Brain and neuropsychology

Question 1

Frontal lobe function

Answer 1

• area at the front of the brain responsible for decision making and impulse control
• planning
• logic and abstract thought

Question 2

Function of Temporal lobe

Answer 2

• the area on the side of the brain that controls hearing and memory
• processes sound and language

Question 3

Function of cerebellum

Answer 3

the largest part of the brain where higher processing happens it includes the cortex
- takes in information from different senses then coordinates them into behaviour
- contributes to control of movement

Question 4

Function of occipital lobe

Answer 4

area at the back of the brain that controls vision
- processes information that we see then makes sense of it

Question 5

Function of parietal lobe

Question 6

Background of Phinease gage - Damasio (1994)

Answer 6

Phineas Gage was working on a railway line in New England, USA
A powerful explosion led to a 3cm thick, 109cm iron pole to be hurled through his face, skull and brain
Damage incurred to his frontal lobe
Surprisingly Gage regained consciousness immediately
Gage was an intelligent, sociable and responsible individual

Profound changes after the accident
He remained intelligent and able-bodied, but lost respect for social convention, had no sense of responsibility and became irritable and rude

Question 7

aims of damasio et al

Answer 7

Identify locations of damage in Phineas Gage using modern techniques

Discover if areas other than the frontal lobe were damaged

Compare, to other similar case studies, to understand functions of certain parts of the brain

Question 8

Procedure of Damasio et al

Answer 8

Photos, X-rays and measurements of the skull were taken

A virtual 3D replica of the human skull was created

Using the dimensions of the entry and exit holes, along with the measurements of the iron pole, Damasio et al. identified the likely trajectories of the pole (used Talairach’s stereotactic space system)

After testing 20 different entry and 16 different exit points, this was narrowed down to 5 most likely paths

Question 9

Results of Damasio

Answer 9

• damaged both hemispheres
• worse damage in the underside of both hemispheres
  (ventromedial region)
• top edges (dorsolateral regions) less likely to be affected
• Frontal lobe only damaged
• more damage to underlying wihite matter in the left hemipshere than the right
• broca’s area undamaged
• comparison to 12 similar brain damaged individuals found similar impairments

Question 10

Conclusion of Damasio

Answer 10

The researchers concluded one likely path of the iron rod which was ‘most likely’ when compared to those with normal brains and those with damaged brains.

They hypothesised from this that the ventromedial frontal region was involved in emotion and decision making

They also cited research with monkeys to support their conclusions – monkeys with a high concentration of serotonin (a neurotransmitter) receptors in the ventromedial area were socially adapted whereas those with low concentration were aggressive and socially uncooperative.

Question 11

Strengths of Damasio et al

Answer 11

researchers were able to use modern-day technology to investigate the data from 1848 - results can be given more scientific status
we can now make predictions about what changes to behaviour we might expect if someone has damaged their frontal lobe

Question 12

Weaknesses of Damasio

Answer 12

• even though they used a exact replica of gage skull the info about how the accident happened is based on reports originally gathered over 150 years ago
  —- this means the info might not be very accurate
  there is a problem with generalising the information about this case study to other people because the brain damage was unique to gage

Question 13

Lateralisation of function means

Answer 13

that each hemisphere of the brain has different jobs or roles