localisation of brain function

• localisation


  different areas of the brain have different functions
• lateralisation 


  some neural functions or cognitive processes are more dominant in one hemisphere than the other
• motor cortex location 


  frontal lobe
• motor cortex function


  planning

  control and execution of voluntary movement
• motor cortex lateralisation

  both

  the motor area on one side of the brain controls movement on the opposite side of the body
• somatosensory cortex location 


  parietal lobe
• somatosensory cortex function


  receives incoming sensory information from skin receptors all over the body and produces sensations related to:

  pressure

  touch

  pain

  temperature
• somatosensory cortex lateralisation

  both
• visual cortex location


  occipital lobe
• visual cortex function


  receives incoming visual information from the retina via the optic nerve and thalamus
• visual cortex lateralisation

  both
• auditory cortex location


  temporal lobe
• auditory cortex function 


  recognises sounds and analyses speech based information
• auditory cortex lateralisation

  both
• broca’s area location


  frontal lobe
• broca’s area function


  responsible for language production

  damage to this area results in difficulty putting thoughts into words and producing fluent language
• broca’s area lateralisation

  left hemisphere only
• wernickes area location


  temporal lobe
• wernickes area function


  responsible for language comprehension

  damage to this area results in a loss of ability to understand language in both written and spoken form
• wernickes area lateralisation

  left hemisphere only
• AO3 - supporting evidence - brain scans

  demonstrated that wernickes area was active during a listening task

  broca’s area was active during a reading task

  • suggesting that they have different functions
• AO3 - brain scans support evaluation

  objective

  no bias

  replicable
• AO3 - supporting evidence - neurosurgical

  reported on 44 OCD patients who had a procedure called a cingulotomy

  after 32 weeks, 30 % improved significantly

  supports that symptoms and behaviours associated with mental health are localised
• what happened in the 1950s

  procedures were developed to surgically remove or destroy areas of the brain to control behaviour
• AO3 - case study evidence Broca

  patient Tan - could only say the word tan

  postmortem examination found a superficial lesion in the left frontal lobe

  a few weeks later it was found again in a similar examination
• AO3 - case study evidence Wernicke

  researched speech and language brain disease effects

  discovered that not all language deficits were due to damage in broca’s area

  found damage in the left temporal lobe instead
• AO3 - plasticity


  when the brain has been damaged and a particular function has been compromised or lost, the rest of the brain can reorganise to recover it

  dormant areas replaced with new functions
• AO3 - irl application of plasticity

  rehabilitation treatment for stroke patients whose brains were damaged