Investigating the brain

• What are the four ways that we study the brain?

  Brain scanning techniques:

  • fMRI Scan
  • EEG Scan
  • ERP Scan

  Other:

  • Post-mortems
• What is spatial resolution?

  Spatial resolution refers to the smallest measurement that a scanner can detect.
• What is temporal resolution?

  Temporal resolution refers to how quickly the scanner can detect changes.
• How do fMRIs work?

  fMRI's measure the blood flow through the brain when a person performs a task and creates a dynamic (moving) 3D map of the brain. This means that fMRIs can highlight which areas of the brain are involved in different neural activities.
• Is an fMRI invasive or non-invasive?

  fMRI's are non-invasive.
• What is the temporal resolution of an fMRI scanner? Is it good?

  The temporal resolution of fMRI's is 1-4s which is poor.
• What is the spatial resolution of an fMRI scanner? Is it good?

  The spatial resolution of an fMRI is 1-2mm which is good.
• How do EEGs work?

  EEGs measure the electrical activity through electrodes attached to the scalp. Small electrical charges are detected by the electrodes that are graphed over a period of time, indicating the level of activity in the brain. The typical activity patterns observed in EEGs include; alpha, beta, delta and theta waves.
• Are EEGs & ERPs invasive or non-invasive

  EEGs and ERPs are both non-invasive. However, they are uncomfortable.
• What is the temporal resolution of EEG & ERP scanners? Is it good?


  The temporal resolution of EEG & ERP scanners is 1-10ms which is good.
• What is the spatial resolution of EEG & ERP scanners? Is it good?

  The spatial resolution of EEG & ERP scanners is poor, only being able to scan general superficial regions.
• How do ERPs work?

  These use similar equipment to EEGs however, the key difference is that a stimulus is presented to a participant and the researcher looks for activity related to that stimulus.

  Waves which occur within 100 milliseconds are termed sensory while waves which occur after 100 milliseconds are determined to be cognitive.
• What is a post-mortem and how does it work?

  A post-mortem is when a researcher studies the physical brain of a person who displayed a particular behaviour while they were alive that suggested possible brain damage. An example of this is Tan, Broca conducted a post mortem on Tan (he could only say "tan") and found lesions in Broca's area which is responsible for speech production.
• Is a post-mortem invasive or not?

  Post mortems are invasive however, the person is no longer alive.
• Post-mortems do not have a temporal or spatial resolution, however, they do enable researchers to perform a more detailed examination of the anatomical structure of the brain. In particular deeper regions like the hypothalamus and the hipposampus.