Edexcel GCSE Biology 1BI0
Key Concepts in Biology
Cells and Control
Genetics
Natural Selection and Genetic Modification
Health, Disease and the Development of Medicines
Plant Structures and Their Functions
Animal Coordination, Control and Homeostasis
Exchange and Transport in Animals
Ecosystems and Material Cycles
Cells and Control
Investigating and treating the brain
- 3 things to know
- Paper 1
Overview
Why the brain and spinal cord are hard to investigate and treat, how CT and PET scans work and what each reveals, how scans link brain regions to functions, and the limits of surgery, radiotherapy, chemotherapy and drugs for brain tumours and spinal cord injury.
What you need to know
Answer each one before you reveal it.
Describe how a PET scan is produced.
What can a PET scan reveal that a CT scan cannot?
Questions from this subtopic
Each one with the model answer underneath.
- 1
Why is the living brain difficult to investigate directly?
Model answer
It is enclosed inside the skull and its tissue is extremely delicate, so it cannot easily be reached or examined.
- 2
What type of radiation is used to produce a CT scan?
Model answer
X-rays.
- 3
What does a CT scan show about the brain?
Model answer
A detailed image of the brain's structure, which reveals damaged regions such as a bleed or a tumour.
- 4
Describe how a PET scan is produced.
Model answer
The patient is given a radioactive tracer, and the scanner detects where the tracer collects to show which regions are most active.
- 5
What can a PET scan reveal that a CT scan cannot?
Model answer
How active each region of the brain is while the person is doing something, rather than only its structure.
- 6
Explain how scans have allowed scientists to link regions of the brain to particular functions.
Model answer
Scans taken while people carry out different tasks show which region becomes active, and scans of injured patients show which region has been lost when a function fails.
Other ways to work this
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