lessons 6-9

Question 1

What is Localisation of Function?

Answer 1

Idea that functions (language/memory/hearing) have specific locations in the brain

Question 2

What cortex is in the Occipital lobe?

Answer 2

Visual cortex (In both hemispheres)

Question 3

What cortex is in the Temporal lobe?

Answer 3

Auditory cortex (In both hemispheres)

Question 4

What cortex is in the Frontal lobe?

Answer 4

Motor cortex (In both hemispheres)

Question 5

What cortex is in the Parietal lobe?

Answer 5

Somatosensory cortex (In both hemispheres)

Question 6

What does Broca’s Area control?

Answer 6

Speech production

Question 7

Where is Broca’s Area found?

Answer 7

Left Frontal Hemisphere

Question 8

What does Wernicke’s Area control?

Answer 8

Understanding of language

Question 9

Where is Wernicke’s Area found?

Answer 9

Left Temporal Lobe

Question 10

What is good about the Localisation of Function theory?

Answer 10

+ Expressive (language production failure)/Receptive (language understanding failure) aphasia are caused by damage to either the Broca’s or Wernicke’s Area(s).

Question 11

What is bad about the Localisation of Function theory?

Answer 11

• Some scientists say that function is dependent on communication between brain areas more than the specific areas themselves.
• There are gender differences in Broca’s/Wernicke’s Areas; Women have larger language areas than men

Question 12

What is Lateralisation of Function?

Answer 12

Idea that the hemispheres have different specialisations.

Question 13

What are the left hemispheres dominant features?

Answer 13

Language and Speech

Question 14

What are the right hemispheres dominant features?

Answer 14

Visual motor tasks and face recognition

Question 15

What is the set of nerve fibres called that connect the 2 hemispheres?

Answer 15

Corpus Callosum

Question 16

What is good about the Lateralisation of Function Theory?

Answer 16

+ It increases neural processing capacity, allows each hemisphere to carry out different functions

+ Mathematically gifted people have better right hemispheric skills than left

Question 17

What is bad about the Lateralisation of Function Theory?

Answer 17

• Certain case studies show that people have managed to produce speech out of the right hemisphere
• Lateralisation of Function isn’t the same in adults as it is children. Adults turn lateralised patters into bilateral patterns.

Question 18

Why did people cut their corpus callosum in the past?

Answer 18

To prevent violent electrical energy in one hemisphere crossing to the other in the events of a seizure

Question 19

Describe a split brain experiment.

Answer 19

Split brain patient focuses on a dot in the middle of a screen;
Words are flashed up in the left visual field, pps can only draw this item not recall it because the image goes to the right hemisphere which isn’t attached to language;
Words are flashed up in the right visual field, pps can recall this as the image goes to the left hemisphere which controls language and speech

Question 20

What is bad about Split Brain Research?

Answer 20

• It is invalid to compare people with a history of epileptic seizures to a control group of people who haven’t ever had a seizure
• Many studies involving split brain research use as little as 3 people; this makes results difficult to generalise

Question 21

What is Brain Plasticity?

Answer 21

The idea that the brain can change and adapt as a result of experience

Question 22

What are 3 things that can improve brain performance?

Answer 22

Life Experience, Video Games, Meditation

Question 23

How does your Life Experience impact the brain?

Answer 23

Strengthens nerve pathways that are used frequently, kills off the pathways that aren’t used. New nerve pathways can be formed by learning new skills, this forms grey matter in the area that the skill relates to e.g
Juggling forms grey matter in the visual cortex