In: Psychology
Listed below are several ways that scientists map the brain. For each method explain how it works and what it can, and cannot, tells us:
Lesions
Electroencephalograph (EEG)
Computed tomography (CT Scans)
Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI)
Positron Emission Tomography (PET)
Functional MRI (fMRI)
Magnetoencephalography (MEG)
1) Lesions: This is done to find relationship between brain injury and behavioural impairments. It provides unique insights into clinical deficits. Voxel based lesion behaviour mapping has been proved to be a powerful method for understanding how the human brain looks like.
2) Electroencephalograph: This is an electrophysiological method to monitor and record the electrical activities of the brain. It is used to diagnose epilepsy, sleep disorders, coma, brain death, etc. It is widely used in neuroscience, cognitive science, cognitive psychology and psychophysiological research.
3) Magnetic Resonance Imaging: It is a medical imaging technique. It is used in radiology to take pictures of the anatomy and the physiological processes of the body. It is used for medical diagnosis, staging of diseases and follow up. It is a time consuming and a noisy scanning procedure.
4) Positron Emission Tomography: It is a nuclear medicine functional imaging technique. It is used to study metabolic processes in the body in order to diagnose diseases. It is both a medical as well as a research tool. It is also used in animals during pre-clinical studies. It is capable of detecting areas of molecular biology precision.
5) Functional MRI: It measures brain activity by observing changes linked to blood flow. The basic idea is, when an area of the brain is used, its blood flow also increases. It is used in research as well. Lie detectors are based on this technology. Scanning sessions can however get suffocating and noisy.
6) Magnetoencephalography: It is a functional neuroimaging technique. In this technique, brain activities are mapped by recording magnetic fields produced by electrical currents which occur naturally in the brain, due to the sensitive magnetometers. It is basically used in research of perceptual and cognitive brain processes. It can also be used to find abnormalities in the brain function.