Localisation of Function

Question 1

Phineas Gage

Answer 1

• in 1848, Phineas Gage had an accident resulting in an iron rod going through his face and out of his head
• this led to greater understanding of brain structure

Question 2

localisation vs holistic theory

Answer 2

• scientists used to generally support the holistic theory of the brain
• the idea that all parts of the brain are involved in the processing of thought and action

Question 3

what’s localisation of function?

Answer 3

• Paul Broca and Karl Wernicke discovered that specific areas of the brain are associated with particular functions
• if a certain area of the brain gets damaged, the function associated with that area will be affected

Question 4

what are the four lobes that make up the brain?

Answer 4

• frontal lobe
• parietal lobe
• occipital lobe
• temporal lobe

Question 5

what’s the cerebral cortex?

Answer 5

• the outer layer of both hemispheres
• 3mm thick
• human cortex is more developed than animals

Question 6

what’s the motor cortex?

Answer 6

• found at the back of the frontal lobe in both hemispheres
• controls voluntary movement in the opposite side of the body
• sends messages to the muscles via the brain and spinal cord
• important for complex movement
• damage to this area may result in loss of control over fine movements

Question 7

what’s the somatosensory cortex?

Answer 7

• found at the front of both parietal lobes
• next to the motor cortex
• where sensory information from the skin is processed

Question 8

what’s the visual cortex?

Answer 8

• found in the occipital lobe at the back of the brain
• processes information such as colour and shape
• each eye sends information from the right visual field to the left visual cortex and vice versa
• damage to the left hemisphere can cause blindness in the right visual field of both eyes and vice versa
• an area called Area VI is necessary for visual perception - patients with damage to this area report no vision at all

Question 9

what’s the auditory cortex?

Answer 9

• found in the temporal lobes
• analyses speech based information
• processes information such as pitch and volume
• damage may produce partial hearing loss

Question 10

the language area - Broca’s area

Answer 10

• language is restricted to the left hemisphere
• Paul Broca identified a small area in the left frontal lobe responsible for speech production
• damage to Broca’s area causes Broca’s aphasia - slow speech, lacks fluency

Question 11

the language area - Wernicke’s area

Answer 11

• Karl Wernicke identified patients who produced speech that was fluent but meaningless
• identified an area in the left temporal lobe as being responsible for language comprehension
• damage to this area results in Wernicke’s aphasia - neologisms