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Psychology Paper 2 > Biopsychology - Localisation > Flashcards

Biopsychology - Localisation Flashcards

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1
Q

What is localisation of brain function?

A

The theory that specific areas of the brain are associated with particular physical and psychological functions

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2
Q

What is the main whay to divide the brain?
Explain all you know

A

2 hemispheres
Left and right

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3
Q

What are the 2 very important areas of the brain that you need to know of?

A

Broca’s area
Wernicke’s area

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4
Q

Describe the location of broca’s and Wernicke’s area in the brain

A
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5
Q

What is a big difference between the 2 hemispheres?

A

Language is only found on the left hand side

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6
Q

What is Broca’s area responsible for?

A

Production of speach

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7
Q

What is Wernicke’s area responsible for?

A

Language comprehension

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8
Q

What does the central core do?

A

The central core regulates our most primitive and involuntary behaviours such as breathing, sleeping or sneezing

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9
Q

What is the central core also know as?

A

The brain stem

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10
Q

What does the central core include?

A

Hypothalamus, cerebellum and brain stem and hippocampus

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11
Q

What is homeostasis?

A

The process by which the body maintains a constant physiological state

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12
Q

What does the limbic system control?

A

Emotions
It has key roles in memory

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13
Q

Where is the limbic system (with reference to the central core)?

A

It is located around the central core of the brain, and is interconnected with the hypothalamus

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14
Q

Name structures that is in the limbic system?

A

Hippocampus and amygdala

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15
Q

What does the cerebrum do?

A

This regulates our higher intellectual processes

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16
Q

What is the outer most layer of the cerebrum called?

What colour is it, why?

A

Cerebral cortex

It appears to be grey because of the location of the cell bodies (of grey matter)

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17
Q

Why is the cerebral cortex important?

A

Each of our sensory systems sends messages top and from it

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18
Q

What is the cerebrum made out of?

A

The left and right hemisphere which are connected by a bundle of fibres called the corpus collosum (the fibres consist of grey matter)

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19
Q

Label the different lobes of the brain?

A

All you need for a 5 is the different lobes

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20
Q

Label where on a brain you will find the specific areas for:
Motor
Visual
Auditory
Somatosensory

A
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21
Q

What does somatosensory mean?

A

Somatosensory is the location for awareness of our surroundings and consciousness of what we arfe doing within our environment (our consciousness)

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22
Q

What does the corpus collosum enable to happen?

A

It enables messages to be communicated between the right and left hemispheres

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23
Q

What can each hemisphere be subdivided into?

A

Frontal lobe
Parietal lobe
Temporal lobe
Occipital lobe

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24
Q

What is functions is the occipital lobe in charge of?

A

Vision

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25
Q

What is functions is the temporal lobe in charge of?

A

Analysis of speech based information

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26
Q

What is functions is the parietal lobe in charge of?
(Motor functions)

A

Responsible for controlling voluntary movements

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27
Q

What is counterintuitive about the parietal lobe?

A

The left hand side of the body is controlled by the right hemisphere and vice versa

28
Q

What does damage to the parietal lobe cause?

A

Impaired movements

29
Q

What is functions is the parietal lobe in charge of?
(Somatosensory bit)

A

Responds to: heat, cold, touch, pain
Our sense of body movement

30
Q

What is Broca’s aphasia?

A

When there is damage to Broca’s area people have trouble with speech production leading to non fluid speech and gramatical errors

31
Q

What is Wernicke’s aphasia?

A

When people have damaged Wernicke’s area they have trouble understanding speach, so people may not answer questions accurately

32
Q

What are the positive evaluations for the theory of localisation of brain function?

A

Brain scan evidence
Neurosurgical evidence
Case study evidence

33
Q

What are the negative evaluations of the theory of localisation of brain function?

A

Higher cognitive functions are not localised
Neuroplasticity

34
Q

Explain the positive evaluation of the theory of localisation of brain function: Brian scan evidence?

A

Peterson et al (1988) - used brain scans to demonstrate how Wernike’s area was active during a listening task and how Broca’s area was active during a reading task – which suggests that these areas of the brain have different functions

most experiments in this area are highly scientific and they are reliable studies as they are objective

Tulving et al (1994) found:
semantic memory is in our left pre frontal cortex
epsotic memory is in right pre frontal cortex
procedural memory is in cerebellum
information is encoded in our hippocampus

35
Q

Explain the positive evaluation of the theory of localisation of brain function: Neurosurgical evidence?

A

Successful lobotomies, leukotomies
Dougherty et al (2002) lesioning of the cingulate gyrus (damaging a gyrus that may be causing maladaptive behaviours)

Thy success of all of these processes is strong evidence that symptoms and behaviours associated with serious mental health disorders are localised

36
Q

Explain the positive evaluation of the theory of localisation of brain function: case study evidence

A

Gage had a mental pole penetrate his left cheek and exited at the frontal lobe.
He survived but suffered serious personality changes
Before he was kind and reserved
After he was boisterous and rude

This shows localisation of brain function as only some characteristics changed not all of them. This is one of the first case studies that indicated that behaviour resides in the frontal lobe

37
Q

Explain the negative evaluation of the theory of localisation of brain function: higher cognitive functions are not localised?

A

The work of Karl Lashley (1950) suggested that the basic motor and sensory function are localised but that higher mental functions were not

Rats who had 10-50% of their cortex removed were used to show that no area of a rats brain is more or less important in the rats ability to solve as maze - this shows that the process of learning requires the whole brain and is not localised - this suggests that more complicated functions are too complicated to be localised

38
Q

Explain the negative evaluation of the theory of localisation of brain function: Neuroplasticity

A

Original research in biopsychology believed in localisation of function. Meaning that certain area of the brain were ONLY able to perform certain functions. However, plasticity research has showed us that the brain can remap itself and create compensatory adjustments.

39
Q

What are the other ways to say plasticity of the brain?

A

Neuroplasticity, cortical remapping, reformation of axons

40
Q

What is denervation?

A

The loss of nerve supply, inactivity and atrophy of muscle fibre

41
Q

What is plasticity?

A

The brains tendency to change and adapt as a result of experiences and new learning

42
Q

What is denervation super sensitivity/hyper sensivity?

A

It is the sharp increase of sensitivity of post synaptic membranes to a chemical transmitter after denervation.
It is a compensatory change meaning that it won’t completely fix the problem

43
Q

When do people have the highest number of synaptic connections?
Give a numerical value and an age.

How does this compare to the regular adult?

A

2-3 years old
15,000

Twice as many as there are in the average adult

44
Q

What is cognitive pruning?

A

The process of which rarely used synaptic connections are denervated and frequently used synaptic connections are strengthened

45
Q

What does cognitive pruning show?

A

It shows that the brain is in a continual state of change as we learn and experience

46
Q

Give some examples of how plasticity can have a negative effect?

A

Prolonged drug use leading to poorer cognitive functioning
Old age being associated with dementia

47
Q

In terms of plasticity what does trauma do to the brain, how does it recover, how can you help it recover?

A

Neurons may be damaged and therefore neighbourhood neurons are also affected

Therefore, to help fix it you need to stimulate the undamaged neighbourhood neuron or healthy hemisphere to aid plasticity

After trauma this may happen very quickly (spontaneous recovery) and then it slows down

48
Q

What factors may affect the recovery of the brain after trauma?

A

Traumatic events
Stress
Social interaction
Meditation
Emotions
Learning
Paying attention
Diet
Exercise
New experiences

49
Q

Explain the case of Gabby Giffords?

A

After a shooting, Gabby was placed in a waking coma by doctors
Within months she made staggering progress - with the aid of physical rehabilitation she was able to walk under supervision with perfect control of he left arm and leg and he was able to write with her left hand
She could also read, understand and speak in short phrases

50
Q

What dis doctors suggest about Gabby’s case?

A

That Gabby’s progress would place her in the top 5% of people recovering from serious brain injury

51
Q

Why is Gabby’s case important?

A

It shows that the brain can heal itself

52
Q

What are the positive evaluations of neuroplasticity?

A

Practical applications
Age and plasticity
Support from animal studies
The concept of cognitive reserve

53
Q

What are the negative evaluations of neuroplacticity?

A

Negative plasticity

54
Q

Explain the positive evaluation of neuroplasticity: Practical application

A

Understanding of plasticity has contributed to the field of Nero-rehabilitation
After injury spontaneous recovery tends to start fast then slow down after a few weeks so physical therapy may be required
Nero-rehabilitation also includes movement therapy and electric simulation to. Counter the deficits in the motor and or cognitive functions

55
Q

Explain the negative evaluation of neuroplasticity: Negative plasticity

A

When the brain repairs itself it can lead to maladaptive behaviours and consequences
Medina et al (2007) shows that drug use results in poorer cognitive function as well as increased risk of dementia
60%-80% of amputees have been known to develop phantom limb syndrome. The occurrence of this is thought to be due to cortical reorganisation in the sensory cortex

56
Q

Explain the positive evaluation of neuroplasticity: Age and Plasticity

A

The brain is more able to repair itself when you are young as it is constantly adapting to new experiences and learning one study in 2012 showed how 40 hours of golf training produced changes in neural representations in movement in participants aged 40-60 using a fMRI researchers observed reduced moor cortex activity in the newer golfers rather than controls, suggesting more efficient neural representations after training
(This study supports that your neuroplasticity changes as we age)

57
Q

Explain the positive evaluation of neuroplasticity: Animal studies

A

Hubel and Wiesel (1963) - sewed 1 eye of a kitten shut and analysed the brain’s cortical response
They found that the are of the visual cortex associated with the shut eye was not idle but continued to process information about the open eye
This supports neuroplasticity

58
Q

Explain the positive evaluation of neuroplasticity: the concept of cognitive reserve

A

Schneider et al (2014) discovered that the more time a brain injury patient had spend in education (which was taken as their cognitive reserve) the greater their chances of disability-free recovery (DFR)
2/5 of patients who achieved a DFR had 16 or more years in education
1/10 of patients that achieved a DFR had less that 12 years in education

59
Q

What is hemispheric lateralisation?

A

The dominance of one hemisphere of the brain for particular psychological or physiological functions

60
Q

When does synaptic pruning occur?

A

Synaptic pruning occurs when unused neurones become irrelevant

61
Q

Explain the process of plasticity?

A

Plasticity is supported by the following structural changes in the brain:

Axon sprouting: This is when new nerve endings grow and connect with undamaged areas

Reformation of blood vessels: the creation of new blood vessels to support new axon sprouting and pathways

Recruitments of homologous areas of the brain: when other areas may start to assist in a process to improve it or so that it isn’t completely lost

62
Q

State maguires research

A

Studies taxi driver brains and found significantly more grey matter in the posterior hippocampus than in the matched controlled group. They also positive evaluation between length of job and mass of grey matter

63
Q

What is the posterior hippocampus in charge of?

A

Development of spacial and navigational skills

64
Q

Explain further studies about plasticity of the brain?

A

Images of medical students brains 3 months before and after their final exams were taken
They found learning induced changes in the posterior hippocampus and parietal cortex

Someone found that bilingual participants had larger parietal lobes than monolingual controls

65
Q

Why may meditation effect the ability of plasticity?
What about for other factors

A

Make it up such as mediation would lead to ower cognition due to the calming effect making plasticity more effective.

66
Q

Explain the negative evaluation of localisation of brain function: Neuroplasticity

A

research in biopsychology believed in localisation of function. Meaning that certain area of the brain were ONLY able to perform certain functions. However, plasticity research has showed us that the brain can remap itself and create compensatory adjustments.

Psychology Paper 2 (10 decks)

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