Ways of studying the brain

• The brain is the main focus of neuroscience. Studying the brain gives us important insights into the underlying foundations of our behaviour and mental processes. A variety of methods are used by research scientists in order to study the functions of different areas of the brain
• Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) is a technique for measuring changes in blood flow in particular areas of the brain, which indicates increased neural activity in those areas. If a particular area of the brain becomes more active, there’s an increased demand for oxygen in that area
• The brain responds to this extra demand by increasing blood flow, delivering oxygen in the red blood cells. As a result of these changes in blood flow, researchers are able to produce maps showing which areas of the brain are involved in a particular mental activity
• Electroencephalogram measures electrical activity in the brain. Electrodes placed on the scalp detect small electrical charges resulting from the activity of brain cells. When electrical signals from the different electrodes are graphed over a period of time, the resulting representation is called an EEG. EEG data can be used to detect various types of brain disorder or to diagnose other disorders that influence brain activity
• Event-related potentials are very small voltage changes in the brain that are triggered by specific events or stimuli. ERPs are difficult to pick out from all the other electrical activity being generated within the brain at a given time. To establish a specific response to a target stimulus requires many presentations of the stimulus and these responses are then averaged together
• ERPs can be divided into two categories. Waves occurring within the first 100 millisecomes after presentation of the stimulus are termed ‘sensory’ ERPs as they reflect an initial response to the physical characteristics of the stimulus ERP
• Post-mortem examinations are used to establish the underlying neurobiological of a particular behaviour
• The use of post-mortems studies has also been used to establish a link between psychiatric disorders and underlying brain abnormalities