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Ways of Studying the Brain, post-mortem examinations (PME), Evaluation of…
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- post-mortem examinations (PME)
- This is a technique that involves the analysis of a person’s brain following their death.
- Likely to be carried out on those who have a rare disorder and have experienced unusual deficits in mental processes or behaviour:
- Areas of damage within the brain are examined after death as a means of establishing the likely cause
- May also involve comparison with a neurotypical (healthy) brain in order to see the extent of the difference
- Post-mortem (PM) evidence was vital in providing a foundation for early understanding of key processes in the brain.
- Both Broca & Wernicke relied on PM studies in establishing links between language, brain, and behaviour decades before neuroimaging began
- Still help to improve medical knowledge and help generate hypotheses for further study. (case of HM – memory)
-WEAKNESSES
- Causation is an issue within these investigations:
- Observed damage may not be linked to the deficits under review but to some other unrelated trauma or decay.
- PM studies raise ethical issues of consent from the patient before death particularly informed consent
- e.g. case of HM who lost his ability to form memories and was not able to provide such consent
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