Topic 4 (Investigating the brain) Lecture 1 (History of brain investigation)

Question 1

Outline the case study of Phineas Gage

Answer 1

• Phineas accidentally shot himself under his chin straight up through his frontal lobe
• This caused a change in personality.
• He could not stick to plans, would say innapropriate things, showed little consideration for other people

Question 2

Outline the general history in attitudes towards investigating the brain:

Answer 2

1. There was a focus on structure to infer function e.g Da Vincis drawings
2. Phrenology- Looking at the skull to infer functions
3. Trying to infer function from brain damage in certain areas of the brain. e.g Phineas Gage
4. Live mapping. E.g Wilder penfield who electrically stimulated areas of the sensory and motor cortex

Question 3

Outline the work of Wilder Penfield

Answer 3

• Wilder penfield was a neurosurgeon
• During procedures on his patients, before treatment we would electrically stimulate the motor and sensory cortices of the brain
• By doing this he was able to map out specific body areas in the brain
• He also found that he could summon a patients past experiences by stimulating the temporal lobe involved with memory

Question 4

What is the limitation of inferring information about the brain by looking at where there are areas of dysfunction.

Answer 4

The studies are only on unhealthy brains, so information about healthy brains isnt gathered