biopsych- localisation of brain function Flashcards
what is localisation
localisation there suggests that certain areas of the brain are responsible for certain processes, behaviours and activities.
what are brain hemispheres and hemispheric lateralisation
the brain is divided into two hemispheres the left and right
the dominance of one hemisphere of the brain for particular physical and psychological functions
what three layers can the human bran be viewed as
The central core
The limbic system
The cerebrum
what is the central code
This regulates our most primitive and involuntary behaviours such as breathing, sleeping or sneezing.
It is also known as the brain stem. It includes structures such as the hypothalamus-in the midbrain;
It regulates eating and drinking as well as regulating the endocrine system in order to maintain homeostasis.
what’s the limbic system
Controls our emotions
around the central core of the brain, interconnected with hypothalamus, it contains structures such as the hippocampus; key roles in memory
the cerebrum
This regulates our higher intellectual processes
it has an outermost layer known as the cerebral cortex; appears grey because of the location of cell bodies (hence “grey matter”
what is the cerebral cortex
the area around your brain
what are the four lobes that the brain is split into
frontal lobe
temporal lobe
pariental lobe
occipital lobe
where is the motor area/motor cortex
in the back of your frontal lobe
this controls voluntary movement on the opposite side of the body eg left motor area controls movement in the right side of the body
where is somatosensory cortex
front of left and right parietal lobe this is where sensory information from the skin is represented and receptors for our face and hands occupy over half of the somatosensory area
where is our visual cortex
in our occipital lobe
each eye sends information from the right visual field to the left visual cortex, vice versa
eg damage to the left hemisphere can produce blindness in part of the right visual filed in both eyes
where is our auditory area
in our temporal lobe damage hear can affect your auditory processing
what are the two extra named areas
brochas area
vernickes area
what Is brochas area
brooches area is in the left hand frontal lobe.
Lesions or damage in the brochas area can result in brochas aphasia, which is characterised by difficulty forming complete sentences and understanding sentences as well as failing to understand the order of words in a sentence and two they are directed towards
for example if they have a stroke
what is wrniickes area
this is located in the left temporal lobe
the left temporal lobe is responsible fo speach comprehension
Lesions or damage can result in wernickes aphasia which is characterised by a lack of understanding and producing sentences that make sence and no understanding of wrong words
name three supports for the idea of localisation
tulving(pet) and supported by Petersen
Phinneas gage=blasting rod
doughty-ocd
what is tulvings supporting evidence
Tulving et al demonstrated, using PET scans, that semantic memories were recalled from the left prefrontal cortex. This shows that different areas of the brain are responsible for different functions, as predicted by localisation theory.
who’s study further supported tulvings
Petersen (1988), who found that Wernicke,s area activation is required for listing tasks whereas brooks area is required for reading tasks whilst using a brain scan. This confirms the fact that wernickes area is involved in speech comprehension and brooks for language production
what is phones gages supporting case study
Phineas Gage was injured by a blasting rod which interesected the left side of his face, tearing through his prefrontal cortex. his personality changed as a result
however it can be hard to make. general conclusion from this as the personality change may have been from the traumatic event itself not the brain damage
what is the holistic view -
The holistic theory of brain function undermines that localisation of function occurs. Lashley (1950) conducted an animal study involving its and found that there was not specific areas involved in memory but instead memory was stored all over the brain this undermines the idea that specific parts of the brain person functions and is potentially invalid.
however there is a difference between rats and humans
