AO3

• Eval: Localisation

  Pros:

  • Case study - Patient Tan
  • supporting evidence - Maguire (2000)

  Cons:

  • Gender differences - women tend to use both hemispheres for language; men use the left
  • Reductionism - tries to confine behaviours to specific parts of the brain when complex tasks use multiple
• Eval Plasticity & Functional Recovery

  Pros:

  • Case study support - Jodie Miller, ecological validity
  • Practical application - Led to neurohabilitation, including motor therapy and electrical stimulation to aid recovery.

  Cons:

  • Individual differences - brain plasticity varies based on age, education, eg, children
  • Correlational, not causation - Most plasticity studies are correlational (Maguire)
• Maguire (2000):

  • Procedure: MRI scans of 16 right handed male London taxi drivers vs 50 healthy right handed males
  • Results: increased grey matter in the hippocampus of taxi drivers
• Sperry & Gazzaniga (1967):

  • Procedures: Studied 11 split brain patients, showing images to one visual field and asking them to describe or draw.
  • Findings: The Left hemisphere described objects in the RVF, but the right hemisphere couldn't verbalise objects in the LVF.
• Eval: Hemispheric lateralisation

  Pros:

  • empirical evidence - Sperry & Gazzaniga

  Cons:

  • Gender bias - Studies suggest women use both hemispheres for language, while men rely more on the left.
  • Case study - Sperry & Gazzaniga's small sample (11) limits generalisability.
  • Individual differences - lateralisation decreases with age as the brain declines
• Patient Tan:

  • Procedure: Patient Tan could only say "tan" but understood speech. Broca performed a post mortem on his brain.
  • Findings: Broca concluded Tan’s speech impairment was due to damage in Broca's area, responsible for language production.
• Jodie Miller (1999):

  • Procedure: At 3, Jodie had a hemispherectomy due to severe epilepsy, removing her right hemisphere.
  • Findings: Jodie’s Left hemisphere took over the functions of the right, including speech and motor skills