Temporal lobes

Question 1

Anatomical location, boundaries

Answer 1

lateral sides of the brain, divided by the sylvian fissure from the rest of the cortex
superior, middle and inferior temporal gyrus

Question 2

Main distinct regions

Answer 2

1) Auditory cortex (BA 41, 42, BA 22)
2) Inferotemporal cortex (BA 20, 21 and 37)
3) medial structures include the hippocampus and amygdala

Question 3

Function of the auditory cortex

Answer 3

processing sounds

primary auditory cortex is organised tonotopically (divided by frequencies)

Question 4

Effects of damage to the auditory cortex

Answer 4

1) no deafness but impairment in ability to discriminate sounds by pitch or duration
2) unable to locate source of the sound
- usually left lesions have worse effects than right

Question 5

Effects of damage to Wernicke’s area (BA 22)

Answer 5

Wernicke’s aphasia

- impaired ability to put meaning into sound

Question 6

Function of the inferotemporal cortex

Answer 6

vision function, e.g. recognising form or colour

Question 7

Effects of damage to the inferotemporal cortex

Answer 7

1) inability to recognise form
2) prosopagnosia common for right temporal patients: impaired recognition of faces
3) sometimes difficulty to recognise social signals
4) difficulties in categorising material for memorising

Question 8

Function of the medial temporal lobe structures

Answer 8

Hippocampus: involved in memory formation
Amygdala: involved in emotion recognition and expression

Question 9

Effects of damage to the medial temporal lobe

Answer 9

1) memory impairments proportional to the damage
- right temporal lobe impairs the recall of nonverbal memory
- left temporal lobe impairs the recall of verbal memory
2) difficulties recognising and expressing emotion
3) Epilepsy primarily in the right temporal lobe can cause egocentricity, paranoia and a proneness to aggression