BIOPSYCHOLOGY (A-Level) part one

Question 1

What is localisation of function?

Answer 1

Specific functions have specific locations in the brain.

Question 2

What is the motor cortex?

Answer 2

A region of the brain responsible for the generation of voluntary motor movement.

Question 3

Where is the motor cortex located?

Answer 3

In the frontal lobe.

Question 4

How does the motor cortex control muscle movement?

Answer 4

One side of the brain controls the muscles on the opposite side of he body.

Question 5

What is the somatosensory cortex

Answer 5

A region of the brain that processes input from sensory receptors in the body that are sensitive to touch.

Question 6

Whee is the somatosensory cortex located?

Answer 6

In the parietal lobe.

Question 7

What does somatosensory cortex do with the sensory information given?

Answer 7

Produces pressure, pain and temperature.

Question 8

What does the motor cortex and the somatosensory cortex have in common?

Answer 8

The side of the brain controlling a certain function happens on the opposite side of the body.

Question 9

What is Broca’s area?

Answer 9

An area in the frontal lobe in the left hemisphere related to speech production.

Question 10

What did Fedoronko discover about Broca’s region?

Answer 10

One part involved language and the other involved responding to many demanding cognitive tasks (mathematical skills)

Question 11

What is Wernickes area?

Answer 11

An area in the temporal lib is it h brain important for comprehension of language.

Question 12

What is the evaluation of localisation of function?

Answer 12

Harasfy found that women have proportionally bigger Broca’s area and Wernicke’s area.

Question 13

What is hemispheric lateralisation?

Answer 13

Some mental processes in the brain are mainly specialised to either the right or the left hemisphere.

Question 14

What does the left hemisphere specialise in?

Answer 14

Language and speech.

Question 15

What does the right hemisphere specialise in?

Answer 15

Visual-spatial tasks and facial recognition.

Question 16

If language is located in the left hemisphere how is it possible to talk about hints in the right hemisphere ?(facial recognition)

Answer 16

The information is received from one hemisphere to the other through connecting bundle of nerve fibres such as the corpus callosum.

Question 17

What was Sperry and Gazzaniga’s research?

Answer 17

A split brain patient would focus on a dot and would be asked to make responses with either their left hand (controlled by the right hemisphere) or their right hand (controlled by left hemisphere).

Question 18

What were the findings from split-brain research?

Answer 18

The connectivity between the different regions is as important as the operation of the different parts.

Question 19

What is the evaluation of lateralisation and split-brain research?

Answer 19

Lateralisation increases for children and adolescents and decreases after 25.

Question 20

What is plasticity?

Answer 20

The brains ability to change and adapt as a result of experience.

Question 21

How does the brain change and adapt?

Answer 21

Developing new neural connections and pining away weak ones.

Question 22

Which unusual thing causing plasticity in the brain?

Answer 22

Video games - The researchers concluded that video game training has resulted in new synaptic connections is brain areas involved in spatial navigation, strategic planning etc. skills and to play the game successfully.

Question 23

What are the two mechanisms for recovery?

Answer 23

Neuronal unmasking and Stem cells.

Question 24

What is neuronal unmasking?

Answer 24

When synaptic connections that exist but are blocked (dormant synapses). Increasing the rate of input to these synapses would ‘unmask’ these dormant synapses, curing it.

Question 25

How does stem cell help functional recovery?

Answer 25

Stem cells implanted into the brain would directly replace dead or dying cells.

Transported stem cells secrete growth factors that rescue injured cells.

Question 26

What is the evaluation for Plasticity and functional recovery of the brain?

Answer 26

Functional plasticity reduces with age.