Localisation/ plasticity

Question 1

Define localisation function

Answer 1

Different areas responsible for different behaviours or processes

Question 2

What are the 4 lobes of each hemisphere

Answer 2

1. Frontal lobe: motor area
2. Parietal lobe: somatosensory area
3. Occipital lobe: Visual area
4. Temporal lobe: auditory area

Question 3

Describe the location of each lobe in the brain

Answer 3

Frontal lobe: front
Parietal: top
Occipital: back
Temporal: bottom

Question 4

Brain scan evidence for localisation

Answer 4

1. Brain scans to show wernickes area active for listening task
2. Broca’s area for reading
3. Semantic and episodic active in different parts of prefrontal cortex
4. brain scan technology gives high scientific evidence

Question 5

Evidence from surgery

Answer 5

1. Lobotomy used to be used to control aggressive behaviour
2. 44 OCD patients had cingulate gyrus lesioned.
3. 32 weeks later a third had successful response and 6 had a partial response
4. Suggests symptoms and behaviors are localised

Question 6

Learning not localised

Answer 6

1. Higher cognitive process such as learning holistically distributed in cortex
2. Rats learning maze had 10-50% removed
3. No area more important than others
4. Required every part so not localised

Question 7

Phineas Gage

Answer 7

1. Lost most of frontal lobe

2. Went from calm and polite to quick tempers and rude

Question 8

Define plasticity

Answer 8

Tendency to adapt and change both functionally and physically as a result of learning

Question 9

Describe synaptic pruning

Answer 9

1. Rarely used connections removed

2. Frequently used neural pathways strengthend

Question 10

Outline Maguires research

Answer 10

1. Lndn taxi drivers have to know every street
2. Higher volume of grey matter in posterior hippocampus than in control
3. Area is spatial and navigation skills
4. Positive correlation with time in job and volume of matter

Question 11

Medical students and bilingual people evidence for plasticity

Answer 11

1. Imaged brains of medical students 3 months before and after exam
2. Learning induced changes to pos hippo and parietal cortex
3. Larger parietal cortex in bilingual than monolingual controls

Question 12

Describe functional recovery

Answer 12

1. Plastic Ability to redistribute function from damaged area to undamaged area following trauma
2. Spontaneous recovery quickly after but will require rehabilitative therapy to further recovery

Question 13

Outline what brain does when recovering

Answer 13

Secondary neural pathways not typically used activated to enable functioning

Question 14

Describe the 3 structural changes during recovery

Answer 14

1. Axonal sprouting: new pathways
2. Reformation of blood vessels
3. Recruitment of same area on opposite hemisphere

Question 15

Practical application in neurorehabilitation

Answer 15

1. Recovery slows down so physiotherapy to maintain improvement in function
2. Movement therapy or electrical stimulation to help with motor/ cognitive deficits
3. Shows brain is plastic to a point but further intervention needed

Question 16

Negative plasticity

Answer 16

1. Maladaptive behavioural consequences to prolonged drug use causes poor cognition and increase chance of dementia
2. Amputees have phantom limb syndrome due to cortical reorganisation

Question 17

Age and plasticity- golf

Answer 17

1. Plasticity reduces with age, however
2. Participated aged 40-60, given 40 hours golf training
3. Reduced activity in motor cortex on fMRI
4. Suggests more efficient neural representation

Question 18

Hubble and Wiesel

Answer 18

1. Shut visual columns were not inactive but processed right eye information
2. Shows plastic