localisation and function in the brain

Question 1

what is ‘localised’?

Answer 1

-specific area of functioning

Question 2

what is ‘con-lateralisation’?

Answer 2

• each hemisphere of brain controls the opposite side of the body
• eg. left side of brain controls right side of body

Question 3

explain hemispheres of the brain?

Answer 3

• brain divided into 2 symmetrical halves= left/right hemispheres
• some functions are controlled by a specific hemisphere= lateralisation

Question 4

look at flashcards for diagram of the lobes in the brain

Answer 4

-

Question 5

what are the names of the 4 lobes the brain is divided into?

Answer 5

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

Question 6

explain the role of the frontal lobe?

Answer 6

• speaking
• planning
• personality
• at the back is the motor cortex that controls voluntary muscle actions
• broca’s area (left side)

Question 7

explain the role of the parietal lobe?

Answer 7

• sense of touch
• body position
• at the front is the somatosensory cortex, receives info from the skin eg. heat

Question 8

explain the role of the occipital lobe?

Answer 8

• info related to sight

- at the back of lobe=visual cortex

Question 9

explain the role of the temporal lobe?

Answer 9

• comprehension of sound and speech
• auditory cortex
• Wernicke’s area (left side)

Question 10

explain the Broca’s area?

Answer 10

• responsible for speech production

- damage= broca’s aphasia which is slow and lack of fluency in speech

Question 11

explain the Wernicke’s area?

Answer 11

• speech and language comprehension

- damage= wernicke’s aphasia which is fluent speech that lacks meaning use of neologisms

Question 12

evaluate brain scan evidence?

Answer 12

STRENGTH
-Peterson used brain scan to demonstrate how the Wernicke’s ares was active during listening task and Broca’s during reading
-supported by Tulving who found semantic and episodic memories reside in different parts of prefrontal cortex
=both show localisation of brain functioning

Question 13

evaluate neurosurgical evidence?

Answer 13

STRENGTH

• neurosurgery still used today in some cases of OCD
• 44 OCD patients had surgery
• after 32 weeks 1/3 had meet criteria for successful response
• shows that symptoms associated with some mental disorders are localised

Question 14

evaluate Lashely’s research?

Answer 14

WEAKNESS

• suggests higher cognitive functions eg. learning is holistic
• he removed area’s of the cortex in rats learning a maze, -process of learning appeared to need every part of the brain, rather than being confined to a specific area
• learning is too complex to be localisation