cerebral asymmetry

Question 1

lateralization

Answer 1

two hemispheres having separate functions, split in two independent halves

Question 2

left hemispheres function

Answer 2

verbal, complex information

Question 3

right hemispheres function

Answer 3

nonverbal, emotion, spatial

Question 4

laterality is relative or absolute

Answer 4

relative, both hemispheres are involved in almost all behaviours, some are just more specialized in one hemisphere over the other

Question 5

what factors influence how lateralized a skill is

Answer 5

environmental and genetic

Question 6

which hemisphere is larger and heavier

Answer 6

the right

Question 7

anatomical differences between right and left hemi

Answer 7

• left has larger planum temporale (Wernicke’s area), thalamus, secondary auditory cortex, hemi goes further forward
• right has larger primary auditory cortex (2 Heschl’s gyri), sylvian fissure is angled up more, hemi goes further back

Question 8

neuronal assymetry

Answer 8

• more complex dendritic branching in the left hemisphere because it’s verbal
• neurotransmitters are different across hemispheres

Question 9

what kind of differences might cause the anatomical and neuronal differences in the brain

Answer 9

genetic

Question 10

Broca’s Area

Answer 10

speech production
- near (in front of) the motor cortex
- know what you want to say but difficulty saying it

Question 11

Wernicke’s area

Answer 11

secondary auditory cortex
- speech comprehension
- say real words fluently but make no sense

Question 12

what was early treatment for epilepsy and what did you have to do first

Answer 12

surgical removal of the cortex the seizures originate from, must brain map first to find important areas like speech and motor control to avoid damaging them using electrical stimulation

Question 13

what did early brain mapping find

Answer 13

some functions are symmetrical and some are not
- left frontal and temporal lobe can produce speech when weakly stimulated
- functions can be blocked with strong stimulation
- right hemisphere is more perceptual functioning

Question 14

double dissociation

Answer 14

brain area A does function A, brain area B does function B
If area A is damaged it does not affect function B

after TBI person has difficulty reading but not writing, another person has difficulty writing but not reading

Question 15

removal of the left lobe results in

Answer 15

lower memory quotient and verbal recall

Question 16

removal of the right lobe results in

Answer 16

nonverbal recall, performance IQ, copying drawings

Question 17

commissurotomy

Answer 17

severing of the corpus callosum to avoid spread of seizure activity between hemispheres

for grand mal seizures

Question 18

corpus callosum

Answer 18

bundle of 200 million nerves, white matter, that connects the two hemispheres so they can communicate with each other

Question 19

result of a commissurotomy

Answer 19

no obvious changes, reduced seizure activity.
however, compensatory behaviours to make up for deficits, split brain patients

Question 20

how can split brain patients still have a functioning contralateral fov

Answer 20

the optic chiasm is not severed, just corpus callosum

Question 21

what happens if a split brain patient is asked what is in their left fov

Answer 21

they will say they see nothing

Question 22

what happens if a split brain patient is asked what they see in their right fov

Answer 22

they can name and describe what they see

Question 23

what happens if you ask a split brain patient to grab the far left object

Answer 23

they will grab the correct object

Question 24

what happens if you ask a patient to pick a face after showing them chimeric image

Answer 24

they would pick the one on the left

Question 25

are split brain patients aware of the discordance

Answer 25

no

Question 26

what are the statistics for left hemi verbal dominance in handedness

Answer 26

98% of right handers, 70% of non right-handers
- 15% are both hemi and 15% are right hemi

Question 27

when asked to select an image, what will each hand do

Answer 27

choose the correct one, but left hand will make up a reason why

Question 28

is lateralization a type of localization

Answer 28

yes

Question 29

the right ear is better for what

Answer 29

language stimuli memories
- linguistic stuff, talking

Question 30

the right hemisphere is better for what auditorally

Answer 30

melodic memories
- musical stuff

Question 31

the left hemisphere is better for what auditorally

Answer 31

language, linguistics, tone,

Question 32

the left ear is better for what

Answer 32

musical stuff, melody memory

Question 33

when only one ear is used what type of pathway is used

monaural

Answer 33

an ipsilateral, both hemispheres will receive the information

Question 34

when both ears are presented with different sounds what pathway is used

diaural

Answer 34

contralateral, you get the right sound on the left hemi and vice versa, ipsilateral is suppressed

Question 35

which hand is better for braille

Answer 35

the left hand (right brain) because the right hemi is better at recognizing patterns

Question 36

if you inject sodium amobarbital into the left carotid artery what side of brain and body will it affect

Answer 36

the left hemisphere, and the right side of your body

Question 37

disconnection syndrome example

Answer 37

severing the connection between broca and wernicke’s area, resulting in lack of communication between the two resulting in an aphasia

Question 39

apraxia

Answer 39

loss of fine motor skill due to damage in left hemisphere motor regions

Question 40

what side of the mouth starts moving first when you talk and why

Answer 40

right side, because left hemi is verbal

Question 41

which side of the face shows emotion more strongly and why

Answer 41

the left side because you rright hemisphere is emotion dominant

Question 42

specialization theory

Answer 42

different hemispheres have different unique functions

Question 43

interaction theory

Answer 43

one hemisphere might be better at a task but they cooperate with each other, both work on processing different parts at the same time

Question 44

in 75% of fetuses, how early does hand preference show up

Answer 44

10 weeks