Biopsychology - Localisation And Lateralisation Of Function In The Brain

Question 1

What is the holistic theory of brain function?

Answer 1

The theory that all parts of the brain were involved in the process of thought & action

Question 2

What is localisation of brain function?

Answer 2

The theory that states different areas of the brain controls specific physical/behavioural functions in the body

Question 3

What are the 4 lobes of the brain?

Answer 3

Temporal
Occipital
Frontal
Parietal

Question 4

What is lateralisation of brain function?

Answer 4

The theory that states different hemispheres of the brain control specific physical/behavioural functions in the body

Question 5

How does these two theories differ from the holistic theory?

Answer 5

They both go into more detail whereas the holistic theory puts down all behaviour & function to the whole brain

Question 6

What does it mean by saying the brain is ‘contralateral’?

Answer 6

The different hemispheres control the opposite side of the body’s function e.g. left hand side -> right hemisphere

Question 7

What is the outer layer of the brain called?

Answer 7

The cerebral cortex

Question 8

What is the cerebral cortex also known as & how thick is it?

Answer 8

Grey matter -> 3mm thick

Question 9

What does the frontal lobe do?

Answer 9

Controls movement, problem solving, concentration, thinking, behaviour, mood & personality

Question 10

What does the temporal lobe do?

Answer 10

Controls hearing, language & memory

Question 11

What does the parietal lobe do?

Answer 11

Controls sensations, language, perception, body awareness & attention

Question 12

What does the occipital lobe do?

Answer 12

Controls vision & perception

Question 13

What does the cerebellum do?

Answer 13

Controls posture, balance, coordination & movement

Question 14

What does the brain stem do?

Answer 14

Controls vital functions e.g. consciousness, breathing & heart rate

Question 15

What are the 2 areas in the brain?

Answer 15

Broca’s area
Wernicke’s area

Question 16

What are Broca’s & Wernicke’s area

Answer 16

Language centres of the brain?

Question 17

How did Broca discover Broca’s area?

Answer 17

He visited a patient who could only say Tan, when he died, his brain & several other patients with the same speech problems were cut open & he found damage to their left frontal hemisphere. This led him to conclude there was a language centre in this part of the brain that is critical for speech production

Question 18

Specifically, What does Broca’s area control?

Answer 18

Speech production

Question 19

What happens if there is damage to Broca’s area?

Answer 19

Broca’s aphasia -> problems with producing fluent speech (or any speech at all)

Question 20

What led Wernicke to discover Wernicke’s area?

Answer 20

After Broca’s area was discovered, Wernicke discovered that some of Broca’s patients could understand speech, but couldn’t talk, people with issues in Wernicke’s area could speak but couldn’t understand language. He discovered that language involves both motor & sensory regions of the brain so Broca’s & Wernicke’s area are linked

Question 21

What happens if someone has an issue with Wernicke’s area?

Answer 21

Wernicke’s aphasia -> difficulty understanding & assigning meaning to speech

Question 22

What is the motor cortex?

Answer 22

Responsible for voluntary motor movements
Both hemispheres have a motor cortex that controls the muscles on the opposite side of the body
Different parts of the motor cortex exert control over different parts of the body & the regions are arranged logically next to the other e.g. foot & leg regions

Question 23

Where is the motor cortex located?

Answer 23

The frontal lobe, along the precentral gyrus

Question 24

What is the somatosensory cortex?

Answer 24

The cortex that detects sensory events from different parts of the body
Uses sensory information from the skin & produces sensations of touch, pressure, pain & temp, which is then localised to the specific body regions
There are 1 in both hemispheres which control the sensory info, of the opposite side

Question 25

Where is the somatosensory cortex found?

Answer 25

In the parietal lobe along the postcentral gyrus

Question 26

What is the postcentral gyrus?

Answer 26

Area of the cortex that processes the sensory information related to touch

Question 27

What is the visual centre of the brain?

Answer 27

1 in each hemisphere (contrilateral)
Contains several different types of visual info. E.g. shape/colour

Question 28

Describe how a visual stimulus is interpreted by the brain?

Answer 28

Light enters & strikes the photoreceptors in the back of the eyes, nerve impulses from the retina are then sent to the optic nerve. Some of them travel to the areas of the brain involved in coordinating circadian rhythms, but majority terminate at the thalamus & pass the information to the visual cortex

Question 29

Where is the visual centre located?

Answer 29

In the visual cortex, in the occipital lobe

Question 30

What is the auditory centre of the brain?

Answer 30

The part of the brain is concerned with hearing

Question 31

Describe how an auditory stimulus is interpreted by the brain?

Answer 31

Sound waves are converted to nerve impulses, which travel via the auditory cortex. The nerve then stops at the brain stem, where it is decoded (e.g. duration & intensity of a sound). It then goes to the thalamus, where the stimulus is processed further. The stimulus then goes to the auditory cortex, where it is recognised & may result in an appropriate response

Question 32

Where is the auditory centre located?

Answer 32

The temporal lobes on both hemispheres

Question 33

What is the brain stem & what is its function?

Answer 33

Regulates involuntary behaviours e.g. breathing/sleeping/sneezing
Includes the hypothalamus (in the midbrain
Regulates eating, drinking & the endocrine system -> to maintain homeostasis

Question 34

What it’s the limbic system?

Answer 34

Part of the brain that controls emotions
It’s around the central core of the brain, interconnected with the hypothalamus (contains the hippocampus -> key roles)

Question 35

What is the cerebrum & what is its function?

Answer 35

Regulates our higher intellectual processes
Has outermost layer as cerebral cortex (grey matter)
Made up of left & right hemispheres which are connected by the corpus callosum