biopsychology- hemispheric lateralisation Flashcards

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1
Q

hemispheric lateralisation

A

2 hemispheres of the brain are functionally different and that certain mental processes and behaviours are mainly controlled by one hemisphere rather than the other i.e. language

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2
Q

localisation of function

A

is the identification of function in a specific region of the brain e.g. the production of speech is localised to Broca’s area

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3
Q

lateralisation of function

A

the identification of a function in one hemisphere e.g. the right hemisphere specialised in visual-spatial processing and facial recognition

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4
Q

Which hemisphere processes the left visual field?

A

right hemisphere

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5
Q

Which hemisphere processes the right visual field?

A

left hemipshere

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6
Q

Where does the left visual field project to on the retina?

A

the nasal retina

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7
Q

where does the information sent to the contralateral hemisphere occur?

A

at the optic chasm

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8
Q

Which part of the retina does not send information to the contralateral hemisphere, and where is it sent?

A

Information from the temporal retina does not cross to the contralateral hemisphere, and instead sent to the ipsilateral hemisphere (same side)

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9
Q

At which point is the visual information combined, and which structure is involved?

A

Once the information reaches the cortex, it is shared across hemispheres via the corpus callosum

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10
Q

Where does the right visual field project information to?

A

the nasal retina of the right eye and the temporal retina of the left eye

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11
Q

What happens to visual information if the corpus callosum is severed?

A

Each hemsiphere will only have information from the contralateral visual field (from the temporal retina)

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12
Q

Which hemisphere is language largely processed in?

A

left

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13
Q

Which hemisphere are faces and facial emotion processed in?

A

right

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14
Q

Who conducted experiments on split-brain patients?

A

Sperry

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15
Q

What do we mean by ‘split-brain’ patients?

A

Surgery for intractable epilepsy involved severing the corpus callosum to prevent the spread of electrical discharge

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16
Q

What was Sperry’s experiment?

A

-used a divided field task, p’s look at dot located centrally on the screen. then visual info presented to left or right visual field for 0.1 seconds
-underneath screen was a table, p’s could feel but not see objects

17
Q

Why was the visual stimulus presented so briefly?

A

so p’s couldn’t orient their head to stimulus which would cause both hemispheres to receive info

18
Q

What happened when visual information was presented to the right visual field and why?

A

-subjects correctly recall the info as language processed in the contralateral left visual hemisphere

19
Q

What would happen when visual information was presented to the left visual field, and why?

A

-p’s would nit report being any in of as as contralateral right hemisphere doesn’t have access to verbal info w/o input of left hemisphere

20
Q

What happened when participants were asked to recognise objects presented to the left visual field by touch?

A

able to identify by touch with left hand as right hemisphere could process spatial info

21
Q

What happened when composite faces (composed of a female and a male face), and why?

A

-p would say ‘man’ but left hand select the woman
-left hemisphere had superior verbal description
-right superior matching a face to a picture.

22
Q

What do we conclude from work on split-brain patients?

A

-left hemisphere responsible for speech and language
-right hemisphere specialises in visual-spatial processing and facial recognition
-connectivity between regions is as important the operation of different parts

23
Q

ao3- superior processing in some split brain patients

A

E- luck et al. (1989) split brain p’s twice as fast at identifying odd one out in array of similar objects. Kim peek could read 2 pages in around 10 seconds, had perfect recall of 12,000 books. likely developed bilateral language centres
E- Kingstone et al. (1995) suggests the LH’s superior processing abilities are ‘watered down’ by the inferior right hemisphere
L- supports Perry’s findings of ‘left brain’ and ‘right brain’ distinct in functions and abilities

24
Q

ao3 hemispheric lateralisation- methodological issues, population validity

A

-sample 11 p’s
-may not be large enough sample to generalise
-may be inappropriate to make generalisations ab non-epileptic brain patterns from these p’s
-epileptic seizures could have made changes to the brain that could have affected the findings. confounding variable.

25
Q

ao3 hemispheric lateralisation- contradictory evidence

A

-Gazzaniga (1998) suggests some early discoveries of research have been disconfirmed by more recent ones
-patient JW developed capacity to speak out of right hemisphere. so could speak ab info presented to the right brain
-indicates brains ability to adapt and shows language may not be exclusively limited to left hemisphere
-may not be as simplified as Sperry indicated and challenges validity of research