Localisation of function Flashcards
1
Q
Localisation of function
A
specific areas of the brain (lobes) are associated with specific physical and psychological functions
2
Q
Frontal lobe
A
- motor area - responsible for movements e.g walking
- damage = loss of control over movements
- stores mental processing e.g. thinking and cognition
- stores personality traits and characteristics
- e.g. Broca’s area - Broca identified left frontal cortex is responsible for speech production , damage to this = Broca’s aphasia , slow and lack of speech production
3
Q
4 lobes of the brain
A
- frontal lobe
- parietal lobe
- occipital lobe
- temporal lobe
4
Q
Temporal lobe
A
- consists of auditory area
- damage to this may lead to hearing loss
- e.g. Wernicke’s area- Wernicke identified that left temporal lobe is reponsible for understanding speech, damage = Wernicke’s aphasia, person cant comprehend the content of speech
5
Q
Occipital lobe
A
- consists of the visual cortex
- info from right visual field is sent to the left visual cortex
- info from left visual field id sent to the right visual cortex
- concept applies to entire body
6
Q
Parietal lobe
A
- consists of somatosensory area which is seperated from motor area by central sulcus
- sensory information from the skin is stored e.g. touching heat
7
Q
Cerebellum
A
- concerned with balance and coordination
- activities are carried out automatically e.g. walking and running
8
Q
Evaluation
A
+ Phineas Gage
+ Petersen et al
+ Tulving et al
+ Practical application: Lobotomoy
- Lashey
- Lashey’s law of equipotentiality
9
Q
+ Case study of Phineas Gage
A
- 25 years old
- 1848 tamping iron went through skull, taking part of the frontal lobe in brain with it
- damage had impact on his personality
- went from calm abd reserved to rude and quick tempered
- suggests that brain is localised as frontal lobe is responsible for personality because the frontal lobe is responsible for personality
10
Q
Brain scan evidence
A
- Petersen et al
- Tulving et al
11
Q
+ Petersen et al
A
- 1988
- used brain scans to demonstrate how Wernicke’s are was active during listening task and Broca’s are was active during a reading task
- suggests that different areas of brain have different functions
- evidence for localisation of function
12
Q
+ Tulving et al
A
- 1994
- used PET scanner
- revealed that semantic and episodic memories reside in different parts of pre-frontal cortex
- left-prefrontal cortex was involved in recalling semantic memories
- right-prefrontal cortex involved in recalling episodic memories
- evidence of localisation of function
13
Q
+ Practical application: Lobotomy
A
- discovered by Freeman in the 1950s
- involved destroying connections in the frontal lobe to control aggressive behaviour
- example of neurosurgery - removing or destroying parts of the brain
- neurosurgery is still used in extreme cases of OCD and depression
- Dougherty et al (2002) reported on 44 OCD patients who underwent neurosurgery of the cingulate gyrus (associated with OCD)
- 32 weeks later, 33% of patients met criteria for successful response to procedure and 14% had a partial response
- suggests that brain is localised as part of the brain is responsible for OCD
- not string procedure as results arent very high and procedure is not common
14
Q
- Lashey’s research
A
- 1950
- Lashey removed areas of cortex (10-50%) in rats learning maze route
- no area proven to be more significant than other in terms of time taken and ability needed to learn maze
- appeared that process of learning required every part of cortex
- weakness as it suggests that brain functions in a holistic manner and is not localised
- however, its an animal study as it was tested on rats so it may not be generalised to humans
15
Q
- Law of equipotentiality
A
- when brain has been damaged through illness/injury and a particular function has been lost, rest of brain is able to reorganise itself in attempt to recover lost function
- surving brain circuits ‘chip in’ so the same neurological action can be achieved, although this doesnt happen all the time
- brain functions in a holistic manner as the parts work together
