Important Methods for Studying the Brain



Important Methods for Studying the Brain

|Accidents & Lesions |

|Method |How It Works |Advantages |Disadvantages |

|Accidents (e.g. |Examine an individual’s behavior after |Allows for educated guessed about links |Little or no experimental control |

|Phineas Gage) |experiencing damage to a specific part of|between brain structure & function |Issues associated with case studies |

| |the brain due to an accident |Allows research on fluke circumstances that | |

| | |are impossible/unethical to recreate in lab | |

|Lesions (removal, |Examine an individual’s behavior after |Allows for educated guessed about links |Little or no experimental control |

|destruction of part of|suffering brain damage due to disease, |between brain structure & function |Issues associated with case studies |

|brain) |psychosurgery, genetic factors, etc. |Allows research on fluke circumstances that | |

| | |are impossible/unethical to recreate in lab | |

|EEG & Neuroimaging Techniques |

|Method |How It Works |Advantages |Disadvantages |

|Electroencephalogram |Amplified recording of brain’s electrical|High temporal resolution |Low spatial resolution |

|(EEG) |activity (“brainwaves”) via electrodes |Non-invasive, painless procedure | |

| |placed on scalp | | |

|Computerized Axial |X-ray cameras rotate around head, |High resolution images of brain structure |Potential damage due to high radiation |

|Tomography (CAT, CT) |combining images into 3D picture of brain|Allows direct view of level of interest |levels |

|scan |structure | |No information about brain function |

|Positron Emission |Tracks brain’s consumption of radioactive|Allows researchers to examine which brain |Radiation injection |

|Tomography (PET) scan |glucose injection, providing images of |areas consume most energy in a given task, |Lengthy process |

| |brain function |thus providing info about brain function |Expensive equipment needed to create |

| | | |radioactive isotopes |

| | | |No information about brain structure |

|Magnetic Resonance |Strong magnetic field causes |Allows researchers to examine brain structure |Can be an uncomfortable, claustrophobic |

|Imaging (MRI) |disorientation of atoms in brain; |without exposure to radiation involved with CT|experience |

| |reorientation = signal as to soft tissue |scan |No information about brain function |

| |density (picture of brain structure) |Non-invasive, painless procedure | |

|Functional Magnetic |Type of MRI that detects amount of |High spatial resolution (3-6 millimeters) |Can be uncomfortable, claustrophobic |

|Resonance Imaging |bloodflow in different brain regions |Non-invasive, painless procedure |experience |

|(fMRI) |(proxy for oxygen consumption; brain |Quick imaging process | |

| |function) | | |

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