ways of investigating the brain Flashcards
functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI)
- detecs changes in blood flow and oxygenation as a result of brain activity
- haemodynamic response = blood flow is directed to the active area
- produces 3D images which show which areas of the brain are active during tasks
electroencephalogram (EEG)
- measures electrical activity using electrodes
- scans represent brainwave patterns which can help to diagnose certain conditions
event-related potentials (ERPs)
- the brains response to a specific trigger can be isolated through the analysis of EEG data
post-mortem examinations
- the brain is analysed after death to determine whether certain observed behaviours during the patient’s lifetime can be linked to abnormalities in the brain
strength of fMRIs
it doesn’t rely on the use of radiation which deems it minimally invasive and risk-free for the patient
limitation of fMRIs
can only measure blood flow in the brain and cannot identify individual neurons so can be difficult to identify the type of brain activity
strength of EEGs
invaluable in the diagnosis of conditions such as epilepsy as random bursts of activity can be identified on the screen
limitation of EEGs
generalised nature of the information received - not useful for identifying the exact source of the neural activity
strength of ERPs
excellent temporal resolution - especially when compared to other imaging techniques such as fMRIs and this has led to their widespread use in the measurement of cognitive functions
limitation of ERPs
in order to establish pure data in ERP studies, background noise and other extraneous variables must be eliminated which may be hard to achieve
strength of post-mortem examinations
allows psychologists to be able to fully discover the brain in a way that they wouldn’t be able to with scans
limitation of post-mortem examinations
raises ethical issues of consent from individuals before death
