biopsychology : split brain research and ways of studying the brain

Question 1

spit brain research

what is meant by hemispheric brain lateralisation?

Answer 1

when 2 different hemispheres are specialised to have different functions and some mental processes are controlled by one hemisphere

Question 2

spit brain research

what function is the left hemisphere specialised for?

Answer 2

language, computation, logical reasoning

Question 3

spit brain research

what function is the right hemisphere specialised for?

Answer 3

spatial reasoning, face recognition, music

Question 4

spit brain research

describe the procedure Sperry used to research split brain patients: how was information presented to make sure it was only processed by one hemisphere?

Answer 4

prodecure:
- 11 patients who had corpus callosum cut (separate hemispheres)
- patients given a fixation point to look at on one screen and image/word presented to left visual field or right visual field (eye)
- information could not be transferred by one hemisphere to another and therefore you can see the function of each hemisphere in isolation

Question 5

spit brain research

what were the responses of the split brain patients if word presented to RVF or LVF

Answer 5

RVF= say it, not write it
LVF= draw it, not say it

Question 6

spit brain research

what were the responses of the split brain patients if image presented to RVF or LVF

Answer 6

RVF= describe, not draw
LVF= draw, not describe

Question 7

spit brain research

ao3: why are there issues of generalisation from split brain research

Answer 7

because it is questioned wether the results can be generalised to ‘normal’ brains

Question 8

spit brain research

ao3: why was Sperrys research important

Answer 8

he showed the brain has lateralised functions, and that the right hemisphere can produce basic words and phrases and contributes to emotional and holistic content in language, and the left hemisphere is more geared towards analytic and verbal tasks

Question 9

spit brain research

ao3: what has happened to the differences between the 2 hemispheres

Answer 9

they have been exaggerated- not as different in ‘normal’ brains than split brains

Question 10

ways of investigating the brain

what is fMRI used to measure? give an example

Answer 10

used to measure brain activity while a person is preforming a particular task

Question 11

ways of investigating the brain

how does an FMRI work?

Answer 11

measures changes in blood oxygen levels as a result as neurological activity in the brain

higher oxygen levels mean those areas are more active

also detects radio waves from changing magnetic fields- live and shows what’s happening in brain

Question 12

ways of investigating the brain

ao3: why is it a strength that fMRI have high spatial resolution

Answer 12

it can locate the precise area in the brain where the function is taking place

Question 13

ways of investigating the brain

ao3: why is it a limitation that fMRI has poor temporal resolution

Answer 13

there is a time delay (around 5 seconds) between the brain preforming the function and the image produced

Question 14

ways of investigating the brain

what is EEG used to measure?

Answer 14

electrical activity in the brain via electrodes fixed to a persons scalp using a skull cap

Question 15

ways of investigating the brain

how does EEG work?

Answer 15

it produces a record of the tiny impulses produced by the brains activity, the scan recording represents the brainwave patterns that are generated from the action of millions of neurons, providing an overall account of brain activity.

Question 16

ways of investigating the brain

what disorders/processes has EEG help us understand

Answer 16

EEG is often used by clinicians as a diagnostic tool as unusual arrhythmic patterns of activity (i.e. no particular rhythm) may indicate neurological abnormalities such as epilepsy, tumours or disorders of

Question 17

ways of investigating the brain

ao3: EEG showed generalised activity throughout the brain- why is this a limitation

Answer 17

it isn’t useful for pinpointing the exact source of neurological activity and does not allow researchers to distinguish between activities originating in different but adjacent locations

Question 18

ways of investigating the brain

what are ERPS used to measure?

Answer 18

neural activity related to both sensory and cognitive processes

Question 19

ways of investigating the brain

how do ERPs work?

Answer 19

use electrodes that are attached to the scalp like an EEG, however stimulus is presented to a participant and researcher looks for activity related to that stimulus and uses statistical analysis filter to filter out background neural activity- records very small changes in brain triggered by stimuli

Question 20

ways of investigating the brain

give a strength of ERPS over using EEGs alone

Answer 20

data is derived from raw EEGs in superficial areas of the brain where activity is detected and have better temporal resolution , addresses the limitations of EEGs

Question 21

ways of investigating the brain

what are brain post morgen examinations used to measure?

Answer 21

analyses a persons brain following their death, individuals whose brains are subject to post-mortem are likely to be those who have a rare disorder, areas of damage within the brain are examined after death to establish likely cause of the harm the person experienced

Question 22

ways of investigating the brain

ao3: why is causation an issue with post morgen studies?

Answer 22

observed damage to the brain may not be linked to the defeicts under review but to some other unrelated trauma or decay

Question 23

ways of investigating the brain

ao3: what is the key advantage of post mortem studies compared to other ways of investigating the brain

Answer 23

post-mortem evidence was vital in providing a foundation for early understanding of key processes in the brain, Broca and Wernicke both relied on post-mortem studies in establishing links between language, brain and behaviour decades before other ways of investigation were introduced. they improved medical knowledge and helped generate hypotheses for further study.