Biopsychology: Localisation of Function in the Brain Flashcards
What is localisation of function?
Specific brain areas are specialised for certain functions
What is holistic theory?
All parts of the brain work together when processing information
What is the role of Broca’s area?
Production of spoken and written language
What can damage to Broca’s area lead to?
Broca’s aphasia - A person Amy show slow speech or speech lacking in fluency or absence of speech
Where is Broca’s area?
Left hemisphere
What is the role of the motor cortex?
Creation of voluntary movements
What does damage to the motor cortex lead to?
Loss of control over fine movements, small movements on the opposite side of the body
What is the role of the somatosensory cortex?
Processes information from the senses in the skin. This includes touch, pressure pain and temperature.
What does damage to the somatosensory cortex lead to?
Difficulty in perceiving touch, failure to recognise object by touch
What is the role of the visual cortex?
Receives information directly from the eyes. Processes information such as colour and shape.
Damage to the visual cortex can lead to ,,.
Blindness, hallucination or inability to see colour or motion
What is the role of Wernicke’s area?
Involved in the understanding of language
What can damage to Wernicke’s area lead to?
Wernicke’s aphasia - cannot understand spoken language or produces nonsense words as part of speech.
What is the role of the auditory cortex?
Analyses speech based information e.g. hearing and pitch
What can damage to the auditory cortex lead to?
Partial hearing loss through to full hearing loss
In Broca’s research, what one word could the patient say?
Tan
What did Broca’s research show?
Language production is localised to one specific brain area
Which hemisphere did EB have removed?
Left hemisphere
What did EB manage to regain despite the loss of the left hemisphere?
Some of his language ability
What is the problem with the use of case study?
Lacks population validity
Hard to generalise findings
What has research found that contradicts that language is solely in the left hemisphere?
It may not always be in the left hemisphere. It may be in the dominant hemisphere
What did Lashley find to contradict localisation of function?
No area of the brain was more important than any other in terms of rats learning’s a maze
What do Lashley and EB provide support for?
Holistic Theory
