Module 4: The Brain and Neuropsychology Flashcards
Describe the structure of the brain as a whole
- Left and right hemispheres
- Cerebrum (outer part) and outer cortex (outer layer)
- Gyrus/gyri (bumps)
- Sulcus/sulci (creases)
Describe the frontal lobe
- Decision making, problem solving, impulse control
- Motor cortex: controls voluntary movements
Describe the temporal lobe
Hearing, understanding/creating speech, some memory functions
Describe the occipital lobe
Visual cortex: process/understand visual information
Describe the parietal lobe
- Perception, recognising faces
- Somatosensory cortex: sense of touch
Describe the central sulcus
Crease that separates frontal and parietal lobes
Describe the cerebellum
- Movement, coordination, balance (motor skills)
- Combines information from spinal cord and other areas of the brain
List the different areas of the brain
Frontal lobe, temporal lobe, occipital lobe, parietal lobe, cerebellum, corpus callosum
Describe the brain’s asymmetry
- Right/left hemispheres
- Left brain’s input/output on the right side of the body and vice versa
- Hemispheres conencted by corpus callosum
What are the functions of the left hemisphere?
- Ability to write and understand language
- Broca’s area: controls speech
- Exact functions unknown, too much complexity
What are the functions of the right hemisphere?
- Spatial awareness
- Ability to recognise/perceive faces
- Ability to process music and visual information
What is the corpus callosum?
- Thick bundle of nerve fibres, connects hemispheres
- Allows for communication between them
- Makes brain one organ, can be survived without
Explain how brain lateralisation may explain sex differences
- Thought that females better at language while males better at spacial awareness
- Females have a thicker corpus callosum
What are the strengths of brain lateralisation as an explanation for sex differences?
- Harasty et al. (1997), found female’s language areas of the brain bigger than male’s
- Rilea et al. (2005), found males better at spacial tasks than females
What are the weaknesses of brain lateralisation as an explanation for sex differences?
- Rilea et al. (2005), males not always better at spacial tasks
- Sommer et al. (2004), no strong evidence that females use both hemispheres for language, thicker corpus callosum not good explanation
- Ignores social factors
What are the two sections of the nervous system?
- Central nervous system (CNS): brain and spinal cord
- Peripheral Nervous System (PNS): nerves
What are neurotransmitters?
Chemicals released from neurons to send/receive messages (e.g. dopamine, serotonin, GABA, etc)
Explain the parts of a neuron
- Nucleus
- Cell body
- Axons
- Terminal buttons
- Synaptic gap
Explain synaptic functioning
Electric impulse in cell body –> travels along axon –> reaches terminal button –> vesicles release neurotransmitters into synapse –> grabbed by receptors –> impulse passed along
What is visual agnosia?
- Visual information not understood, perception damaged (not sight)
- Can’t recognise colours/objects/places
What is prospagnosia?
- Can’t tell faces apart (for some its all faces, others its only strangers’ faces)
- Damage to fusiform face area (FFA)
Explain the effects of damage to the prefrontal cortex
- More impulsive/aggressive, more likely to commit crimes
- Adrain Raine et al. (1997), found murderers usually have less activity in the prefrontal cortex than non-murderers
What is the background of Damasio et al. (1994)?
- 1848 Phineas Gage’s skull was impaled by an iron rod
- He survived but became uncharacteristicly aggressive and impulsive
What were the aims of Damasio et al. (1994)?
- Build a model of Gage’s skull to map out how the iron rod passed through it
- Find out if areas other than the prefrontal cortex were damaged
What was the procedure of Damasio et al. (1994)?
- Used Gage’s skull and the iron rod to create a 3D model
- Found the most likely entry/exit wounds
- Used a 3D model of the brain to find which areas had been damaged
What were the resluts of Damasio et al. (1994)?
Left and right hemispheres of frontal cortex damaged, no other areas of the brain
What were the conclusions of Damasio et al. (1994)?
Ventromedial area of the frontal lobe controls impulse control, possibly emotions too
What are strengths of Damasio et al. (1994)?
- Use of modern technology increases scientific understanding
- 12 other patients with similar damage showed similar symptoms
- Can now predict how patients with similar damage will act
What are weaknesses of Damasio et al. (1994)?
- Information gathered 150 years ago may be inacurate
- Damage unique to Gage so may not apply to other patients
- 12 patients a small sample size
What is the background of Sperry’s (1968) Split Brain study?
Severe epilepsy patients had corpus callosum cut, little to no side effects except lessening of epilepsy symptoms
What were the aims of Sperry’s (1968) Split Brain study?
Investigate how patients with a ‘split brain’ processed information differently from a normal brain
What was the procedure of Sperry’s (1968) Split Brain study?
- 11 participants
- Various tasks involving sending different types of sensory information to the left and right hemispheres, then asking for a response with either the same or opposite hemisphere
What were the conclusions of Sperry’s (1968) Split Brain study?
- Each hemisphere can work fine without the other
- Cannot share memories without corpus callosum
- Left better at naming objects with words, right better at feeling for them
What are the strengths of Sperry’s (1968) Split Brain study?
- Lots of detailed information (reliable)
- Procedures the same for each patient (reliable, comaparable)
What are the weaknesses of Sperry’s (1968) Split Brain study?
- 11 participants small sample size
- Tasks artificial/unnatural, lacks ecological validity
Describe psychology in the 19th century
- Pre-1875: interest in brain anatomy (not behaviour), only post-mortem study possible
- 1875 Wilhelm Wundt’s laboratory in Leipzig, Germany to study thoughts
Explain the development of brain scanning
- EEG (electroencephalograph) developed in 1924 by Hans Berger
- Can tell which areas of the brain are active whilst performing different activities
Describe modern psychology
- Modern scanning: MRI and PET
- Scans of living brains help understanding and treatment of brain damage
- More methods in development: microscopes to study individual neurons and neurotransmitters
