Y13 Biopsychology Flashcards
LOCALISATION OF FUNCTION in the brain
Localisation - specific areas of the cerebral cortex (brain) are associated with particular physical and psychological functions.
→ the brain has particular areas that control particular behaviours/functions of the body.
Research/evidence
FRANZ GALL’S
* Theory of phrenology (looking at the structure of the skull to determine a person character) was influential but quickly discredited.
PHINIAS GAGE
* support of localisation of function in the brain
provided evidence for localisation of function
* Had an accident where a pole went through the top of his brain, which cause a change in his personality (nice → mean/aggressive)
What are the 4 lobes in the brain? (and what do they control?)
- Frontal lobe (consciousness) - speech production, movement, personality
- Parietal lobe (movement and stimulus perception) - perception, sensory information
- Temporal lobe - speech recognition, hearing
- Occipital love - vision
MOTOR CORTEX
- Responsible for voluntary motor movements
- Location = in frontal lobe (alone the bumpy region next to somatosensory area)
- On BOTH hemispheres - the motor cortex on the right hemisphere control the muscles/parts of the body on the left side (and vice versa)
- DAMAGE to this area may result in loss of control over fine movement. e.g. damage to the righ hemispheres motor cortex = damage to the left side of the body (severity of damage depends how much damage will occur)
- Different parts of the motor cortec control different parts of the body. These are ARRANGED LOGICALLY (in order - e.g. the region that controls the foot is next to the region that controls the leg)
SOMATOSENSORY AREA
- Detects sensory events from different regions of the body, receives sensory info incoming to that area
- Location = in parietal lobe, seperated from the motor area
- Somatosensory cortex is ARRANGED LOGICALLY
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VISUAL CENTRES
AUDITORY AREA
