About the lecture

In this lecture, we think about how brain scanning techniques have helped us understand how the brain works, focusing in particular on: (i) the roles and locations of the hippocampus and the amygdala; (ii) dividing brain scanning techniques into those which measure electrical activity and those which measure oxygen and blood flow; (iii) magnetoencephalograms (MEG) and electroencephalograms (EEG) as recorders of electric activity in the brain; (iv) functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) and Positron Emission Tomography (PET) scans as recorders of blood flow and oxygen levels in regions of the brain; (v) a key criticism of the application of brain scanning techniques to further understanding of brain function being that it encourages a reductionist view of localised brain function, using Broca’s research to highlight this.

About the lecturer

Dr Ivana Babicova is a lecturer in psychology in the School of Social Sciences at Birmingham City University. Dr Babicova’s research interests are in dementia, pain assessment and positive psychology. Some of Dr Babicova’s recent publications include ‘Validation and evaluation of psychometric properties of PainChek®: an electronic pain assessment tool for people with moderate-to-severe dementia’ and ‘Pain in people with dementia: a systematic review and a meta-analysis of the effectiveness of observational pain assessment tools’ (2020).