Localisation of Brain Function

Question 1

what theories are there for how the brain functions

Answer 1

holisitic = all areas of brain control all psychological/physical processes
localisation = diff areas of brain are responsible for diff psychological/physical processes

Question 2

what lobes make up the brain

Answer 2

4 lobes = frontal (front), temporal (under frontal), parietal (top back), occipital (under parietal)

Question 3

roles of the frontal and parietal lobes

Answer 3

frontal
= contain motor area
- control voluntary movement in opp side of body

parietal
= contain somatosensory area
- represent sensory info from skin (related to touch, heat, pressure etc)

Question 4

roles of temporal and occipital lobes

Answer 4

temporal
= auditory area
- analyse speech-based info

occipital
= visual area
- eye send info from right visual field to left visual cortex & vice versa

Question 5

what are the 2 language centres in the brain

Answer 5

Broca’s area (small area in left frontal lobe) = connected with speech, responsible for speech production
Wernicke’s area (left temporal lobe)
= language processing/comprehension

Question 6

how does Broca’s research provide evidence for localisation

Answer 6

• found other patients who had the same issue with similar lesions to patient tan = concluded Broca’s area = responsible for speech production
• Broca’s Aphasia = unable to speak or form coherent speech

Question 7

characteristics of broca’s aphasia vs wernicke’s aphasia

Answer 7

broca’s
= speech is slow, laborious + lacking fluency
= difficulty with conjuntions/prepositions

wernicke’s
= nonsense words (neologisms) produced within speech content

Question 8

how does Gage provide evidence for localisation (strength)

Answer 8

= damage to left side of rain, due to iron rod
= memory intact, but personality changed
= increased aggressiveness, crudeness and profanity

• prefrontal lobe = sustained most damage
• big change in personality = proof that prefrontal lobe (specifically) controls personality

further research = damage to prefrontal lobe tends to cause disinhibition
= inability to resist impulses, angry outbursts, sexual thoughts

Question 9

further strength of localisation

Answer 9

plenty supporting evidence
- peterson at al used brain scans to demonstrate W’s Area active during listening task, and B’s Area active during reading task

= suggest diff functions

• tulving et al, also found diff episodic and semantic memory reside in diff parts of prefrontal cortex

= studies use highly sophisticated/objective methods = provide scientific evidence

Question 10

Cons of research into localisation

Answer 10

LOW POPULATION VALIDITY
- use of individual case studies/small samples
BIOLOGICAL REDUCTIONISM
- critics argue theory is biologically reductionist in nature = reduce very complex human behaviours/cognitive processes to one specific brain region
= still require more research