Ways of studying the Brain

• Post-mortem examination - Looking at the damage on the physical brain after someone has died; need to know the behaviour of the patient before they died so the behaviours can be linked to the potential damage
• Post-mortem examination strengths - deeper examination of the structure of the brain
• Post-mortem examination weaknesses - potentially unethical
• Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) - Measures the energy released by haemoglobin after a magnetic field is removed; blood moves to the part of the brain being used when completing a task as it requires more oxygen; A 3D image can be constructed and activation maps can be produced to show which part of the brain is used in particular mental processes
• Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) strengths - Gaining a moving image of the brain instead of a static picture is useful to doctors as they can see the brain 'in action'; objective method; fantastic spatial resolution (accurate to 1mm)
• Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) weaknesses - expensive compared to EEGs so smaller sample sizes; poor temporal resolution (up to 6 seconds delay between activity of the brain and it showing on the scan)
• Electroencephalograms (EEGs) - Electrodes placed on the scalp, which measure the general electrical activity of the cells under each electrode; no stimulus shown; able to see any dead parts of the brain as no electrical activity visible; the more electrodes, the more accurate the measurement
• Electroencephalograms (EEGs) strengths - strong temporal resolution; non-invasive; cheap apparatus compared to fMRIs
• Electroencephalograms (EEGs) weaknesses - poor spatial resolution; tend to only measure the cerebral cortex (outside of the brain)
• Event Related Potentials (ERPs) - Uses the same electrodes as the EEG but look for specific brain activity in response to certain stimuli
• Event Related Potentials (ERPs) strengths - strong temporal resolution (immediate); non-invasive; cheap apparatus compared to fMRIs
• Event Related Potentials (ERPs) weaknesses - poor spatial resolution (gaps between electrodes); tend to only measure the cerebral cortex (outside of brain)
• Spatial resolution - how many pixels make up the image; more pixels means more accurate
• Temporal resolution - how quickly what is happening in the brain shows up on the screen