Hemispheric Lateralisation

Question 1

Describe the two hemispheres.

Answer 1

Connected by the corpus callosum - allows Info communicated between two hemispheres
Some functions in one hemisphere not other
LHS = RHS body , RHS = LHS

Question 2

What is the left hemisphere responsible for?

Answer 2

Speech and language
Fine details
Logical and mathematical
Damage = speech because of wernickes and Broca’s area

Question 3

What is the right hemisphere responsible for?

Answer 3

Visual and spatial processing
Processing bigger picture
Emotions and faces
Creativity and drawing
Case study - woman with damage to right side became lost in familiar settings. Research - ppl shown a split face with one half smiling and one half neutral - right side reported most.

Question 4

What is the evaluation for hemispheric localisation? (SCC)

Answer 4

• face validity - while one hemisphere is occupied the other is able to deal with another process so we can increase capacity to process information (advantageous) - study showed chickens can forage for food and stay vigilant for predators. Fits to what we think of the brain
• brain plasticity: damage to left side of brain lost ability to speak but moved to right side of brain (not fixed)
• not fixed, more for young children: lateralisation of function changes to bilateral in healthy adults - in children, language became more lateralised to left part of the brain with increasing age but after 25 it decreases with each decade