Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (FMRI)

• FMRI?


  measures blood flow to the brain when someone performs a task, neurons are most active during tasks that use the most energy.
• FMRI- method?


  depict and create a 3D moving map of the brain. highlighting the areas involved. shows activity 1-4 seconds after and accurate to 1-2mm
• Strength?


  non-invasive and is risk free, allows more patients/ppts to undertake fMRI scans which could help further data on the functioning of the human brain.
• Weakness?


  high cost and low practicality
• weakness?


  lack of precision makes interpretations difficult since areas that light up on images may overlap with different actions so hard to determine origin
• strength?


  good spatial resolution. allows psychologist to discriminate between different brain regions with greater accuracy. allows psychologists to determine the activity of different brain regions with greater accuracy.