Ways Of Studying The Brain

Question 1

What are the 4 ways of studying the brain?

Answer 1

• fMRI
• EEG
• ERPs
• Post-mortem examination

Question 2

What is an fMRI?

Answer 2

• A method used to measure brain activity while a performing a task
• When a brain area is ore active it consumes more oxygen, so to increase to reach this remand, blood flow is directed to the active area - known as ‘haemodynamic response’.

Question 3

What is an EEG?

Answer 3

• Record changes in electrical activity using electrodes attached to the scalp
• The scan recording represents the brainwave patterns that are generated from the action of millions of neurons, providing an overall account of brain activity.

Question 4

What is an ERG?

Answer 4

• Need an EEG to happen
• Record changes in electrical averaging technique using electrodes attached to the scalp, but a specific stimulus is used.
• Using a statistical averaging technique, all extraneous brain activity from the originals EEG recording is filtered out, leaving only those responses that relate to a specific stimulus or task.

Question 5

What is a postmortem examination?

Answer 5

• Examine the abnormalities in the structure of the brain.
• Tries to explain psychological abnormalities that people have before death.

Question 6

Give a pro and a con of an fMRI?

Answer 6

• Pro: Non-invasive - Does not use radiation so is risk free.
• High spatial resolution - by the mm
• Con: Expensive
• Poor temporal resolution - delayed by 5 seconds - may not show moment to moment

Question 7

Give a pro and a con of an EEG?

Answer 7

• Pro: High temporal resolution - can detect brain activity at a resolution of a single millisecond - moment to moment.
• Cheaper
• Con: Does not provide a complete picture of the brain
• Needs to be interpreted - requires level of expertise.

Question 8

Give a pro and a con of an ERG?

Answer 8

• Pro: High temporal resolution - can detect brain activity at a resolution of a single millisecond - moment to moment.
• Cheaper
• Con: Need to be interpreted
• Have background noise and extraneous material must be completely eliminated which is hard to do.

Question 9

Give a pro and a con of an Postmortem Examination?

Answer 9

• Pro: Allow for detailed examination and measurements to be taken of deep brain structures, like the hypothalamus, that are not measurable by brain scans can occur.
• Con: No brain activity can be measure - dead patient.