Ways of Studying the Brain (fMRI and EEG) Flashcards
1
Q
What are ways of studying the brain used for?
A
- Gives us important insight into underlying foundations of behaviour and mental processes
- Aid in medical diagnosis of illness
- Can be used to investigate localisation
2
Q
What does fMRI stand for?
A
Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging
3
Q
Describe how fMRIs work
A
- Measure changes in brain activity while a person performs a task
- Detect change in blood oxygenation and flow that are caused by neural activity in specific brain areas.
- The more active a brain area is, the more oxygen it uses so blood flow is then directed to this area (haemodynamic response)
4
Q
What do fMRIs produce?
A
- A dynamic 3D map of the brain (activation map)
- Activation maps show which parts of the brain are involved in specific processes
5
Q
Give disadvantages of fMRIs
A
- fMRI images shows activity approx. 1.4s after it occurs (poor temporal resolution)
- As they measure changes in blood flow, it’s not a direct measure of neural activity in some brain areas. So it’s not a quantitative measure of mental activity in these brain areas
- fMRIs overlook the networked nature of brain activity, as it focuses on localised activity in the brain. So it doesn’t show communication among regions which is claimed to vital to neural function
6
Q
Give advantages of fMRIs
A
- They’re more objective and reliable than subjective reports by participants. It’s useful to investigate psychological phenomena that people wouldn’t be capable of providing in verbal reports
- It’s noninvasive as it doesn’t involve insertion of instruments into body, nor exposing the brain to harmful radiation.
- They are more accurate, within 1-2nm (high spatial resolution)
7
Q
What does EEG stand for?
A
Electroencephalogram
8
Q
Describe how EEGs work
A
- Measures electrical activity in the brain
- Electrodes placed on scalp detect small electrical charges, in the form of action potentials, resulting from the activity of brain cells
- When electrical signals from different electrodes are graphed over a period of time, the resulting representation is an EEG
9
Q
What can EEGs be used?
A
- To detect various brain disorders (epilepsy) or to diagnose other disorders that influence brain activity (Alzheimer’s)
- e.g. EEG readings in patients with epilepsy show spikes of electrical activity. EEG patterns in patients with brain disease or injury show slowing of electrical activity
10
Q
What are the 2 properties and patterns of EEGs?
A
- Properties: Amplitude (intensity or size of activity), frequency (speed or quantity of activity)
- Patterns: Synchronised (recognisable patterns - alpha, beta, theta, delta), desynchronsied (no pattern)
11
Q
Describe examples of the 4 EEG patterns
A
- When someone is awake but relaxed, alpha waves are recorded
- When someone is physiologically aroused, their EEG patterns shows low amplitude and fast frequency beta waves. Beta waves are also found in REM sleep when eyes move rapidly.
- Delta and theta waves occur during sleep.
- As persons moves to deep sleep, alpha waves decrease and replaced first by lower frequency theta waves and then by delta waves
12
Q
Give advantages of EEGs
A
- Provides a recording of the brain’s activity in real time, every millisecond so it has great temporal resolution, rather than a still image of a passive brain. This means that the researcher can accurately measure a task or activity with the brain associated with it
- An EEG is useful in clinical diagnosis, e.g. by recording the abnormal neural activity associated with epilepsy. Epileptic seizures are caused by disturbed brain activity, which means that normal EEG reading suddenly changes. This helps diagnose whether someone experiencing seizures has epilepsy
13
Q
Give disadvantages of EEGs
A
- As an EEG can only detect the activity in superficial regions of the brain, it can’t reveal what’s going on in the deeper regions e.g. hypothalamus or hippocampus. Electrodes can be implanted in non-humans to achieve this, but it’s not ethically permissible to do this with humans as this would be too invasive.
- Electrical activity can be picked up by several neighbouring electrodes, therefore the EEG signal is not useful for pinpointing the exact source of an activity. As a result, it doesn’t allow researchers to distinguish between activities originating in different but closely adjacent locations in the brain