case study Flashcards
why was Phineas gage so important?
it helped establish the link between brain function and personality
what happened to phineas gage?
he suffered a injury to the skull and left part of the brain (responsible for personality, emotions, and problem solving)
what was the effects of Phineas gages injury?
his friends observed a change in his personality as a he became more aggressive
who was Walter freeman?
an American neurologist in the early 1900’s
what did Walter freeman aim to do?
to find surgical solutions 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 prefrontal lobotomy
what was the “ice pick method” Walter freeman developed
inserting a sharp instrument resembling an ice pick, through the eye socket through the brain where it was moved back and forth to sever the connections
what was the long term effects from the ice pick lobotomy
cognitive impairments
personality changes
diminished emotional responses
what was the aim of Rodger Sperry’s split brain study?
to investigate how the 2 hemispheres of the brain function independently
who did Rodger Sperry experiment his study on?
he studied on individuals who had undergone surgery to sever their corpus callosum which allowed him to explore the specialised functions of each side of the brain and how they operate independently
what methods were used in the study?
- presenting images to only one visual field (left or right)
- images or words were flashed very briefly to participants
- subjects were asked to describe or draw what they saw with the other hand.
what were the key findings?
- the human brain has specialised functions on the right/left and the 2 sides work nearly independently
- language dominance is in the left hemisphere
- spatial processing in the right hemisphere
how did Sperry’s work contribute to psychology?
-helped advance the understanding of the brain function and information processing
- helped develop neuropsychological tests to assess cognitive function in patients with brain damage
