Mentalism (2)
- Aristotle
- Governing seat (mind) is in the body
Dualism (2)
- Mind is a non-physical entity
- Machine approach
Mind-body problem
How can a non-material mind produce movements in the material body
Materialism (3)
- Darwin
- Behaviour can be fully explained by the nervous system
- Mammals have similar nervous systems –> Evolved from common ancestor
Phrenology
- Each area of the brain has a unique purpose
- Believed you could feel abnormalities through skull
Broca’s aphasia
Loss of speech movement without loss of understanding, right side paralysis
Where is Broca’s area
Left frontal lobe third gyrus
Where is Wernicke’s area
Left temporal lobe under lateral fissure
Wernicke’s aphasia
Fluent speech but words don’t make sense
Brain hypothesis
Idea that brain is the source of behaviour
3 part brain
Brain theory
Forebrain, brainstem, spinal cord
Forebrain function
Cognitive functions/higher order thinking
Brainstem role
Mediates regulatory functions (i.e. eating)
Spinal cord role
Mediates communication of sensory information to brain and commands from brain
Central nervous system
Neurons connected to brain and spine
Peripheral nervous system
Fibres that carry information, can regrow after damage
Somatic nervous system
Bring sensory information to the CNS
Autonomic nervous system
Sensorimotor pathways that control organ function
Ventral stream (3)
- “What” pathway
- Visual cortex to temporal lobe
- Mediates action controlled by conscious visual perception
Dorsal stream (3)
- “where” pathway
- visual cortex to parietal cortex
- Mediates action controlled by unconscious visual perception
Agnosia
- Cannot recognize shapes/forms of objects
- Due to dmg to ventral stream
Optic ataxia
- Motor error when reaching for object
- Due to dmg to dorsal stream
Hierarchical organization
Complex tasks are done through multiple lower level systems combining information
Binding problem
How do we perceive one unified experience if brain analyzes sensory events in multiple channels?
