biopsych

• what happened to Phineas Gage ?


  an iron rod went through his skull when working on a railway. he survived, but experienced a change in personality.
• what does the motor cortex do ?

  • it is responsible for voluntary movements, by sending signals to muscles.
  • located in the frontal lobe.
• what did Hitzig and Fritsch do (1870) ?

  • they electrically stimulated motor areas of dogs.
  • found muscular contractions in different areas of the body depending on where the electric probe was inserted.
  • shows different muscles are coordinated by different areas in the motor cortex.
• what does the somatosensory cortex do ?

  • receives incoming sensory information from the skin to produce sensations related to pressure , pain , temperature etc.
  • different parts of the somatosensory cortex receive messages from different locations of the body.
  • located in the parietal lobe.
• what did Robertson (1995) do ?

  • found that braille users have larger areas in the somatosensory area for fingertips compared to normal sighted participants.
  • showing that the somatosensory area is highly adaptable .
• what does the visual cortex do ?

  • receives and processes visual information.
  • information from right visual field is processed in the left hemisphere, and information from the left visual feild is processed by the right hemisphere.
  • different parts process different types of information eg color , shape , movement.
  • located in the occipital lobe (back of brain).
• what does the auditory cortex do ?

  • it is responsible for analysing and processing acoustic information.
  • information from the right ear goes to the left hemisphere and information from the left ear goes to the right hemisphere.
  • located in the temporal lobe.
• what is localisation of function ?

  specific functions originate from specific locations within the brain eg language , memory etc.
• what is hemispheric lateralisation ?

  the idea that 2 areas of the brain are functionally different and each hemisphere specialises in different specific functions. eg left hemisphere = language and right hemisphere = motor tasks.
• what connects the two hemispheres?

  corpus callosum.
• who conducted the first split brain research ?

  sperry and gazzaniger (1967).
• what was the aim of sperry and gazzanigers research ?

  to examine the extent of how specialised each hemisphere is for certain functions .
• what was the method for sperry and gazzanigers research ?

  • an image / word was projected to either a patients left visual feild (processed by right hemisphere) or right visual field (processed by left hemisphere)
  • due to patients being ‘split brain’ patients their corpus callosum was cut and so couldn’t transfer information between hemispheres.
• what were the different experiments sperry and gazzaniger conducted on split brain patients ?

  • describe what you see tasks
  • tactile tests
  • drawing tests
• what were the results from the describe what you see tasks ?

  • right visual feild / left hemisphere = patient could describe what they saw.
  • left visual feild / right hemisphere = patient couldn’t describe what was shown to them and often said ‘nothing was present‘.
  • this shows the left hemisphere is superior in language and speech production.
• what were the results of the tactile tests ?

  • objects placed in right hand / left hemisphere = patients could describe verbally what they felt or identify the object by selecting a similar object in front of them.
  • objects placed in left hand / right hemisphere = patient couldn’t describe what they felt and were only able to guess, however they could identify the object by selecting a similar object in front of them.
• what were the results of the drawing tests ?

  • drawing with right hand / left hemisphere = patients attempted to draw but image was not very clear.
  • drawing with left hand / right hemisphere = patients would consistently draw clearer (even though they were all right handed).
  • shows right hemisphere is superior in visual-motor tasks.
• which hemisphere is dominant in speech and language ?

  left hemisphere
• which hemisphere is dominant in visual-motor tasks ?

  right hemisphere
• what is plasticity ?

  the brains ability to change and adapt because of experience . research shows that the brain continues to create new neural pathways and alter existing ones in response to changing experiences.
• what is functional recovery ?

  the transfer of functions from a damaged area of the brain after a trauma to other undamaged areas.
• what is neuronal unmasking ?

  where ‘dormant’ synapses (haven’t received enough input to be active) open connections to compensate for a nearby damaged area of the brain.
• what did Kuhn et al find ?

  significant increase in grey matter in various regions of the brains of people who played video games for 30 minutes every day for a 2 month period.
• what did davidson et al find ?

  Buddhist monks who meditated frequently had a greater activation of gamma rays (coordinate neural activity) than those who didn't meditate. permanent change in brain generated by prolonged meditation.
• what did maguire et al find ?

  the posterior hippocampal volume of the brains of london taxi drivers had a positive correlation with their time as a taxi driver. shows the brain can permanently change in response to frequent exposure to a particular task .
• what did Taijri et al (2013) find ?

  stem cells given to rats after a brain trauma showed a clear development of neuron-like cells in the area of injury. the ability of the brain to make new connections using neurons manufactured by stem cells.
• what is a counter argument to Taijri et als functional recovery research ?

  • it can deteriorate with age.
  • elbert el al said that the capacity for neural reorganisation is greater in children than adults, less effective in older brains. could explain why adults find change more demanding than young people do. must consider individual differences when assessing the likelihood of functional recovery in brains after trauma.
• strength of plasticity and functional recovery research ?

  application of findings to the feild of neurorehabilitation - understanding the processes of plasticity and functional recovery has led to development of neurorehabilitation, which uses motor therapy and electrical stimulation of the brain to counter negative effects + deficits in motor and cognitive functions following accidents, injuries, etc.