biopsychology-Brain functioning Flashcards
what is the localisation of function
that different areas of the brain are responsible for different processes and behaviours
what are neuroscientists now trying to do
map the brain for functions using neuroimaging studies
prior to neuroimaging studies how did scientists understand the localisation of function
using post-mortem examination eg-patient Tan
what is the role of the motor cortex
controls body movement
where does the motor cortex send messages
motor cortex sends messages to the muscles via the brain and spinal cord
what is the role of the somatosensory cortex
percieves touch, pressure, pain and temperature
what is the function of the occipital lobe
processes visual information
what is the function of the auditory cortex
processing acoustic information
what is Brocas region responsible for
speech production
what occurs in people with Brocas aphasia
they have speech which is slow, laborious and lacking in fluency
which is wernicke area responsible for
understanding language and accessing words
which parts of the brain are organised contralaterally
motor cortex
somatosensory cortex
visual cortex
which parts of the brain aren’t organised contralaterally
auditory cortex
which parts of the brain are lateralised to the left hemisphere
-Brocas area
-Wernickes area
what is brocas and wernickes aphasia
brocas aphasia- Inability to produce language
Wernick’s aphasia-the inability to understand language
2 pieces of supporting evidence for the localisation of function
-patient tan
-tulving
what did tulving find
He asked participants to carry out a pet scan
greater activations in the anterior regions of the cortex when thinking about episodic memories
-and greater activation in the posterior regions when thinking retrieving semantic information
showing different parts of the brain had different functions.
patient tan
had an inability to produce language and had damage to his Brocas area through a post-mortem examination
what was some apposing evidence for Tans research
Dronkers found that tan had damage to areas outside of Brocas area so the damage to other areas may have contributed to the failure in speech production
what other factors can impair brain function
- Ignored the importance of communication between the brain regions as impaired communication can impair brain function.
Dejerine-Patient who struggled to identify written words had damage to neurons between Wernicke’s area and the visual cortex.
what does it ignore between people
- Ignores individual differences in brain organisation
Bavelier found when different people read they use different part of their brain.
what is some evidence against the localisation of function
Danelli found that patient EB Had his left hemisphere removed which meant he initially had no language skills however after rehabilitation he was able to regain these language skills This wouldn’t be possible if these skills are lateralised to the left hemisphere
how are the two hemispheres connected
corpus callosum-bundle of axons which enables communication between the 2 hemispheres.
what is some supporting evidence for hemispheric lateralisation
Sperry-presented images to the patients right or left hemisphere. If they were asked to point to one of four pictures They could do regardless of which hemisphere it was presented to
If patients were asked to verbally describe the image they could only do so if the image was presented to their left hemisphere He concluded that language is hemispherically lateralised to the left hemisphere
what are some limitations of split-brain research
- Involves a small number of patients with brain abnormalities so may lack generalizability and population validity
- brain abnormalities may be a confounding variable
- Not all findings have been replicated-eg-patient EB
what is some evidence against hemispheric lateralisation
19% of left handed people have language centres in the right hemisphere
so language isn’t always hemispheric ally lateralised to the left
how is understanding brain lateralisation useful
Doctors can make conclusions about behaviour depending on which area of the brain was damaged so they can rehabilitate people back into work and they can boost the economy
what is brain plasticity
Brain plasticity is the ability of the brain to change and adapt this allows for functional recovery and allow us to learn
this is as the brain is malleable
what are 2 pieces of supporting evidence for brain plasticity
-Maguire
-Mechelli
what did Maguire find
-Maguire-compared the brain of taxi drivers who had memorised the entire map of London with a control group. They had an increase in area in the hippocampus.
what did mechelli find
compared to monolingual people bilingual people had a larger parietal cortex.
what is functional recovery
when the brain regains function after brain damage.
what are the 3 methods of functional recovery
synapse strengthening
rewiring
neuronal unmasking
what is synapse strengthening
when the likelihood of nerve impulses being transferred between 2 neurons increases This occurs when there’s an increase in the number of neurotransmitters released or the number of postsynaptic receptors
what is rewiring
New neuronal connections are formed between neurons that weren’t previously connected via synapse.
Axons that used to communicate with the damage brain regions rewire and form connections with near by brain regions
what is neuronal unmasking
When silent synapses become active again. This reveals connections between brain regions
what are some practical applications of functional recovery
schneider found that the more years you had in education the more likely you we to have disability free recovery
what are the limitations of the extent of functional recovery
Elbert studied brain plasticity in children and adults and found that children’s brains are more plastic than adults
this shows that there are individual differences in recovery.
