BIOPSYCHOLOGY - localisation of function in the brain Flashcards
what is localisation of function?
the idea that different areas of the brain are responsible for specific behaviours , processes or activities.
what is the holistic theory?
the idea that all parts of the brain are involved in the processing of thought and action
what is the motor area?
a region of the frontal lobe involved in regulating movement
damage to motor area causes…
loss of control over fine movements
what is the somatosensory area?
an area of the parietal lobe that processes sensory info such as touch
what is the visual area?
a part of the occipital lobe that receives and processes visual info
each eye sends info from the RVF to left visual cortex and from LVF to right visual cortex.
damage to the LH could cause..
blindness in part of the RVF for both eyes
what is the auditory area?
located in the temporal lobe and concerned with the analysis of speech- based infromation
damage to temporal lobe can cause…
hearing loss
what is Broca’s area?
- small area in left frontal lobe
- speech production
- damage = Broca’s aphasia - slow speech, lacks fluency
- difficulty with prepositions and conjunctions
what is Wernicke’s area?
- region in the left temporal lobe
- responsible for language understanding
- damage = Wernicke’s aphasia - nonsense words as part of their speech
give strengths of localisation theory?
+ damage has been linked to mental disorders
eg Dougherty et al (2002) said that 44 people who has undergone cingulotomy ( isolating region called the cingulate gyrus which has been implicated in OCD), 30% met criteria for successful response to surgery, 14% partial response
= behaviours associated with serious mental disorders may be localised
+ evidence from brain scans supports the idea that many everyday brain functions are localised.
Petersen et al found through a brain scan that Wernicke’s area was active during a listening task and Broca’s area was active during a reading task = objective methods provide scientific evidence that many brain functions are localised.
give limitations of localisation theory?
- Lashley removed areas of the cortex in rats that were learning the route of the maze = no area was proven to be more important than any other area in terms of the rats’ ability to learn the route = suggests that higher cognitive processes are distributed in a more holistic way.
- language may not be localised to just Broca’s and Wernicke’s areas
eg 2% of modern researchers think that language is distributed far more holistically. fMRI allows neural processes to be studied clearly which show that there are language streams across the cortex, including in the RH = contradicts localisation theory
