ways of studying the brain

• post mortem examinations provide detailed anatomical analysis of the brain structure, that cannot be achieved with scanning techniques.
• ERPS are able to pinpoint localisation of function
• EEGs are useful in clinical diagnosis, for example in detecting epilepsy.
• fMRI scans are reliable and objective ways of studying the brain
• The anatomy of the brain can be studied focusing on abnormalities in brain. Patients with briain damage or mental illness may have their rians compared to typical brains.
• in an fmri scan, when the brain is more active, it consumes more oxygen, directing blood flow to the area showing on the 3d scanned image it produces.
• EEG/ERPs have good temporal resolution as they take readings every millisecond.
• EEg?

  ERps have poor spatial resolution, making it difficult to detect small changes in activity
• EEG/ERP are both non - invasive.
• synchronised patterns of brain activity are recognised waveforms on the an EEg scan.
• EEg scans are ofen used to record sleep patterns (REM sleep).
• there are four types of egg patterns alpha waves beta waves theta waves and delta waves.
• fMRI scans only measure changes in blood flow so is impossible to infer causation.
• fMRI scans have poor temporal resolution, this refers to the accuracy of the scanner in relation to time, or how quickly the scanner can detect changes in brain activity. usulaly there is a 1-4 second lag behind.
• fMRI scans have good spatial resolution. this refers to the smallest feature (or measurement) that a scanner can detect.
• fMRI brain scans are non-invasive making them more ethical.
• when haemoglobin is released for use byb active neurons, it becomes deoxygenated and can be detected by the fMRI scanner.
• As deoxygenated haemoglobin has a different magnetic quality from oxygenated haemoglobin, an fMRI scan can detect the difference.
• There can be ethical issues in relation to informed consent and whether or not a patient provides consent before his/her death. Where university students are in some cases told to experiment or practice procedures on cadavers like dentistry students practice taking apart the skull of a cadaver.
• Post-mortem examinations are ‘invasive’ but this is not an issue because the patient is not alive anymore.
• Post-mortem examinations provide a detailed examination of the anatomical structure as well as neurological aspects of the brain, that is not possible with other scanning techniques.
• Medication a person may have been taking, their age, and the length of time between death and post-mortem examination, are all confounding factors that make the conclusions of such research questionable.
• There are many extraneous factors that can affect the results of a post-mortem examination, making reliable conclusions more difficult.
• An issue with post-mortem studies is identifying the cause and effect.
• Iverson (1979) examined the brains of deceased schizophrenic patients and found that they all had a higher concentration of dopamine, especially in the limbic system, compared with brains of people without schizophrenia.
• A post-mortem examination is when researchers study the physical brain of a person who displayed a particular behaviour while they were alive that suggested possible brain damage.
• ERPs use similar equipment to EEGs (electrodes attached to the scalp), however, they present stimuli to people and the researcher looks for activity related to that stimulus.
• EEGs measures electrical activity through electrodes attached to the scalp. Small electrical charges that are detected by the electrodes are graphed over a period of time, indicating the level of activity in the brain
• An EEG works on the premise that information is processed in the brain as electrical activity in the form of action potentials or nerve impulses, transmitted along neurons.
• An fMRI creates a dynamic (moving) 3D map of the brain, highlighting which areas are involved in different neural activities.
• • fMRI works on the premise that neurons in the brain which are the most active (during a task), use the most energy. Saved (4)
  • fMRI is a brain-scanning technique that measures blood flow in the brain when a person performs a task.
• Post-mortem examinations are conducted on the anatomy of the brain, which is studied after death to investigate any possible brain d
• electroencephalogram (EEG)
• event related potentials ERP
• functional magnetic resonance imaging(fMRI)