Chapter 12 - Individual Differences in Cerebral Organization Flashcards
(51 cards)
In what ways can brain organization vary?
- Size (tied to body size)
- Gyral patterns
- Gray and white matter distribution
- Cytoarchitecture (structure of cells)
- Vascular patterns
- Neurochemistry
- Functional asymmetries
What biological factors influence cerebral organization?
- Handedness (was the brain initially right-handed, or did it become right-handed)
- Sex
What environmental factors influence cerebral organization?
- Culture and language
- Experiences (conception onward)
Which percentage of the population is left-handed?
- Around 10-30%
By week 10 gestational age, which percentage of fetuses show preference for right-hand movements?
- 75%
By week 15 GA, which percentage of fetuses prefer right thumb sucking?
- 90%
T/F: Left-handers tend to be less lateralized in their hand dominance.
- TRUE
What’s the type of association found between handedness and the size of corpus callosum?
- It’s a negative association
- As the handedness lateralization increases, the size of the corpus callosum decreases, specifically in the middle and anterior portions
What did Branch et al. (1964) discover regarding left-handedness cerebral organization?
- Used a sodium amobarbital procedure
- Left hemisphere dominance for language in 70% of left-handers
- Right hemisphere in 15%
- Bilaterally in 15%
What did Hecauen and Sauget (1971) discover in familial vs. non-familial left-handers?
- Non-familial with unilateral lesions resemble right-handers on neuropsychological tests
- Familial left-handers tend to perform differently than right-handers
What are some general sex differences in cerebral organization?
- Women tend to be more fluent in language
- Men tend to perform better in spatial analysis
- These are not absolute.
T/F: Individual differences within each sex are larger than overall sex differences.
- TRUE
Which sex performs better at fine motor skills?
- Females
- Males tend to do better at target throwing and catching
T/F: Men are generally better at perception.
- FALSE
- Females are
Which sex tends to do better in verbal abilities?
- Females
T/F: Males are better at remembering misplaced objects.
- FALSE
- Females are
T/F: Men are better at mentally finding a geometric form in a complex picture
- TRUE
What results can be derived from a tabletop map for route learning?
- Males learn routes in fewer trials
- Females recall more landmarks along the way
In the Draw-a-Bicycle test, who performs better?
- Boys do
In the Rey complex figure test, who performs better?
- There is no difference, they perform the same
In the Chicago Word Fluency test, who performs better?
- Girls outperform the boys
Does experience matter when it comes to sex-related differences in behaviour?
- Training effects do occur, but are of similar magnitude in both sexes.
- Ex. Women consistently underperform in Piaget’s water-level task even with training.
What are brain differences favouring female brains?
- Larger language areas
- Larger medial paralimbic areas (ex. cingulate)
- Larger lateral frontal areas
- Greater relative amount of gray matter
- More densely packed neurons in temporal lobe
- More gyri
- Thicker cortex
What are brain differences favouring male brains?
- Marger medial frontal areas
- Larger amygdala and hypothalamus
- Larger overall white matter volume
- Larger cerebral ventricles
- Larger right planum parietale
- More neurons overall
- Larger brain due to larger body size
