ways of studying brain

• spatial resolution - accuracy of position of the brain stucture or activity
• temporal resolution - how accurate it is about when the brain activity takes place
• post mortem - dissecting the brains - given a treatment to give a firmer texture - cut up and compared to neurotypical brains
• brocas area - tan was given a post mortem - identified brocas area
• pro post mortem - high spatial resolution - microscopic structures can be studied
• con post mortem - happen after death so no cause and effect
• benefits of post mortem - improved knowledge
• fmri - functional magnetic resonance imaging
• fmri - uses large magnets to detect blood flow in the brain - active areas in the brain are compared to low activation areas with a lower blood supply and displayed
• fmri pros - creates detailed spatial images with high resolution - can precisly identify active area and see how brain changes over time
• fmri pros - no radiation - safe for experiments
• cons fmri - poor temporal validity - cannot identify time - delya between activation and blood supply
• con fmri - expensive
• eeg - electroencephalogram
• eeg - cap with electrodes - contact with scalp - read out from elctrodes is the total activation of the brain - displayed as brain waves
• waves - delta - theta - beta - alpha
• amplitude is size
• frequency is distance between the waves
• eeg pros - non invasive - non surgical
• eeg pros - cheaper than fmri
• eeg cons - lack of spatial accuracy
• eeg cons - can take up to 30 mins to place electrodes
• erp - event related potential
• erp - same techniques as eeg - looks at response to stimuli and averages the data
• pros erp - allows researcher to isolate and study individual variables
• cons erp - low spatial validity