Localisation

• Localisation of function

  Different areas of the brain are responsible for specific behaviours, processes or activities.
• Motor area

  • back of frontal lobe
  • controls voluntary movement
• Somatosensory area

  • in the parietal lobe
  • processes sensory information
• Auditory area

  • temporal lobes
  • analyses speech-based information
• Visual area

  • occipital lobe
  • receives and processes visual based information
• Broca's area

  • in the frontal lobe in the left hemisphere
  • responsible for speech production
• Wernicke's area

  • area of temporal lobe in the left hemisphere
  • responsible for language comprehension
• Strength - evidence from neurosurgery

  Neurosurgery is last resort for some mental disorders.

  Dougherty et al

  44 people with OCD went under surgery (cingulotomy)

  32 weeks after, 30% met criteria for successful response, 14% had partial response.

  Behaviour for mental health disorders may be localised.
• Strength - evidence from brain scans

  Peterson et al

  Used brain scans to demonstrate Wernicke's area being active during a listening task and Broca's area being active during a reading task.

  Localised brain function
• Limitation - language localisation questioned

  May not be localised to Broca and Wernicke's areas.

  Dick + Tremblay

  Review found 2% of modern researchers think language is completely controlled by Broca's and Wernicke's.

  fMRI helps neural processes be measured more clearly.

  Language function seen as more holistic than what was first thought.
• Phineas Gage case study

  Pole took most of his left frontal lobe.

  Brain damage.

  Changed his personality from a calm + reserved to quick tempered + rude.