Biopsychology-Localisation of Function Flashcards
What does localisation mean?
Different parts of the brain have specific responsibility for particular functions
What was Phineas Gage’s study and what did it show?
Phineas Gage had a ‘spanner’ located in one of his hemispheres which an accident that caused him to become more aggressive- this showed perhaps functioning of the brain was localised and there could be a particular area that controls particular functions in the body
How many lobes are there in the brain?
4-Frontal Lobe, Parietal Lobe, Temporal Lobe, Occipital Lobe
How is the brain hemisphered?
There are two hemisphere; each hemisphere containing the same 4 lobes -> each hemisphere mirrors the opposite hemisphere EXCEPT BOTH LEFT HEMISPHERE BROCA’S AREA AND WERNICKE’S AREA
Where are the lobes located in the brain?
Frontal Lobe-Top Left
Parietal Lobe- Top Right
What part of the body does the left hemisphere control?
The right part of the body
What part of the body does the right hemisphere control?
The left part of the body
Where is the motor cortex?
Parietal Lobe-Next to Somatosensory cortex and just outside of frontal lobe
What does the Motor cortex do?
-Responsible for voluntary motor movements
In what way is the Motor Cortex arranged ‘logically’ to help sustain injury and what is an advantage of this?
The region that controls the foot is next to the region that controls the leg -> if you suffer from a stroke, you only damage small section e.g. damage toe but can still move feet preventing amputation
What happens if the Motor cortex is damaged?
May result in loss of control over fine movements
Where is the Somatosensory Cortex?
In the Parietal Lobe, adjacent to the Motor Cortex
What does the Somatosensory Cortex do?
Deals with incoming sensory information
How does the Somatosensory Cortex deal with this incoming sensory information?
Uses the sensory info from the skin to produce sensation such as touch, pressure, pain, temperature which it then localises to specific body regions
Where is the visual cortex?
In the Occipital Lobe
How does the visual cortex work?
-Visual processing begins in retina- nerve impulses from retina travel to areas of brain via optic nerve- each eye sends info from RVF > Left Visual Cortex and LVF > Right Visual Cortex
Where are the Auditory Centres in the brain?
They are in temporal lobes on both sides of the brain
What does the auditory centre do?
It gives the ability to perceive sound
How does the auditory centre work?
Begins in Cochlea, sound waves are converted to nerve impulses
What happens if the auditory centre is damaged?
Damage may produce partial hearing loss; the more extensive the damage, the more extensive the hearing loss
What is a study that is against the idea that the brain is very localised in function?
Lashley (1950)- Experiment on rats, no matter what part of cortex removed, rats kept partial memory of maze; no area was proven to be more important than other- suggests learning is more complex than localisation and that learning requires all areas of the cortex- suggesting localisation may not be as precise as early researchers believed
Where is the Broca’s Area located?
In the frontal lobe (LEFT HEMISPHERE ONLY)
What is the Broca’s Area responsible for?
Responsible for speech production- clear and fluent
What did Paul Broca find?
Broca’s Aphasia:
- Damage to Broca’s Area
- Led to trouble with speech productions; speech consists of very short, simple sentences however reading and writing not as affected
Who is TAN?
Patient that could only say the word ‘TAN’
What was a study conducted on TAN and what did it show?
Dronkers et al (2007) conducted an MRI scan on Tan’s brain to try and confirm Broca’s findings:
- Found evidence to suggest other areas may have contributed to speech production failure
- Results suggest Broca’s area may not be region responsible for speech production
- Deficits found in patients with Broca’s aphasia could be the result of damage to other neighbouring regions
Shows Broca area has major role in speech production but may not be only one > not as localised as first thought > reduces validity
Where is the Wernicke’s Area located?
Located in temporal lobe (left hemisphere only)
What does the Wernicke’s area do?
- Responsible for language/speech comprehension
- Vital for locating appropriate words from memory to express meaning
What is damage to the Wernicke’s area called and what does it do?
Wernicke’s Aphasia
- Trouble with speech comprehension
- Can’t produce meaningful sentences, can string words together but what they say is nonsensical
