Brain studying

• Brain studying-

  Spatial resolution- spatial Accuracy to see the exact place of where activity occurs.

  Temporal resolution- accuracy of the scan with its time compared to time of the activity.
• Brain studying-

  fMRI- functional magnetic resonance imaging

  • detects change in blood oxygenation and flow as result of neural activity
  • creates a 3D image, showing the parts involved in the mental processes
  • 1-2 mm spatial resolution
  • 5 sec temporal resolution
• Brain studying-

  EEG- electroencephalogram

  • uses electrodes attached to the scalp to measure electrical brain activity shown in a graph
  • takes place over time seeing the activity of thousands of neurones- overall brain activity
  • Low spatial resolution
  • 1-5 millisecond temporal resolution
• Brain studying-

  ERP- event related potential

  • measures small voltage charges in relation to different activities
  • electrodes attached to the scalp, measuring electrical brain activity
  • low spatial resolution
  • 1-10 millisecond temporal resolution
• Brian studying-

  Post-mortem

  • Study of the dead and bare brain
  • able to see underlying conditions/abnormalities
  • used to explain differences in the persons behaviour
  • no spatial or temporal resolution
• Brain studying-

  fMRI- evaluations

  S- not relying on radiation, making it simple, non-invasive, risk free.

  S- High spatial resolution, accurate images

  W- expensive

  W- low temporal resolution, may not actually represent the current brain activity

  W- small sample

  W- not appropriate for everyone due to the small space, time consumption and noise
• Brain studying-

  EEG- Evaluations-

  S- able to identify conditions involving large bursts of energy (epilepsy)

  S- high temporal resolution, giving high accuracy

  W- generalised energy captured
• Brain studying-

  ERP- evaluations-

  S- low spatial resolution

  S- high temporal resolution

  W- lack of standardisation between studies

  W- pure data must eliminate all extraneous variables (noise), which is difficult
• Brain studying-

  Post-mortem- evalutaions

  S- detailed view of abnormalities

  S- no personal distress

  W- cant see abnormalities in activity

  CPW- ethical issue of informed consent

  CPS- beneficial study- lots of answers