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The document evaluates various brain scanning techniques, including CAT, MRI, fMRI, and PET scans, highlighting their advantages and disadvantages. While brain scans provide reliable measures of neural activity and can identify structural abnormalities, they also have limitations such as high costs, discomfort, and exposure to radiation. Each technique offers unique insights into brain function and structure, but accessibility and precision vary among them.

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4 views

Document 2

The document evaluates various brain scanning techniques, including CAT, MRI, fMRI, and PET scans, highlighting their advantages and disadvantages. While brain scans provide reliable measures of neural activity and can identify structural abnormalities, they also have limitations such as high costs, discomfort, and exposure to radiation. Each technique offers unique insights into brain function and structure, but accessibility and precision vary among them.

Uploaded by

ellieemb2007
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Brain Scans - general evaluation

+Provides a detailed and objective measure of neural activity which has little opportunity for bias
and can be seen as reliable.
+Unlike post mortem studies you can investigate neural activity in action (e.g. Raine’s study using a
continuous performance task) with live participants.
̅Scanning machines are expensive and therefore often inaccessible to researchers.
̅Some scans, such as PET scans may take a long time and be uncomfortable, which can reduce
number of people who wish to take part and isn’t suitable for everyone e.g people with
claustrophobia or conditions.

Brain scanning techniques: CAT or CT scans


• Computerised Axel Tomography CT scans
• Involves a series of x-rays
• Combined they can create two or three-dimensional pictures
• Torrey (2002) - found on average 15% larger ventricles with SZ than a control group - suggesting
brain deterioration is a cause.
Evaluation
+ Good for identifying structural abnormalities in the brain such as tissue damage.
+ Better quality than traditional x-rays
- They expose participants to more radiation than traditional x-rays and cannot be used on pregnant
women.
- Images are less detailed than MRI scans and cannot show the brain in action like PET scans

Brain scanning techniques: MRI & fMRI scans • Magnetic Resonance imaging MRI -- basic fMRI film
• Uses a magnetic field to change hydrogen atom alignment in the brain
• Produces two and three dimensional images
• fMRI scans also measure blood and oxygen flow in the brain to
create a functional image
• Maguire et al (2000) used MRI scans to demonstrate that London
taxi drivers had larger hippocampus than non-taxi drivers.
Evaluation
+ Provides a more detailed image of soft-tissue than CAT and PET scans
+ Does not use x-rays so poses less risk of harm than CAT scans – can be used several times in a short
period on the same participant.
- They take a long time and can be uncomfortable.
- Cannot show the brain in action like PET scans

Brain scanning techniques: PET scans • Positron Emission Tomography


• Administer a slightly radioactive glucose (sugar) tracers - injection.
• The most active parts of the brain use the glucose tracers.
• Radiation detectors ‘see’ the radioactive glucose tracers
• Can produce still and moving images of brain activity.
• Used by Raine et al (1997)
Evaluation
+ Can show the brain in action unlike CAT and MRI scans – use whilst conducting tasks
- More costly, thus less accessible, than CAT and MRI scans
- Less precise than MRI scans.

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