Localisation Of Function

Question 1

What is the brain stem

Answer 1

The most primitive part of the brain responsible for breathing,heart rate and blood pressure

Question 2

What is the cerebellum

Answer 2

It’s the little brain -responsible for movement, balance and coordination
Damage to it may cause vertigo and/or lost of ‘fine motor skills “such as writing

Question 3

What is the cerebrum

Answer 3

Is divided into two hemispheres ,each of which is divided into 4 lobes
The left hemisphere controls the right side of the body and vice versa in most actions (contralatralisation)

Question 4

What is the motor cortex

Answer 4

Make us move (voluntary)
Located in the frontal lobe
Both hemispheres have a motor cortex with the motor cortex on one side of the brain controlling the muscles on the opposite side of the body
Regions are arranged logically next to one another

Question 5

What is the somatosensory cortex

Answer 5

Detects touch and sensation
Located in the parietal lobe
Uses sensory information from the skin
the cortex produces sensations of touch,pressure,pain and temperature ,localised to specific body region
Both hemisphere have a somatosensory cortex and the cortex on one side of the brain receives sensory information from the opposite side of the body

Question 6

What is the visual centres

Answer 6

Visual processing starts at the retina but it’s mainly done in the visual cortex ,located in the occipital lobe
The left visual cortex processes info from the right visual field of each eye and the right visual cortex processes info from the left visual field of each eye
Processing includes colour,shape and movement

Question 7

What is the Auditory centres

Answer 7

Cochlea in the ear detects sound via very fine hairs
Sound is converted to electrical impulses
Via auditory nerve to the brain stem,where decoding begins
To the thalamus which relay this
Then to the auditory cortex to process the sounds heard so we understand
It recognises it and respond appropriately
Located in the temporal lobes

Question 8

What are the two language centres

Answer 8

Brocas area
Wernicke area

Question 9

What is Broca’s area

Answer 9

The area of speech production
Broca did research with a patient called ‘tan’ as he understood spoken language but was unable to speak it or express his thoughts in writing

Question 10

How many patients did he study and what did he find

Answer 10

Broca studied 8 patients and he found lesions in the left hemisphere however those with the she range in the right hemisphere had no issues

Question 11

What is wernicke area

Answer 11

An area of speech comprehension
Wernicke patients with lesions in the area could speak the language but were unable to understand the language

Question 12

What does aphasia provide

Answer 12

Evidence for brain localisation

Question 13

What is aphasia ?

Answer 13

Collective term for a number of language disorders ,that vary considerably amongst people

Question 14

Damage to what area leads to aphasia

Answer 14

Anywhere in the frontal cortex
This means localisation of function is valid
E.g Bruce Willis

Question 15

What is Broca’s Aphaisa

Answer 15

Damage to Broca’s area can often result in halted ,fragmented speech that requires significant effort
Speech comprehension is usually relatively intact

Question 16

Evaluation of localisation of function strength

Answer 16

P: one strength of localisation of function is the case study of Sarah Scott
E: evidence for this is after the stroke Sarah struggled to produce speech even though she understood it
E: thus shows that brain localisation has RWA as it suggests that Broca’s area is responsible for speech production

Question 17

Evaluation of localisation of function strength

Answer 17

P:furthermore,another strength of localisation of function is the case study of Sarah Scott
E:evidence for this is 6 years after her stroke,her speech production improved and she got a job
E:thus suggests a degree of brain plasticity or recovery ,or that areas have a specific function therefore this shows validity for brain localisation

Question 18

Evaluation of localisation of function weakness

Answer 18

P:one weakness of localisation of function is that aphasia is different in different people due to individual differences
E:evidence for this is that damage to Broca’s area does not always lead to speech production difficulties,particularly if the damage is slow processing with brain localisation
E:therefore it lacks validity as damage to the Broca’s area effects everyone differently

Question 19

Evaluation of localisation of function research issues (weakness)

Answer 19

P:one weakness of localisation of function is original studies with patients with damage to brains,post morten ,after death
E:evidence for this is that their conditions came from damage to a broad area so we are unable to say aphasia is caused by one specific area but rather damaged caused to the connection between the areas instead
E:this means localisation functions theorised on this type of research lacks reliability

Question 20

Evaluation of localisation of function research issues (weakness)

Answer 20

P:another weakness of localisation of function is that brain imagery has enabled much more specific detailing of brain functioning on living people
E:evidence for this is that it shows different functions associated with each part
E:this shows that language production is therefore more complex than Broca’s areas this shows that brain localisation lacks representation

Question 21

What is localisation of function?

Answer 21

Localisation of function is that different areas of the brain are responsible for different behaviours,processes or activities.