Biopsychology year 2 P2 // The Brain

Question 1

what are 4 localisation functions of the brain we need to know?

Answer 1

1. somatosensory
2. Visual centre
3. Auditory centre
4. Language centres (broca’s area and Wernicke’s area)

Question 2

what is meant by localisation functions of the brain somatosensory?

Answer 2

detects and processes densory inputs from the body. produces the sensation of touch, pressure, pain and temperature. located in both hemispheres

Question 3

what is meant by localisation functions of the brain Visual centre?

Answer 3

eyes transmit info from the left part of the visual field to the right visual cortex and vice versa. located in the backk of the brain in the occipital lobe.

Question 4

what is meant by localisation functions of the brain auditory?

Answer 4

processes and detects sounds. info from right ear goes mainly to the left hemisphere and vice versa. located within the temporal lobes in both hemispheres.

Question 5

what is meant by localisation functions of the brain language centre: brocas area?

Answer 5

produces speech, people who have brocas aphasia lack fluency in their speech. located in the frontal lobe of the left hemisphere.

Question 6

what is meant by localisation functions of the brain language centre: wernickes area?

Answer 6

helps us to understand language, people who have wernickes aphasia make up nonsense words. located in the left temporal lobe by the auditory cortex

Question 7

what is a strength of localisation of function in the brain?

Answer 7

helped the development of brain scans eg. fMRI scans have helped produce scientific evidence that different areas of the brain do perform different functions. eg. broca’s area was active when reading aloud.

Question 8

what is a weakness of localisation of function in the brain? 1

Answer 8

evidence that challenges: removed 10-50% of cortex in rats that were learning a route through a maze. no area was more important than the other, so learning involved every part of the cortex not localised areas.

Question 9

what is a weakness of localisation of function in the brain? 2

Answer 9

fails to take into account individual differences in language centres e.g. females having larger brocas and wernickes area than males - gender (beta) bias - gender differences are ignored.

Question 10

what is meant by hemispheric lateralisation in the brain?

Answer 10

where some functions of the brain are dealt with one hemisphere and not the other. the brain consists of two hemispheres and connected by the corpus callosum so info can travel from one to the other.

Question 11

what three things is the left hemisphere responsible for?

Answer 11

• speech and language
• processing fine details
• logical and mathematical

Question 12

what three things is the right hemisphere responsible for?

Answer 12

• visual and spatial porocessing
• processes the bigger picture
• emotions and recognises faces

Question 13

what study suggests the that the idea of lateralisation has validity?

Answer 13

brain lateralisation enabled a chicken to forage for food and remain vigilant for predators - advantage, therefore an effective way of processing info

Question 14

what evidence has challenged the idea that lateralisation of function is not a fixed characteristic?

Answer 14

reported a patient who had suffered damage to the left hemisphere but developed a capacity to speak using his right hemisphere.

Question 15

how and why do patients form a split brain?

Answer 15

how: surgery to sever the corpus callosum that connects the two hemispheres so they cannot communicate.
why: control severe epilepsy to help control seizures.

Question 16

who conducted studies into split brain patients?

Answer 16

roger sperry

Question 17

what were the procedures of Sperry’s study?

Answer 17

patient would fixate on a dot in the centre of the screen while info was presented to either the right or left visual field. Would then be asked to make responses either with their left hand (controlled by RH) or right hand (controlled by LH) without being able to see what their hands were doing.

Question 18

what three different activities did sperry get his patients to do?

Answer 18

1. ask pps to describe what they can see
2. ask pps to recognise objects by touch
3. ask pps to process composite words

Question 19

what happened when pps where asked to describe what objects they can see?

Answer 19

• if shown to the right visual field: easily describe what they saw as info was processed to the left hemisphere where the language centres are.
• if shown to left visual field: said nothing was there because info was processed in right hemisphere where there are no language centres.

Question 20

what happened when pps where asked to recognise objects by touch?

Answer 20

• could pick up correct matching object with left hand when image was projected to left VF because spatial info is processed in RH

Question 21

what happened when pps where asked to process composite words?

Answer 21

two words (e.g. that represent an object such as key ring) were presented simultaneously, key on the left, ring on the right. patients would pick up a key with their left hand (RM) and say the word ring (LH)

Question 22

how is this supportive evidence for hemispheric lateralisation?

Answer 22

indicates LH is in charge of speech and RH is involved in visual and spatial processes. shows the two hemispheres need to communicate and contribute to their own processes for successful functioning.

Question 23

what evidence challenges the discoveries from split-brain research?

Answer 23

patient developed the capacity to speak using the right hemisphere - language may not be exclusively limited to the LH.

Question 24

what is a methodological issue with split brain research ?

Answer 24

split brain patients are very rare. In sherry’s research there was only 11 patients - difficult to generalise confidently about brain functioning from small numbers. individuals already has serious problems with brains cannot assume that their response is the result of the two hemispheres being separated.

Question 25

what is meant by brain plasticity?

Answer 25

refers to the brains ability to change and adapts its store and processes. Eg. in response to experiences and learning or trauma from illness (functional recovery of the brain.)

Question 26

when does our brain have he maximum number of synaptic connections?

Answer 26

age three, adult brain has half

Question 27

describe the study into London taxi drivers.

Answer 27

participants had more grey matter in their hippocampus than a matched control group did, the longer they had been a taxi driver, the bigger volume of their hippocampus.

Question 28

describe how meditation can have affect on the brain.

Answer 28

grow and thicker cortex related to attention and sensory processing. also study found after 4 weeks of meditation produced an increase in white matter (axons) in the anterior cortex - helps self control.

Question 29

what is meant by functional recovery of the brain?

Answer 29

if a part of the brain becomes damaged after trauma then undamaged parts of the brain step in and take over the role of affected part - it is. demonstration of brain plasticity.

Question 30

what are the processes involved in functional recovery?

Answer 30

NEURONAL UNMASKING - when area becomes damaged the flow of neural impulses become diverted through dormant synapses which opens up new connections.

Question 31

what happens to the structure of the brain during functional recovery of the brain?

Answer 31

• axonal spouting leads to neutrons to grow additional axons

- new blood vessels form to support the development of new neuronal structures.

Question 32

what evidence is there to support functional recovery of the brain?

Answer 32

Gabby Gilfords - shot in the head and put into a coma. however learned to walk and has control with left arm and leg, read and understand speech. therefore brain made new connections using neurons.

Question 33

why is research into functional recovery alpha bias?

Answer 33

women may be able to recover better from brain trauma than men - brains are less strongly lateralised than mens differences between men and women are ignored and could have a negative impact on recovery.