Clinical Neuropsych - Test 1 Flashcards
What is Clinical Neuropsychology?
-** relationship between brain structure/function and behavior** (“clinical” adds another piece)
- use knowledge of brain structure/function to predict behavior (e.g. treatment planning with patient)
- use observation/knowledge of behavioral symptom profiles to make determinations about brain health and integrity (e.g., make a diagnosis)
1.23.24 Intro
Perspective that brain function is about location. See Franz Gall, Broca, Wernicke.
1 of 3 historical perspectives of brain/behavior
Localization
1.23.24 Intro
“equal potential” to have any function. See Marie Jean Pierre Flourens and Karl Lashley.
Equipotentiality
Integrationist
1.25.24_Methods.pdf
- father of phrenology
- brain “organs” have innate mental faculties and psychological traits
Franz Gall
1.23.24 Intro and 1.25.24_Methods.pdf
- an obsolete theory proposing that if a - given brain area was larger in an individual, then the corresponding skull at that point should be enlarged, indicating a well-developed area of the brain. Conversely, a depression signaled underdeveloped area of the cortex
- involved reading of cranial bumps to ascertain which of the cerebral areas were largest
Phrenology
1.25.24_Methods.pdf
What are some flaws with the theory of phrenology?
- when you feel the head, you’re feeling the skull, not the brain (a misshapen skull does not say anything about the brain)
- multiple places in the brain might be responsible for one trait
- swelling is actually indicative of inflammation (bump would not actually indicate a strength)
“Tan”
1.25.24_Methods.pdf
Cortical localization
- landmark contribution was in understanding the origins of aphasia
- localizationist
- “Tan”
- Broca’s area
Paul Broca
1.25.24_Methods.pdf
- announced that understanding of speech was located in the superior, posterior aspects of the temporal lobe
- no motor deficit accompanied a loss of speech comprehension caused by damage in this area, only the ability to understand speech was interrupted
- fluent aphasia
Carl Wernicke
1.25.24_Methods.pdf
inability to talk because the musculature of speech organs do not receive appropriate brain signals
Broca’s aphasia
patient is still able to talk, but speech makes no sense and sounds like some unknown foreign language; Wernicke
Fluent aphasia
- size over location (how much brain is more important than its placement)
- remaining brain can take over functions of missing tissue (equipotneiality)
- See ablation studies with birds and rats
- proponent of equipotentiality
- “brain operates in integrated fashion, not in discrete faculties, and that mental functions depend on the brain functioning as a whole”
- attacked Broca’s theory (indicated that patient could not speak because lesion had caused general loss of intellect, rather than a specific inability to speak
Marie Jean Pierre Flourens
1.25.24_Methods.pdf
What did Marie Jean Pierre Flourens find?
In ablation studies with rats and birds, Flourens found that removing any part of the brain would cause gneralized disorders of behavior in birds; their brains could make up for lesion in the brain. “if you have sufficient enough brain, it can take over some functions”
- Principle of mass action - the extent behavioral impairments is directly proportional to the mass of the removed tissue.
- Multipotentiality: each part of the brain participates in more than one function.
- More brain that was taken out = more function was lost
- injury location is less important than how much brain is impacted
- See equipotentiality.
Karl Lashley
1.25.24_Methods.pdf
The extent behavioral impairments is directly proportional to the mass of the removed tissue. See Karl Lashley.
Principle of mass action
1.25.24_Methods.pdf
each part of the brain participates in more than one function.
See Karl Lashley.
Multipotentiality
1.25.24_Methods.pdf
What are advantages and disadvantages of explaining behavior using the localization theory?
advantages: you are better able to pinpoint the functions that might be impacted when certain parts of the brain are impacted
disadvantage: you might not think of other possibilities of functional deficits if they are not associated with the area directly impacted
1.25.24_Methods.pdf
What are the advantages and disadvantages of explaining behavior using the equipotentiality theory?
disadvantages - you might have difficulty predicting which functions will be impacted as result of an injury;
advantage: remaining brain can take over functions of missing tissue; may be able to more confidently speak to the amount and severity of function that will be lost (more brain lost = more significant deficits)
1.23.24 Intro
disctinction between the ability to recognize an object and an inability to name it; Freud coinded this term (Freud = founder of psychoanalysis)
agnosia
Consider – you are a neuropsychologist working with a patient recovering from brain injury to their left temporal lobe. What does your conversation look like if you ascribe to localization versus equipotentiality theories of brain organization?
Localization gives you a clearer expectation of what you can expect; This might help you to better prepare and arrange for appropriate treatment to accommodate functional deficits.
Equipotentiality gives you more hope that your brain may be able to regain function through neuroplasticity. MIght be more focused on “how to rebuild” but also may not be able to prepare patients adequately for what deficits to expect.
1.25.24_Methods.pdf
- integrationist theory (both size and location matters in the brain)
- idea of functional units and systems requiring Luria’s 3 areas of brain working together
- behavior results from integration of functional systems – a disruption at any stage can cause deficits, but also plasticity
Alexander Luria
1.25.24_Methods.pdf
Flourens experiments on birds and rats – removing any part of the brain led to generalized disorders of behavior
led to idea that size of injury is more important than the location in determining brain injury’s effects
ablation experiments