Ways Of Investigating Brain Flashcards
(12 cards)
What does functional magnetic resonance imaging do?
Measures brain activity in specific areas by detecting associated changes in blood flow.
What does the Electroencephalogram do?
Measures electrical activity within the brain via electrodes using a skull cap. Records brain wave patterns by millions of neutrons producing characteristic patterns
What do Event related potentials do?
They are responsible for isolating specific responses of neutrons to specific stimuli or tasks.
Can be extracted from EEG readings.
What are post mortem examinations?
Used for correlating behaviours before death with brain structures after death.
Likely done to people with rare conditions.
Strengths of functional magnetic resonance imaging.
Doesn’t rely on radiation unlike previously used PET scans.
Completely risk free.
Limitations of functional magnetic resonance imaging.
Can only capture clear image when person remains still.
Poor temporal resolution because of 5 second lag time between activity in brain and image on screen.
Strengths of an electroencephalogram.
Invaluable in diagnosis of epilepsy.
Greatly contributed to our understanding of the stages of sleep.
High temporal resolution unlike fMRI scans as no lag time.
Limitations of an electroencephalogram.
Not useful for pinpointing exact source of neural activity.
Can’t distinguish specific activities as it provides a general image.
Strengths of event related potentials.
Limitations of EEG are partially addressed through the use of ERPs.
More specific than EEG.
As they are derived from EEGs they have high temporal resolution.
Limitations of Event-related potentials.
Lack of standardisation in methodology of ERP in different studies so is harm to confirm findings.
To get pure data, all extraneous variables must be controlled for example; background noise.
Strengths of post mortem examination.
Vital to provide foundation for early understanding of processes in the brain E.G. Broca and Wernicke.
Studies improve medical knowledge and provides hypotheses for future studies.
Limitations of post mortem examination.
Issues of causation, damage may not be linked to deficits under review and could be linked to unrelated trauma or decay.
Ethical issues of consent from participant before death.
