Localisation of function

• What is meant by the term localisation of function?

  Specific functions have specific locations within the brain
• AO3 of brain localisation?

  • ☹️Not all researchers agree that cognitive functions are localised (Lashley) higher mental functions have further brain networks
  • ☺️Support for language centres- aphasia studies (Broca's study on Tan) language is localised to Broca's area in the left hemisphere (description of the study)
  • ☹️Language prediction may not be confined to Broca’s area- Dronkers et al used MRI imaging to measure the extent of lesions in more detail in Tan's brain and found other areas which could've contributed to his reduced speech- may be involved in networks
  • ☹️Communication more important- (Wernicke) diff areas interdependent- for example the neural loop that connects Broca and Wernicke's area
• describe the motor cortex

  • found in frontal lobe
  • responsible for voluntary movement
  • in both hemisphere- side of the body it controls is opposite to the hemisphere it's found in (left/right)
• describe the somatosensory cortex

  • detects sensory events
  • found in parietal lobe
  • produces sensations of pain, touch, pressure
  • localises this to bodily regions
  • found in both hemispheres
• describe the visual cortex

  • receives visual info from the retina
  • processes info such as colour/shape/movement
  • both hemispheres
  • thalamus relays impulses from retina to visual cortex
  • occipital lobe
• describe the auditory cortex

  • located in temporal lobe
  • hearing signals go from cochlea->brain stem (where decoding happens)-thalamus (relay station)-auditory cortex
  • both hemispheres
• describe Broca's area

  • involved with production of speech
  • discovered by Paul Broca in post mortem study of Tan
  • evidence that Broca's area also co-ordinates cognitive tasks
  • found in frontal lobe
• describe Wernicke's area

  • responsible for understanding language
  • neural loop between Broca and Wernicke's area, at one end lied Broca's and at the other Wernicke's area
  • Wernicke proposed language involved separate motor and sensory regions, sensory regions related to Wernicke's area and motor regions related to Broca's area