Strengths

• EEG

  • Has proved invaluable in the diagnosis of conditions like epilepsy (random bursts of activity are easily detected on screen)
  • Similarly, contributed to our understanding iod the stages involved in sleep
  • Has extremely high temporal resolution
  • can accurately detect brain activity at a resolution of a single millisecond
• ERPs

  • Excellent temporal resolution, leading to their widespread use in the measurement of cognitive functions and deficits.
  • Researchers have been able to identify many different types of ERPs and describe the precise role of these in cognitive functioning; e.g. the P300 component is thought to be involved in the allocation o attentional resources and the maintenance of working memory
• Post-mortem

  • Evidence was vital in providing a foundation for early understanding of key processes in the brain
  • Paul Broca and Karl Wernicke both relies on post-mortem studies in establishing links between language, brain and behaviour decades before neuroimaging ever became a possibility
  • These studies improve medical knowledge and help generate hypotheses for further study
• fMRI

  • It does not rely on radiation like other scanning techniques i.e PET
  • If done correctly, it is virtually risk free, non invasive and straightforward to use
  • Produces images that have very high spatial resolution, depicting detail by the millimetre, and providing a clear picture of how brain activity is localised