Localisation of function in the brain

Question 1

What is localisation?

Answer 1

• this is the idea that different parts of the brain are associated with particular physical and psychological functions
• which is in direct contrast to the original holism theory which believed all parts of the brain were used to process thought and action

Question 2

what is motor area?

Answer 2

-a region at the back of the frontal lobe in both hemispheres that is involved in regulating movement

Question 3

What is the somatosensory area?

Answer 3

-a area of the parietal lobes that processes sensory information like heat and pressure delivered by receptors

Question 4

What is the visual area?

Answer 4

-a part of the occipital lobe that receives and processes visual information from each eye

Question 5

What is the auditory area?

Answer 5

-located in the temporal lobes and concerned with the analysis of speech-based information

Question 6

What is Broca’s area?

Answer 6

-an area of the frontal lobe of the brain in the left hemisphere in most people responsible for speech production

Question 7

What is Wernicke’s area?

Answer 7

-an area of the temporal lobe in the left hemisphere in most people responsible for language comprehension

Question 8

What are the hemispheres of the brain?

Answer 8

• the brain is divided into two symmetrical halves called left and right hemispheres
• liberalization means the left half of the brain controls the right side of the body

Question 9

What is the cerebral cortex?

Answer 9

-a 3mm thick outer layer of both hemispheres covering the inner parts of the brain

Question 10

What are the evaluation points of localisation of function in the brain?

Answer 10

+brain scan evidence of localisation: increases reliability and validity
+neurosurgical evidence: 44 OCD patients got a lobotomy, after a month 14 had improved
+lab mice given electric shocks to perfume
+phineas Guage

Question 11

How does brain scan evidence support localisation?

Answer 11

-Peterson et al used brain scans to demonstrate how Wernicke’s area was active during a listening task and Broca’s area was active during a reading task, suggesting that these areas of the brain have different functions

Question 12

How does neurosurgical evidence support localisation of function in the brain?

Answer 12

• 44 OCD patients who had undergone a lobotomoy were followed up 32 weeks after
• a third had met the criteria for successful response to the surgery and 14 percent for partial response

Question 13

How does case study evidence support localisation of function in the brain?

Answer 13

• male lab mice were given electric shocks every time they were exposed to the smell of acetophenone, a chemical used in perfume
• as any behaviourist would predict, the mice showed a fear reaction as soon as the scent was presented
• surprisingly the rats children also feared the smell even though they had not been exposed to the acetophenone before or received any shocks

Question 14

How does phineas Gage support localisation of brain function?

Answer 14

• the explosion hurled the metre length pole through his left eye and exciting his skull from the top of his head taking a portion of his brain with it (most of his left frontal lobe)
• Gage survived this but damage to his left brain had changed his personality, he went from being someone that was calm and reserved to someone who was quick tempered, rude and no longer Gage
• this suggests that the frontal lobe may be responsible for regulating mood

Question 15

what is brocas aphasia?

Answer 15

• unlike the areas above which are found in both hemispheres, language is restricted to the left side of the brain in most people
• in the 1880s Boca, a surgeon, identified a small area in the left frontal lobe responsible for speech production
• damage to Boca’s area causes Boca’s aphasia which is characterised by speech that is slow, laborious and lacking in fluency as seen in a number of Boca’s patients like Tan -so called because that was the only word he could say

Question 16

what is wenickes aphasia?

Answer 16

• -around the same time as Boca, Wernicke was describing patients who had no problem producing language but servers difficulties understanding it, such that the speech they produced was fluent but meaningless
• Wernicke identified a region in the left temporal lobe as being responsible for language comprehension which would result in Wernicke’s aphasia when damaged
• patients who have Wernicke’s aphasia will often produce nonsense words neologisms as part of the content of theory speech