Localisation of function in the brain Flashcards
In the 19th century what did Broca and Wernicke discover
Specific areas of brain
associated with
particular physical & psychological functions
Before Broca and Wernicke investigations and the case of Phineas Gage what did scientist support
The holistic theory of the brain
What is the holistic theory of the brain
All parts of the brain
involved in
processing of thought and action
What did Broca and Wernicke argue for
Localisation of function
Localisation of function is also known as
Cortical specialisation
What is localisation of function
Idea diff parts of brain , perform diff tasks & are involved with different parts of the body
people witjh wernicke’s aphasia often produce
nonsense words (neologisms) as part of content of their speech
neologism is
newly created word not part of official lang
What are the two symmetrical halves of the brain called
Left and right hemispheres
What is lateralisation
idea some psychological /physical functions
controlled by a particular hemisphere
what activity does the right hemisphere contorl
activity in teh left hand side of the body
what activity dose the left hemisphere control
activity in the right hand side of the body
What is outer layer of hemispheres called
Cerebral cortex
Cerebral cortex Is like
Tea cosy covering inner parts of brain
How thick is Cerebral cortex
3mm
Why does Cerebral cortex separate us from other animals
Because human cortex much more developed
What colour does cortex appear like
Grey
Why does the cortex appear grey
Location of the cell bodies
What is the cortex of both hemispheres subdivided into
Four lobes
cortex of both hemispheres are subdivided into 4 lobes named after
bones beneath them
how do we remebr order of the lobes
four
people
often
taste
onions
What are the bones beneath the hemispheres called
Frontal lobe
Parietal lobe
Occipital lobe
Temporal lobe
Each lobe beneath the hemispheres have a
Different function
At the back of both frontal lobe is the
Motor area
What does the motor area control
Voluntary movement in opposite side of the body
What can damage in the motor area cause
Loss of control over fine movements
What is at the front of both parietal lobes
somatosensory area
the somatosensory area is seprated from the?
motor area
the somatosensory area and the motor area are seperated by
a valley
called : central sulcus
what is the somatosensory area
area where sensory info from skin represented
(related tot ouch i.e heat )
what indicates the senitivity in terms of the somatosensory area
the amount of somatosensory area devoted to a particular body part
give example of a somatosensory area
receptors for our face and hands occupy over half of the somatosensory area
where is the occipital lobe
back of the brain
teh occipital lobe in the back of the brain is the
visual area /cortex
what do the eyes do in teh visual area
(in terms of sending)
each eye sends info from right visual field to left visual cortex
and
from the left visual field to the right visual cortex
as for instance
eye passes info from the left visual field to the right visual cortex
what would happen if there was damage to the left hemisphere
blindness in the RVF of both eyes
the temporal lobes house the
(think tempo)
auditory area
what does the auditory area do
analyses speech based info
talk about damage in teh auditory area
may produce….
the more extensive…
may produce partial hearing loss
the more exentensive the damage the more extensive the loss
what happens if there is damage to a specific area of the temporal lobe - wernicke’s area
may affect the ability to comprehend language
where is language restricted to in most people
left side of the brain
what happened in 1880’s with broca (broca’s are)
identified small area in left frontal lobe responsible for speech production
what happens when there’s damage to broca’s area
broca’s aphasia
Broca’s asphasia is characterised by
speech that’s
-slow
-laborious
-lacking in fluency
people find difficulty with prepositions and conjunctions i.e (a, the , and)
Why was Broca’s most famous patient called Tan
only thing he could say
around same time as broca , wernicke was describing people :
who had no problem
producing a lang
but lots difficulties understanding it
so speech fluent but meaningless
where and what is wenicke’s area
region in left temporal lobe
responsible for language and understanding
when wernickes area is damaged it results in
wernicke’s aphasia
according to loacalisation of function what will happen If certain area of brain becomes damaged
through illness/injury
functions associated with that area will also be affected
people who have wernickes aphasia will often produce
nonsesne words (neologisms)
as part of content of their speech
eval points
brians scan evidence
coutnerpoitn - challenge from work of lashley
case stuy evidence - phineas gage perosnlaity change
eval - brain scan evidence
theres x of supporting evidence for localisation of x function, particularly in x and x
e.g x et al used brain x to demonstrate how wernickes area was active during a x task and brocas area active during a x task - suggest these areas have x functions
simiary a study of x x memory by x revealed x and episodic memory reside in diff aprts of x cortex
such research which is conducted using highly x and x methods to measure x activity provide x x evidence for teh x of brain x
theres plenty of supporting evidence for localisation of neurological function, particularly in language and memory
e.g peterson et al used brain scnas to demonstrate how wernickes area was active during a listening task and brocas area active during a reading task - suggest these areas have diff functions
simiary a study of long term memory by tulving revealed semantic and episodic memory reside in diff aprts of prefrontal cortex
such research which is conducted using highly sophisticated and objective methods to measure brain activity provide sound scientific evidence for teh localisation of brain funciton
counterpoint - challenge to localisiton theory
a challenge ot localisation theory comes from work of x
lashley removed areas of the x between x% and x% in x that were learning x through a x
no area was proven to be more x than any other area int erms of rats ability to x the route
the x of learning seemed to require x part of the cortex rather than being x to a x area
this suggest x x processes such as x are not localised but x in a more x way int he brian which is a limitaitno as the localistion theory doesnt account for this
a challenge ot localisation theory comes from work of lashley
lashley removed areas of the cortex between 10% and 50% in rats that were learning route through a maze
no area was proven to be more important than any other area int erms of rats ability to learn the route
the proces of learning seemed to require every part of the cortex rather than being confied to a articular are a
this suggest highe rcognitive processes such as learnign are not localised but distributed in a more holistic way int he brian
case study eveidence
x x support the theory of localisation
he was caugh tin an x whihc resulted in a meter length x being x trhoguh his x and tearing out most of his x lobe
he survived however he became short x, x , x - his x changed cuas ebefore he was very x , x , x
this suggest frontal lobe may be x for x modd which is a strenght as support x of x
phineas gage support the theory of localisation
he was caugh tin an explosion whihc resulted in a meter lenght pole being hurled trhoguh hishhead and tearing out most of his frontla loeb
he survived however he became short termpered , rude , agrresive - his pesonlity changed cuas ebefore he was very mild , nice , gentlemen
this suggest frontal lobe may be repsonsible for regulaitng modd which is a strenght as support theory of localisation
