Localisation of function in the brain Flashcards
What is localisation of function?
o Theory that different areas of the brain are responsible for different behaviours, processes or activities
What is the holistic theory of the brain?
o That all parts of the brain were involved in the processing of thought and action
Describe the motor area
o Region of the frontal love
o Involved in regulating movement
Describe the somatosensory area
o Area of the parietal love
o Processes sensory information such as touch
Describe the visual area
o A part of the occipital lobe
o Receives and processes visual information
Describe the Auditory area
o Located in the temporal love
o Concerned with analysis of speech-based information
Describe Broca’s area
o Area of the frontal love in the left hemisphere
o Responsible for speech production
Describe Wernicke’s area
o Area of the temporal lobe in the left hemisphere
o Responsible for language comprehension
Evaluation points for localisation of function in the brain?
+ Brain scan evidence
+ Neurosurgical evidence
+ Case study
– Lashley’s research
What brain scan evidence is there for localisation of function?
o Peterson et al. used brain scans to demonstrate how Wernicke’s area was active during a listening task and Broca’s area was active during a reading task
o Suggesting different areas of function
What neurosurgical evidence is there for localisation of function?
o Lobotomy, typically involved severing connections in the frontal lobe in an attempt to control aggressive behaviour
o Still used today, thought rarely, such as on extreme cases of OCD and a follow up showed that a third were successful (Dougherty et al.)
What case study evidence is there for localisation of function?
o Phineas Gage
o Supports different areas of the brain
o Weaknesses of case study methods and using a brain damaged individual to draw conclusions
What does Lashley’s research show about localisation of function?
o Suggests that higher cognitive functions, such as learning, are not localised but distributed in a more holistic way in the brain
o Lashley removed areas of the cortex in rats that were learning a maze, found no area proven to be more important that other area in terms of the rats’ ability to learn
o Suggest that learning is too complex to be localised and requires involvement of whole brain
