Lateralisation of function in the hemispheres

Question 1

Lateralisation of function

Answer 1

1. the different jobs that are done by each half of the brain
2. each hemisphere will have different specialist roles that it performs
3. Lateralisation of function in the brain means that each hemisphere of the brain has different jobs or roles
4. Some behaviours are more controlled from the left side than the right side and vice versa

Question 2

Asymmetrical

Answer 2

1. the two hemispheres of the brain are not equal in terms of what they do
2. each hemisphere controls different functions or plays a larger or smaller role in a particular behaviour

Question 3

Asymmetrical function

Answer 3

1. the two hemispheres are not exactly the same in terms of both structure and functions
2. The difference between the two sides of the brain makes it asymmetrical because although they may look very similar, they are not mirror images of one another
3. Each side of the brain appears to control the functions on the opposite side of the brain; right side of the brain controls functions on the left side of the body and vice versa
4. e.g. hand control, the right hemisphere is in control of the left hand and vice versa
5. To help the two hemispheres work together, a thick layer of nerve fibres (corpus callosum) connects the right and left hemisphere
6. The corpus callosum allows the two sides of the brain to communicate with each other so that the whole brain can work as one complete organ
7. In this way, the two hemispheres retain their own roles while working together to control behaviour in the whole body

Question 4

Corpus Callosum

Answer 4

a thick bundle of fibres connecting the two hemispheres of the brain so they can communicate with each other

Question 5

The role of the left and right hemispheres

Answer 5

1. due to the complexity of the brain, it is difficult to pinpoint exactly what functions are controlled in each area of the brain
2. there has been a lot of research about what the right and left hemispheres do, but little is still known after the functions of each side
3. we do know the the right side of the brain controls the left side of the body and so on
4. this information can be easily shared by the whole brain through the corpus callosum

Question 6

Role of the left hemispheres

Answer 6

1. the left hemisphere plays a big role in the processing of language
2. An area in the left hemisphere known as Broca’s area, controls the production of speech
3. the Broca’s area is linked to the control of nerve cells in the face that help us to speak
4. It also helps with the general processing of language-based information and logical thinking
5. Other areas of the left hemisphere are dedicated to the control of our ability to write and to understand language
6. Damaging these areas for e.g. suffering a stroke in the left hemisphere causes problems in our ability to do these things (language)

Question 7

Broca’s area

Answer 7

1. a part of the left hemisphere of the brain that controls speech production
2. if damaged, people might find it hard to talk

Question 8

Spatial awareness

Answer 8

the ability to negotiate space and navigate our way around our environment

Question 9

Role of the right hemisphere

Answer 9

1. the right hemisphere has a large role to play in our spacial awareness
2. There are also parts of the right hemisphere that control our ability to recognise and perceive faces
3. The right hemisphere is often seen as being more creative
4. It is involved in the processing of music that we hear, and also in making sense of visual information that we see

Question 10

Role of the corpus Callosum

Answer 10

1. the corpus callosum is a thick band of nerve fibres that connects the left and right hemisphere together
2. It allows messages to be passed from the left hemisphere to the right hemisphere and vice versa
3. This makes it easier for the brain to pass messages between the different areas of the brain, making connections between different types of information
4. e.g. if you hear something spoken into your left ear, this information passes to the right hemisphere of the brain.. The information can then be passed to the left hemisphere to be decoded so that the brain understands what was said. From here, the information can then be passed to the right hand for the person to write down what they have heard.

Question 11

How can be explain differences between male and females brains?

Answer 11

1. Their are obvious physical differences between males and females, but behaviour is also very different
2. This difference of (what girls and men are supposedly better at) could be due to how the brains of males and females develop

Question 12

Sex differences in brain lateralisation

Answer 12

1. traditionally, it has been thought that males and females have brains that work differently which would account for the many differences between the sexes.
2. It was always thought that females were better at language skills (left-brain tasks) for e.g. working out which words have the same meaning
3. Males on the other hand were felt to be better at spatial skills (right-brain tasks) such as imagining what a shape would look like if it was shown from a different angle
4. There is even evidence that females have a thicker corpus callosum meaning they may use both sides of their brans for some tasks
5. Males on the other hand tend to show dominance for one hemisphere for the same tasks as their female counterparts with more activity in one hemisphere than the other, rather than an equal spread of activity

Question 13

Strengths of lateralisation as an explanation of sex differences between males and females

Answer 13

1. Some studies have provided evidence to show that male and female brains may work differently because of how the roles of different areas of the cortex are organised. A study by Harasty et al. suggested that the parts of the brain associated with language are slightly bigger in females compares to males which supports the lateralisation explanation
2. Much of the evidence used to support this theory uses scientific methods such as brain scans and laboratory experiments. These methods allow the research to be well controlled and not effected by extraneous variable. This strengthens the explanation as the research evidence is scientific and hence so is the explanation

Question 14

Weaknesses of lateralisation as an explanation of sex differences between males and females

Answer 14

1. While there is evidence, the research used to collect this evidence has weakness. in the Rilea et al. study, males did not always do better than females on the spatial tasks. Further to this, there were spatial tasks used in the study that did not use a lot of ‘right-brain activity’. So differences in how males and females use their right hemisphere for spatial tasks cannot account for all differences in the results
2. A study published by Sommer et al. suggested that there was no strong evidence that females used both hemispheres for language tasks, making it a poor explanation for girls being better at language skills than boys