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ways of studying the brain - Coggle Diagram
ways of studying the brain
advances in science and technology have lead to sophisticated and precise ways of studying the brain. these include scanning techniques to assess global neural activity or activity in specific parts of the brain when a person is carrying out a certain task
functional magnetic imaging
electroencephalogram
event related potentials
post moretem examinations
functional magnetic resonance imaging
measures activity of neurons by using magnetic field and radio waves to monitor vlood flow in the brain.
measures change in energy released by haemoglobin, which reflects the activity in the brain
when an area is more active it is releasing more oxygen, which means blood is directed to the active area - this then provides a moving picture of the brain to map activity in specific areas
strength
produces 3D images - high spacial resolution and provides information on localisation
weakness
expensive so has small sample sizes which can lead to issues with generalisation
poor temporal resolution (5 second time lag)
electroencephalogram EEG
EEG is a recoring of general brain activity usually linked to states such as sleep and arousal.
measure activity in the brain via electrodes that are fixed to an individuals scalp using a skull cap.
the recording represents the brainwave patterns that are generated from the action of millions of neurons
event related potentials (ERP)
elicited by stimuli presented to the ppt, types of brainwave triggered by a particular event
researchers have found a way of isolating responses, it is a statistical technique that filters out unessessary information
evaluation of EEGs and ERPs
high temporal resolution. +
this means researchers can be confident that the acticity shown is occuring at that point in time
cheaper
larger sample sizes, more generalisations
poor spacial resolution -
information is too generalised as it is from many thousands of neurons, this means they are not useful in pin pointing the exact area of neural activity
post mortem examinations
the brain is analysed after death to determine whether certain observed behaviours during the patient life can be linked to their brain
individuals with rare disorders and have experienced unusual defecits in mental processes are most likely to get a post moretom
strength
post moretom was vital in early understanding of key processes in the brain. for example broca and wernicke both relied on PM examinations for their research
weakness
special permission must be granted which leads to small sample sizes so research can lack validity
neuronal changes can occur during and after death. this means that it is difficult to establish if any brain differences identified were the cause of the behaviour when they were alive