Localisation of Function

Question 1

What is the localisation of the brain function?

Answer 1

The idea that different areas of the brain are responsible for different functions

Question 2

AO1 for localisation of function

Answer 2

temporal
frontal
paterial
occipital

Question 3

AO3 for localisation of function

Answer 3

PHINEAS GAGE RESEARCH
iron red went through his left eye and his left frontal lobe was damaged. he had a different personality he was inappropiate/swearing/lack of self control which suggests that the frontal lobe is important for decision making and personality characteristics HOWEVER (LIMITATION COUNTERPOINT) it cant be generalised to other people because what happened to Phinaues is very rare therefore explanations for human behavior can be limited
suggests frontal lobe may be localised for function of personality

CASE STUDY OF HM
he suffered from epilepsy as falling from the bike
his hippocampus was removed
he was unable to form new memories
he could remember things before the surgery but couldnt form new things after
suggests hippocampus may be localised
COUNTERPOINT - it cant be generalsied to other people because epilepsy is rare

patient Tan
problems producing speech he could only say tan
damaged in brocas area left frontal lobe
supports localisation of function as it shows broca is responsible for speech

CANT be generalised not every1 has these cases

Question 4

Outline Sperry’s split-brain research (KS)

Answer 4

Aim: to study the effects of hemisphere disconnection, and to show that each hemisphere has different functions
Procedure: His sample was 11 individuals with a severed corpus callosum (split brained patients), he would then present images/words to one visual field of the patient at a time.
Findings: the right visual field (left hemisphere) could name the object that it saw. The left visual field (right hemisphere), however, could not name what it saw but could draw or pick it up.
Conclusions: The hemispheres have specialised functions and cannot communicate when separated

Question 5

Evaluate Sperry’s split brain research

Answer 5

Strengths:
- Lab experiment
- Highly useful (understanding brain damage cases)
Limits:
- Small sample size
- Artificial tasks