Localisation of Function Flashcards
What happened to Phineas Gage and what did this suggest?
- Had a meter long iron pole through left cheek, exiting skull, taking proportion of brain with it - mostly left frontal lobe
- He survived but damage to brain left mark on his personality (quick-tempered, rude)
- Suggested that the frontal lobe may be responsible for regulating mood
What are the 2 theories of the brain function?
- Holistic
- Localisation of function
What is the holistic theory?
All parts of brain involved in processing of thought and action
What is localisation of function?
Theory that specific areas of the brain are associated with particular physical and psychological functions - damage to these areas causes consequences on behaviour
What is the cerebral cortex?
- Covers inside of brain
- 3mm thick
- Cortex on both hemispheres subdivided into 4 lobes
What are the 4 lobes?
Frontal, parietal, occipital and temporal
Where is the motor cortex, what is its role and what would happen if it were to be damaged?
- Back of frontal lobe
- Controls voluntary movement in the opposite side of the body
- Loss of movement
Where is the somatosensory cortex, what is its role and what would happen if it were to be damaged?
- At front of parietal lobe
- Represents sensory information from the skin (touch, heat, pressure)
- Loss of senses
Where is the visual cortex, what is its role and what would happen if it were to be damaged?
- In occipital lobe
- Information from the right visual field is sent to the left visual cortex and vice versa. Receives and processes impulses from the optic nerves
- Loss of sight
Where is the auditory cortex, what is its role and what would happen if it were to be damaged?
- In temporal lobe
- Analyses speech based information
- Loss of hearing
Where is the Wernicke’s area, what is its role and what would happen if it were to be damaged?
- Area in left temporal lobe
- Responsible for understanding language
- Wernicke’s Aphasia - struggle understanding words, produce nonsense words
Where is the Broca’s areas, what is its role and what would happen if it were to be damaged?
- Small area in left frontal lobe
- Responsible for speech production
- Broca’s Aphasia - slow speech that lacks fluency
What is lateralisation?
When a feature is specialised in one hemisphere
