2017

Question 1

Lotta’s grandmother suffered a stroke to the left hemisphere, damaging Broca’s
area and the motor cortex.

Using your knowledge of the functions of Broca’s area and the motor cortex,
describe the problems that Lotta’s grandmother is likely to experience.

Answer 1

as a consequence of damage to Broca’s area, Lotta’s grandmother is likely to suffer from
language/speech problems (Broca’s aphasia)
* it will affect her language production (but not her understanding)
* Lotta’s grandmother will only be able to talk in short meaningful sentences which take great
effort
* speech lacks fluency/difficulty with certain words which help sentences function (e.g. ‘it’ and
‘the’)
* as a consequence of damage to the motor cortex, Lotta’s grandmother is likely to suffer
from loss of muscle function/paralysis
* motor impairments on the right side of the body. This point is essential for 4 marks.
Credit other relevant material e.g. description of limited impairment due to bilateral language areas
in the brains of left-handed patients
Maximum 2 marks for answers which only address one area of the brain or do not refer to the
stem.
Note: reference to difficulties understanding speech, creating made up words or talking nonsense
should not be credited as this is referring to damage to Wernicke’s area.

Question 2

Explain the process of synaptic transmission.

Answer 2

electrical impulses (action potentials) reach the presynaptic terminal
* electrical impulses (action potentials) trigger release of neurotransmitters (or named
example)
* neurotransmitters cross the synapse from vesicles
* neurotransmitters combine with receptors on the postsynaptic membrane
* stimulation of postsynaptic receptors by neurotransmitters result in either excitation
(depolarisation) or inhibition (hyperpolarisation) of the postsynaptic membrane.
Credit other relevant material (eg labelled diagram – direction of transmission should be made
clear).
Note: for 4 marks explanation must describe the complete process (beginning, middle and end).

Question 3

Lotta worries that because of her grandmother’s age she will not be able to make
any recovery.

Using your knowledge of plasticity and functional recovery of the brain after
trauma, explain why Lotta might be wrong.

Answer 3

Lotta’s grandmother might still be capable of functional reorganisation/plasticity
* functional compensation by other undamaged areas
* although she is older her brain might still be able to form new connections (axons and
dendrites) between neurons
* neuronal loss may be compensated for by regeneration (axon sprouting)
* denervation supersensitivity to reduce the severity/extent of Lotta’s grandmother’s
impairment
* plasticity allows the brain to cope better with ‘indirect’ effects of brain damage resulting from
inadequate blood supply following a stroke
* references to increased brain stimulation of the opposite hemisphere, physiotherapy, etc to
enhance Lotta’s grandmother’s recovery
* reference to relevant studies on plasticity, eg suggesting women recover quicker than men
would be an effective way to illustrate key points, if directly linked to Lotta’s grandmother’s
recovery.
Credit other relevant material.
Note: not all the above are necessary for full marks.

Question 4

A researcher wants to investigate the effectiveness of physiotherapy in the
recovery of stroke patients with brain damage. Carers of stroke patients will be
sent questionnaires to produce quantitative data.

Explain one disadvantage of obtaining quantitative data in this study.

Answer 4

Marks for this question: AO2 = 2
1 mark for an accurate, relevant disadvantage of quantitative data eg lacks detail (which may
decrease validity of findings) etc.
Plus
1 mark for clear application regarding the negative impact of using quantitative data in this study
(such as rating a patient’s improvement).

Question 5

Write one question that could be used in the researcher’s questionnaire to
produce quantitative data and one question that could be used in the
researcher’s questionnaire to produce qualitative data.

Answer 5

Marks for this question: AO2 = 2
1 mark for an appropriate question which produces quantitative data, eg ‘On average how many
hours of physiotherapy does the patient receive per week?’
Plus
1 mark for an appropriate question which produces qualitative data, eg ‘How does physiotherapy
help your patients?’
Note: can accept relevant items that are not phrased as questions, eg describe… or rate….

Question 6

Outline and evaluate one or more ways of studying the brain.

Answer 6

Possible content:
Candidates are most likely to describe the techniques described on the specification (outlined
below) but examiners should be aware of other methods candidates may use such as lesion
studies or CAT/PET scans.
* fMRI – Uses magnetic field and radio waves to monitor blood flow; it measures the change
in the energy released by haemoglobin, reflecting activity of the brain (oxygen
consumption) to give a moving picture of the brain; activity in regions of interest can be
compared during a base line task and during a specific activity
* EEGs – electrodes are put on the scalp and detect neuronal activity directly below where
they are placed; differing numbers of electrodes can be used depending on focus of the
research
* ERPs – electrodes are put on the scalp and detect neuronal activity (directly below where
they are placed) in response to a stimulus introduced by the researcher
* post-mortem examinations – brain is examined after death to try and correlate structural
abnormalities/damage to behaviour.

Possible evaluation:
* fMRI captures dynamic brain activity as opposed to MRI/post-mortem examinations which
purely show physiology
* interpretation of fMRI is complex and is affected by temporal resolution, biased
interpretation and by the baseline task used
* fMRI research is expensive leading to reduced sample sizes which negatively impact the
validity of the research
* EEGs and ERPs are cheaper so can be more widely used in research
* EEGs and ERPs have poor spatial resolution
* post-mortem examinations may lack validity due to small sample sizes (as special
permission needs to be granted) and also due to neuronal changes during and after death
* advantages of investigating brain activity in humans rather than generalising from animal
lesion/single electrode recording studies (for validity and ethical reasons)
* comparisons between techniques is an effective source of evaluation marks
* research studies are creditworthy as long as they are effectively used to evaluate the
technique(s) described.
Credit other relevant material.