active area - this is known as the haemodynamic response
* fMRIs give a 3D image of the brain known as an activation map, showing which parts of the brain are active during specific cognitive activities
What is high temporal resolution?
Precisly when activity occurs
What is high spatial resolution?
Precisly where brain activity occurs
