Biopsychology

Question 1

Sperry

Case studies of split brain patients

Answer 1

Patients with epilepsy had an operation that removed their corpus callosum

Words projected to the left (Right hemisphere) did not seem to register as was unable to produce speech (Broca area)

But when asked to draw with left hand what saw they successfully drew the projected image despite inability to put into words

Question 2

Boyke et al

Answer 2

Found evidence of plasticity in 60 year olds when taught a new skill - juggling. They found it increases in grey matter in the visual cortex. But when practicing stopped the changes reversed.

Question 3

Danelli

Answer 3

Italian boy EB
Left hemisphere removed age 2 1/2 to remove a tumor.
With intensive therapy, his right hemisphere was able to take over almost all of the functioning that would normally be done in the left

An example of maximum plasticity

Question 4

Siffre

Answer 4

Found that the absence of external cues significantly altered his circadian rhythm:
When he returned from an underground stay with no clocks or natural light, he believed the date to be a month earlier than it was.
So he believed that his 24-hour sleep-wake cycle increased by the lack of external cues, making him believe one day was approx 25-30 hours

Question 5

Duffy et al

Answer 5

‘Morning people’ - about 6 am and 10 pm
‘Evening people’ about 10 am and 1 am

This demonstrates that there may be innate individual differences in circadian rhythms, which suggests that researchers should focus on these differences during investigations as they would effect research into biological rhythms