Studying the brain Flashcards
(19 cards)
What does fMRI stand for?
Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging
What does fMRI measure?
Oxygenated blood flow in the brain
What does fMRI use to measure the brain?
Magnets
What does EEG stand for?
Electroencephalograms
What does EEG measure?
Wave patterns
What does EEG use to measure the brain?
Electrodes on the scalp
What does ERP stand for?
Event-Related Potential
What does ERP measure?
Electrical activity via wave patterns
What does ERP use to measure?
Electrodes on the scalp
What are some strengths of fMRI?
Good spatial resolution - resolution of 1mm, able to be precise with brain regions
Non-invasive - Participants are protected from injections of potentially harmful substances
What are some weaknesses of fMRI?
Poor temporal resolution - 5-second delay, meaning some information may not be detected
Expensive - requires specialist equipment and skilled personnel
What are some strengths of EEG?
Applications = EEGs have been used in understanding sleep patterns e.g. discovering REM
Good temporal resolution - they can show changes in brain activity over time
What are some weaknesses of EEG?
Unrepresentative - Electrodes may be placed inaccurately or may move during procedure
Poor spatial resolution - they do not show brain activity of specific brain areas, only overall brain wave activity
What are some strengths of ERP?
Cheap - Likely to be utilised much more widely, making conditions such as epilepsy easier to diagnose
Good temporal resolution - they can show changes in brain activity over time
What are some weaknesses of ERP?
Unrepresentative - Electrodes may be placed inaccurately or may move during procedure
Poor spatial resolution - they do not show brain activity of specific brain areas, only overall brain wave activity
What does PME stand for?
Post-Mortem Examinations
What does PME include?
Examining the brain after death to determine the cause of behaviours or dysfunction experiences when the patient was alive
What are some strengths of PME?
Ethics - Researchers can study the brain without inflicting pain on a living person, as long as the patient has given consent for this to take place in an ethical way
Applications - PME can help clinicians to confirm a diagnosis that PET scans could not diagnose with 100% confidence e.g. Alzheimer’s
What are some weaknesses of PME?
Informed consent - It is not always possible for researchers to obtain fully informed consent for PME as their ability may be compromised by their disorder
Ecological validity - It is difficult to compare PME slices of a brain after death with functioning before death
