Studying the brain

Question 1

Post Mortem examinations

Answer 1

• Researchers look at the brain to find abnormalities
• Jacpop’s post mortem exam of Hm showed he had a problem with his hippocampus
• Cotter found a link between depression and a reduced amount of glial cells in the frontal lobe

Question 2

FMRI

Answer 2

Measures a change in brain activity when performing tasks. Measures changes in blood flow. If an area of the brain becomes more active, there is an increased demand for oxygen. The brain responds to this by increasing blood flow

Question 3

EEG

Answer 3

Measures electrical activity in the brain. Electrodes placed on the scalp detect small electrical changes. Graphed over a period of time. Can be used to detect brain disorders. Alpha waves, BETA waves, delta waves and theta waves

Question 4

ERP

Answer 4

Small voltage changes in the brain that are triggered by stimuli. Any extraneous neural activity that is not related to stimulus will not occur consistently.
Waves occurring before 100ms are “sensory”
Waves occurring after 100ms are “cognitive”

Question 5

A03: PROS AND CONS of FMRI

Answer 5

Pro: Does not involve insertion of needles and no radiation
Pro: Offers reliable and objective measure of physiological processes

Con: Isn’t a direct measure of neural activity as the blood flow changes
Con: Overlooks communication as a factor to mental function

Question 6

A03: PROS AND CONS EEG

Answer 6

PRO: Real-time recording not a still image
PRO: Useful in clinical diagnosis e.g epilepsy

CON: Cannot reveal hippocampus and hyperthalamus activity
CON: Can’t pinpoint the exact location of activity

Question 7

A03: PROS AND CONS ERP

Answer 7

PRO: Determine how processing is affected by a specific experimental manipulation
PRO: Measure the processing of stimuli in the absence of behaviour

CON: Large number of trials to get accurate data
CON: Only strong changes are recorded

Question 8

A03: PROS AND CONS POST-MORTEM

Answer 8

PRO: Allow a detailed exam
PRO: Enables exams of the hippocampus and hypothalamus
PRO: Harrison - PME helped understand schizophrenia

CON: The way people die can influence the exam
CON: Retrospective as the person is already dead. Researcher is unable to follow up on any relationships between brain abnormalities and cognitive functioning