Evaluation of localisation of function Flashcards
What did Peterson et al use?
brain scans to demonstrate how the Wernicke’s area was active during a listening task and the Broca’s area active during a reading task
What did Peterson et al research suggest?
Wernicke’s and Broca’s areas of the brain have different functions
What did Tulving et al reveal?
semantic and episodic memories reside in different parts of the prefrontal cortex
What now exists?
a great number of objective and highly scientific evidence of location of function
In the 1950’s what was developed?
techniques such as that of Walter Freeman who developed the lobotomy
What was bad about the lobotomy?
they were imprecise and involved severing connections in the frontal lobe in an attempt to control aggressive behaviour
Who did Dougherty et al report on?
44 OCD patients who had undergone a cingulotomy
What happened at post-surgical follow up?
after 32 weeks, a third met criteria for a successful response and 14% a partial response
What does the case of Phineas Gage support?
the theory of localised functioning of the brain
What happened to Phineas Gage?
when working on the railroad in 1848 he was involved in an explosive accident which hurled a metre length pole through his left cheek, eye and took the frontal lobe of the brain
What happened to Phineas Gage after his injury?
he survived but has a change in his persoanlity, going from calm to rude - suggesting the frontal lobe is important for regulating mood
What did Karl Lashley suggest?
higher cognitive functions like those involved with learning aren’t localised but are distributed in a more holistic way
What did Karl Lashley do?
removed between 10%-50% of the cortex in rats that were learning a maze
What did Karl Lashley find?
the process of learning appeared to use every part of the brain rather than confined to one area - learning is too complex to be localised
What is another argument again’st localisation?
plasticity
