Localisation of function

Question 1

What is localisation of function?

Answer 1

Refers to belief that specific areas of the brain are associated with specific cognitive processes.

Question 2

What are the two components in the motor and somatosensory areas?

Answer 2

The motor cortex
The somatosensory cortex.

Question 3

Whats is the motor cortex responsible for in the motor and somatosensory areas?

Answer 3

The generation of voluntary motor movements.

Question 4

Where is the motor cortex located in the brain?

Answer 4

Frontal lobe in both hemispheres.
The motor cortex in the left hemisphere controls muscles on the right side of the body.
The motor cortex in the right hemisphere controls muscles on the left side of the body.

Question 5

Whats is the somatosensory cortex responsible for in the motor and somatosensory areas?

Answer 5

detects sensory events arising from different regions of the body.

Question 6

Where is the somatosensory cortex located in the brain?

Answer 6

Pariental lobe
Along the postcentral gyrus
Also in both hemispheres and control opposite sides of the body.

Question 7

What is the postcentral gyrus?

Answer 7

The area of the cortex that is dedicated to the processing of sensory info. related to touch.

Question 8

How does the somatosensory cortex use info. fro the skin?

Answer 8

Produces sensations of touch, pressure, pain + temp. which it then localises to specific body regions.

Question 9

What are the two components in the language centers?

Answer 9

The Broca’s area
The Wernicke’s area

Question 10

What is the Broca’s area?

Answer 10

The part of the brain that is related to speech production.

Question 11

What did Broca (1865) find?

Answer 11

Treated a patient ‘Tan’ - only syllable that the patent could express due to their disorder. Although he was able to understand spoken language he was unable to express it in speech or writing.
Broca studied 8 other patients that had similar issues + found that they all had lesions (abnormal tissue) in their left frontal hemisphere + that patients who had similar damage in the right hemisphere didn’t have the same language problems. Led to the existene of the ‘language centre’.

Question 12

What did Fedorenko et al. (2012) discover?

Answer 12

Found that activity in the Broca’s area when people preform cognitive tasks that have nothing to do with language.
Discovered two regions of the Broca’s area, one selectively involved in language + the other involved in responding to many demanding cognitive tasks e.g. preforming maths problems.

Question 13

Where is the broca’s area located?

Answer 13

the frontal lobe

Question 14

What is the Wernicke’s area?

Answer 14

The part of the brain important in comprehension of language

Question 15

Where is the Wernicke’s area located?

Answer 15

Temporal lobe

Question 16

What could patients with damage to the Wernicke’s area do?

Answer 16

Speak but were unable to understand language.

Question 17

What did Wernicke propose?

Answer 17

Language involves a separate motor and sensory regions located in different cortical regions (4 lobes)

Question 18

Where is the motor region located?

Answer 18

In the Broca’s area - close to mouth, tongue + vocal cords

Question 19

Where is the sensory region located?

Answer 19

The Wernicke’s area - close to regions in the brain responsible for auditory + visual input.
Input from these regions is thought to be transferred to Wernicke’s area, where it’s recognised as language + associated with meaning.

Question 20

What is the arcuate fasciculus?

Answer 20

A neural loop running between the Broca’s area + the Wernicke’s area.
With either area at each end.

Question 21

What are the components of the visual centres?

Answer 21

Retina (back of the eye)
Brain
Optic nerve

Question 22

Where is the visual cortex located?

Answer 22

Occipital lobe

Question 23

How does the visual centres work?
WRITE DOWN THEN FLIP FLASHCARD

Answer 23

Begins in the retina (back if the eye) where light enters + strikes the photoreceptors (rods + cones).
Nerve impulses from the retina are then transmitted to the brain through the optic nerve.
Some nerve impulses from the retina travel to the areas of the brain involved in the coordination of circadian rhythms but the majority terminate in the thalamus which acts as a relay station passing this info. on to the visual cortex.

Question 24

What is the visual cortex?

Answer 24

Contains several different areas which process different types of visual info. such as colour, shape or movement.
The visual cortex spans both hemispheres with the right receiving its input from the left visual field ad the left receiving info. from the right.

Question 25

What are the components of the auditory centres?

Answer 25

Cochlea (inner ear)
auditory nerve
brain stem
thalamus
auditory cortex

Question 26

Where is the auditory cortex located?

Answer 26

Temporal lobes

Question 27

How does the auditory centres work?
WRITE DOWN THEN FLIP FLASHCARD

Answer 27

Begin at the cochlea in the inner ear where sound waves are converted to nerve impulses which travel by the auditory nerve to the auditory cortex.
Nerve impulses travel from the cochlea to the brain stem where a basic decoding takes place e.g. the duration + intensity of a sound.
Impulses then travel to the thalamus which acts as a relay station + also carries out further processing of the auditory stimulus.
The last stop is the auditory cortex where sound is recognised + may result in an appropriate response.

Question 28

A03: Brain is more complex
Weakness

Answer 28

However, some researchers argue that the brain is more complex than just a series of localized functions, and that many cognitive functions involve distributed processing across multiple areas of the brain. This is known as the distributed processing model, which suggests that many functions, such as memory or attention, involve the coordinated activity of multiple brain regions.

Question 29

A03: doesn’t fully explain the plasticity of the brain
Weakness

Answer 29

Another limitation of the localization of function approach is that it doesn’t fully explain the plasticity of the brain. The brain has the ability to reorganize itself in response to changes in the environment or after injury, which can lead to changes in cognitive or behavioral function. This is known as neuroplasticity, and it suggests that the brain may be more flexible than previously thought.

Question 30

A03: contributed to our understanding of localisation of function
Strength

Answer 30

Research into brain lateralisation has also contributed to our understanding of localisation of function. Lateralisation refers to the idea that certain functions are primarily located in one hemisphere of the brain, with the left hemisphere often associated with language and logical reasoning, and the right hemisphere associated with spatial awareness and creativity. However, it is important to note that these hemispheric differences are not absolute, and there is a lot of overlap between the two hemispheres

Question 31

A