Module 4

Question 1

What is brain lateralisation?

Answer 1

The tendency for some neural functions or processes to be more dominant in one hemisphere than the other.

Question 2

Which hemisphere controls speech and language in most people?

Answer 2

The left hemisphere (Broca’s and Wernicke’s areas).

Question 3

Which hemisphere processes prosody, faces, and perceptual grouping?

Answer 3

The right hemisphere.

Question 4

What does contralateral control mean?

Answer 4

Each hemisphere controls the opposite side of the body and visual field.

Question 5

What percentage of right-handed people have left hemisphere language dominance?

Answer 5

About 95%.

Question 6

What percentage of left-handed people have left hemisphere language dominance?

Answer 6

Around 70%.

Question 7

What is the corpus callosum?

Answer 7

A large bundle of nerve fibres connecting the two hemispheres and enabling interhemispheric communication.

Question 8

What is the main function of the corpus callosum?

Answer 8

To share sensory, motor, and cognitive information between hemispheres.

Question 9

Who conducted the classic split-brain experiments?

Answer 9

Roger Sperry and Michael Gazzaniga in the 1960s.

Question 10

Why were split-brain surgeries performed?

Answer 10

To treat severe epilepsy by severing the corpus callosum.

Question 11

In split-brain patients, what can the left hemisphere do that the right cannot?

Answer 11

Name objects because it contains the language centres.

Question 12

What can the right hemisphere do in split-brain patients?

Answer 12

Identify, draw, or select objects but cannot verbalise them.

Question 13

What does split-brain research show about consciousness?

Answer 13

Each hemisphere can act independently, showing separate consciousness and specialisation.

Question 14

How is visual information divided between hemispheres?

Answer 14

By visual field – left visual field to right hemisphere, right visual field to left hemisphere.

Question 15

What brain region is essential for forming new declarative memories?

Answer 15

The hippocampus.

Question 16

Where is the hippocampus located?

Answer 16

In the medial temporal lobe.

Question 17

What are the two main roles of the hippocampus?

Answer 17

Forming new declarative memories and supporting spatial navigation.

Question 18

Who was patient H.M. and what was his condition?

Answer 18

Henry Molaison; had bilateral hippocampal removal leading to severe anterograde amnesia.

Question 19

What kind of memory did H.M. retain?

Answer 19

Procedural (non-declarative) memory – he could learn new skills unconsciously.

Question 20

Who studied patient H.M. extensively?

Answer 20

Neuropsychologist Brenda Milner.

Question 21

What did H.M.’s case reveal about memory systems?

Answer 21

Memory is not unitary; declarative and procedural memory rely on different brain systems.

Question 22

What brain areas support procedural learning?

Answer 22

Basal ganglia and cerebellum.

Question 23

What brain area supports semantic memory?

Answer 23

Temporal cortex.

Question 24

What brain area supports episodic memory?

Answer 24

Hippocampus.

Question 25

What brain area supports short-term or working memory?

Answer 25

Prefrontal cortex.

Question 26

Define anterograde amnesia.

Answer 26

Inability to form new memories after brain injury or surgery.

Question 27

Define retrograde amnesia.

Answer 27

Loss of memories formed before a brain injury.

Question 28

What is the main takeaway from Lecture 9?

Answer 28

Brain functions are lateralised but interdependent; hippocampus is crucial for memory formation, not storage.

Question 29

What is the main function of the parietal lobe?

Answer 29

Directing attention, linking vision to action, and representing spatial location.

Question 30

Where is the parietal lobe located?

Answer 30

Posterior to the central sulcus.

Question 31

What is bottom-up processing?

Answer 31

Automatic, stimulus-driven attention captured by external stimuli.

Question 32

What is top-down processing?

Answer 32

Goal-directed attention guided by internal goals and prior knowledge.

Question 33

Who defined attention as 'taking possession of the mind'?

Answer 33

William James (1890).

Question 34

Why is attention capacity-limited?

Answer 34

We cannot process all sensory inputs at once; attention filters and prioritises information.

Question 35

What are the two major attention networks described by Corbetta & Shulman (2002)?

Answer 35

The dorsal (goal-directed) and ventral (stimulus-driven) networks.

Question 36

What happens when the parietal lobe is damaged?

Answer 36

Spatial neglect – failure to attend to one side of space (usually left side after right parietal lesion).

Question 37

What is spatial neglect?

Answer 37

An attentional deficit causing inattention to one side of space, not a visual impairment.

Question 38

What are two clinical tests for spatial neglect?

Answer 38

Line bisection test and clock drawing test.

Question 39

What is simultagnosia?

Answer 39

Inability to perceive multiple objects at once, often seen in severe neglect cases.

Question 40

What is the main role of the frontal lobe?

Answer 40

Executive functions – reasoning, planning, decision-making, and inhibitory control.

Question 41

What are the subdivisions of the frontal lobe?

Answer 41

Primary motor cortex, premotor cortex, prefrontal cortex, and Broca’s area.

Question 42

What does the premotor cortex do?

Answer 42

Plans and sequences movements.

Question 43

What does the primary motor cortex do?

Answer 43

Executes voluntary movements.

Question 44

What is the insula cortex associated with?

Answer 44

Emotion, empathy, and self-awareness.

Question 45

What are examples of executive functions?

Answer 45

Working memory, planning, decision-making, and inhibition.

Question 46

What disorders involve failures of inhibition?

Answer 46

ADHD, OCD, and addiction.

Question 47

What is the Continuous Performance Task (CPT)?

Answer 47

A test measuring sustained attention and inhibition (e.g., respond to all letters except 'X').

Question 48

What does the CPT reveal about brain function?

Answer 48

It is sensitive to frontal cortex dysfunction.

Question 49

Who was Phineas Gage and what did his case demonstrate?

Answer 49

A railway worker whose frontal lobe injury caused major personality and emotional changes.

Question 50

Who developed the prefrontal leucotomy (lobotomy)?

Answer 50

Egas Moniz, awarded the 1949 Nobel Prize (later abandoned due to ethical and cognitive consequences).

Question 51

What is frontotemporal dementia (FTD)?

Answer 51

A neurodegenerative disease of the frontal and temporal lobes causing disinhibition, apathy, and poor judgement.

Question 52

What symptoms are common in FTD?

Answer 52

Loss of empathy, inappropriate social behaviour, impulsivity, and poor planning.

Question 53

What is the difference between top-down and bottom-up attention?

Answer 53

Top-down is voluntary and goal-driven; bottom-up is automatic and stimulus-driven.

Question 54

What is the dorsal attention network responsible for?

Answer 54

Goal-directed attention and voluntary focus.

Question 55

What is the ventral attention network responsible for?

Answer 55

Detecting unexpected or salient stimuli (stimulus-driven attention).

Question 56

Which side of the brain is most often affected in neglect?

Answer 56

The right parietal lobe, causing left-side neglect.

Question 57

What key functions are mediated by the frontal lobe?

Answer 57

Planning, inhibition, decision-making, problem-solving, and emotional regulation.

Question 58

What is inhibitory control?

Answer 58

The ability to suppress automatic, impulsive, or inappropriate actions.

Question 59

What behavioural disorders result from impaired inhibitory control?

Answer 59

Impulsivity, addiction, and disinhibition syndromes.

Question 60

What is the main takeaway from Lecture 10?

Answer 60

Frontal and parietal lobes coordinate attention and executive control; damage causes neglect or disinhibition.