case studies Flashcards
why was Phineas Gage’s case so important?
it helped establish the link between brain function and personality
what happened to phineas gage?
Phineas Gage suffered an injury to the skull and front left part of the brain. (responsible for personality, emotions and problem solving.)
what was the effects of phineas gages injury
After his injury his friends observed that his personality seemed to change and become more angry and agressive.
who was walter freeman?
an american neurologist in the early 1900’s
what did walter freeman aim to do?
to find a surgical solution for various mental disorders such as depression and schizophrenia
he thought he could alleviate patients suffering and improve their emotional and behavioural regulation by performing a prefrontal lobotomy
what was the ‘ice pick method’ walter freeman developed?
inserting a sharp instrument resembling and ice pick, through the eye socket into the brain where it was moved back and forth to server the connections
this was done with no anesthesia and not in a sterile environment. Eventually Freeman did 2 at a time (1 with each hand) for efficiency)
what were the long term side effects of the ice pick lobotomy?
cognitive impairments, personality changes, diminished emotional responses.
what was the aim of roger sperrys split brain study
to investigate how the 2 hemispheres of the brain function independently
who did roger sperry do this experiment on
on individuals who had undergone surgery to severe their corpus callosum
cats and monkeys
what methods were used in roger sperrys study
- presenting images to only 1 visual field
- flashed briefly
- asked to describe or draw what they saw
what were the key findings of roger sperrys study
-the human brain has specialised function and can work independently
-language in left
-spatial in right
how did sperrys work contribute to psychology
what were the limitations of sperrys work
-small sample
-no control group
- each patient had a different level of corpus servering
