Localisation Of Function In The Brain Flashcards
What is localisation of function?
The idea that the brain has particular regions that are responsible for specific functions.
The brain is ________.
Contralateral.
Functions of frontal lobe:
-Voluntary motor movements (motor cortex).
-Speech production (Broca’s area).
-Consciousness.
Functions of partial lobe:
-Touch perception (somatosensory cortex).
-Sensory input.
Functions of occipital lobe:
-Vision (visual cortex).
Functions of temporal lobe:
-Auditory processing.
-Language comprehension (Wernicke’s area).
Motor cortex:
-Area of brain
-Responsibilities
-Hemispheres
-Damage
-Frontal lobe.
-Voluntary motor movements.
-Both.
-Impaired movements.
Somatosensory cortex:
-Area of brain
-Responsibilities
-Hemispheres
-Damage
-Parietal lobe.
-Detects incoming sensory events (e.g. touch) to produce sensations (e.g. pain).
-Both.
-Lack of sensations (such as pressure, temperature and pain).
Visual cortex:
-Area of brain
-Responsibilities
-Hemispheres
-Damage
-Occipital lobe.
-Vision.
-Both.
-Damaged eyesight (e.g. damaged LVA produces blindness in RVF).
Auditory cortex:
-Area of brain
-Responsibilities
-Hemispheres
-Damage
-Temporal lobe.
-Processing auditory information.
-Both.
-Damaged hearing.
The amount of somatosensory area devoted to a particular body part denotes its ________.
Sensitivity.
For example, receptors in our face & hands occupy over half of the somatosensory area.
Each eye sends information from the right visual field (RVF) to the left visual cortex (LVC) and from the left visual field (LVF) to the right visual cortex (RVC). This means damage to the left hemisphere can…
produce blindness in the right visual field (RVF) of both eyes.
What study supports localisation of function in the brain?
Phineas Gage.
How does the case study of Phineas Gage support localisation of function in the brain?
Phineas Gage - a railroad worker in the USA - had a rod go through Phineas’ head when an explosion went wrong.
He recovered well from the injury, spoke and remained conscious.
However, his personality traits changed from well-mannered to hostile & aggressive.
The personality change can be explained by damage to the frontal lobe.