The modern brain-imaging techniques have provided the opportunities for the psychologist to investigate the active brain. The brain-imaging technologies are useful in neuropsychology as they allow the researchers to examine the active brain. The brain-imaging technologies also enable the researchers to see where specific brain activities happen, therefore to study the localisation of function in the living brain. The correlations between activity and behaviour can be provided as well, even though the cause-effect relationship may not be able to be established because of the complexity of the structure of the brain.
There are different types of brain-imaging technologies. For example, the PET(positron emission topography), the MRI(magnetic …show more content…
Davidson aimed to observe the difference between the brain activity of those who meditate for a long time and those who have never done before. By using the PET scan, Davidson found that the monks who spent long time on meditation and two of the controls experienced an increase in the number of gamma waves which have linked to higher reasoning faculties in their brains. It is also found that the gamma-wave areas of the monk’s brains are larger than the controls during meditation. Those findings support Davidson to argue that the long-term of meditation could have significant effect in the brain. However, the cause-effect relationship could not be established because the experiment was not repeated and the other variables are not controlled. The results may not be generalised as well because the sample is not big enough and the gender is not considered in the study. The study was done in an almost ethical manner, but as the PET involves the radioactive component which might affect the participants. Because the PET produces the coloured map, the colour might exaggerate the real …show more content…
Iacoboni aimed to determine whether the brains of the observers would be stimulated as they are looking at the emotion expressed on someone’s face. The researcher asked the participants to observe the human faces while in an fMRI. The participants had to imitate the faces shown and then they watched as the faces shown again. The result turn up that the same area of the brain was activated both times. The limbic system was stimulated as observing a happy face activated pleasure centre in the brain. The study showed how the behaviour of observation has caused the effect in the brain. The study is done in an ethical manner. However, the result might not be reliable to establish a cause-effect relationship since the experiment is not repeated and the result might not be able to generalise to the population as the volume and variable of the participants is not clear.
However, Iacoboni’s study has used the biggest advantage of the fMRI which is that the fMRI can offer both the activities occur in the brain and the structure of the brain. It also offers higher resolution than the PET scans. The fMRI does not involve the radiation which is an advantage as well. But the fMRI requires the participant to stay still to capture a clear image which could be a disadvantage of the fMRI. The fMRI is expensive as
There are different types of brain-imaging technologies. For example, the PET(positron emission topography), the MRI(magnetic …show more content…
Davidson aimed to observe the difference between the brain activity of those who meditate for a long time and those who have never done before. By using the PET scan, Davidson found that the monks who spent long time on meditation and two of the controls experienced an increase in the number of gamma waves which have linked to higher reasoning faculties in their brains. It is also found that the gamma-wave areas of the monk’s brains are larger than the controls during meditation. Those findings support Davidson to argue that the long-term of meditation could have significant effect in the brain. However, the cause-effect relationship could not be established because the experiment was not repeated and the other variables are not controlled. The results may not be generalised as well because the sample is not big enough and the gender is not considered in the study. The study was done in an almost ethical manner, but as the PET involves the radioactive component which might affect the participants. Because the PET produces the coloured map, the colour might exaggerate the real …show more content…
Iacoboni aimed to determine whether the brains of the observers would be stimulated as they are looking at the emotion expressed on someone’s face. The researcher asked the participants to observe the human faces while in an fMRI. The participants had to imitate the faces shown and then they watched as the faces shown again. The result turn up that the same area of the brain was activated both times. The limbic system was stimulated as observing a happy face activated pleasure centre in the brain. The study showed how the behaviour of observation has caused the effect in the brain. The study is done in an ethical manner. However, the result might not be reliable to establish a cause-effect relationship since the experiment is not repeated and the result might not be able to generalise to the population as the volume and variable of the participants is not clear.
However, Iacoboni’s study has used the biggest advantage of the fMRI which is that the fMRI can offer both the activities occur in the brain and the structure of the brain. It also offers higher resolution than the PET scans. The fMRI does not involve the radiation which is an advantage as well. But the fMRI requires the participant to stay still to capture a clear image which could be a disadvantage of the fMRI. The fMRI is expensive as