Localisation of function Flashcards
What is localisation of function?
Specific functions have specific locations within the brain
What does the motor area do?
Area involved in regulating movement
Where is the motor area?
Frontal lobe
What does the somatosensory area do?
Processes sensory information
Where is the somatosensory area?
Parietal lobe
What does the visual area do?
Receives and processes visual information
Where is the visual area?
Occipital lobe
What does the auditory area do?
Analysis of speech based information
Where is the auditory area found?
Temporal lobe
What does Broca’s area do?
Produces speech
Where is Broca’s area found?
Frontal lobe
What does Wernicke’s area do?
Language comprehension
Where is Wernicke’s area found?
Area in the temporal lobe
What did Broca and Wernicke discover during the 19th century?
That specific areas of the brain are associated with psychological and physiological functions
What is cortical specialisation?
The idea that different parts of the brain are involved with different parts of the body
What are the two hemispheres of the brain?
Left and right
What is lateralisation?
Our functions are controlled by a particular hemisphere
Everything on the right side of the body…
Is controlled by the left hemisphere
Everything on the left side of the body…
Is controlled by the right hemisphere
What is the cerebral cortex?
Grey layer 3mm thick covering the inner parts of the brain
What are the 4 lobes of the brain?
Parietal
Occipital
Temporal
Frontal
What might damage to the motor area cause?
Loss of control over fine motor movements
What would damage to the left hemisphere cause?
Issues in right visual field for both eyes
What might damage to the temporal lobes cause?
Hearing loss
Affect the ability to comprehend language
What might damage to Wernickes area cause?
Wernickes aphasia
Produce nonsense words
Where is language restricted to in most people?
Left hemisphere
What can damage to Broca’s area cause?
Broca’s aphasia
Slow speech which is laborious and lacking fluency
What did Peterson et al (1988) find?
Brain scans were used to demonstrate how wernickes area was active during a listening task and Broca’s area was active during a reading task suggesting different areas of the brain have different functions
What did Tulving et al (1994) find?
Semantic and episodic memories reside in different parts of the prefrontal cortex
How is research into localisation of function beneficial?
It is objective and highly scientific
What was lobotomy and when did it develop?
1950’s
Imprecise and involved severing connections in the frontal lobe in an attempt to control aggressive behaviour
What is plasticity an argument for?
Against localisation
What is plasticity?
When the brain has be damaged and a particular function has been lost, the rest the brain is able to reorganise itself to recover the lost function
What did Lashley do?
Removed between 10-50% of the cortex in rats that were learning a maze.
The process of learning appeared to use every part of the brain rather than being confined to one area
What did Lashley suggest?
Higher cognitive functions such as those involved in learning are not localised but distributed in a more holistic way
What conclusions can Lashley draw from his research?
Learning is too complex to be localised
Does the case of Phineas Gage support localisation of functioning?
Yes
Outline the case study of Phineas gage.
- He worked on the railroad and was involved in an explosive accident
- Explosive hurled a metre length pole through his left cheek, eye and exiting his skull, taking a section of his brain with it - the frontal lobe
- he went from calm to quick tempered and rude, suggesting the frontal lobe was involved in regulating mood
What did Dougherty do? (2002)
Reported on 44 OCD patients who had undergone a cingulotomy at post surgical follow up after 32 weeks, 1/3 met the criteria for a successful response and 14% a partial response
