Penfields interpretive cortex

• Aim

  describe the psychological responses given when parts of the brain were electrically stimulated
• Method

  epileptic patients lay on an operating table conscious

  stimulated different areas of the brain using the Montreal procedure

  over 30 years he studied over 1000 cases
• Results

  stimulated visual area = patient reported colours, shadows, outlines

  stimulated somatosensory area = felt a tingling sensation

  stimulated temporal lobe = patients described they felt they were reliving past experiences OR felt emotions related to experiences

  felt hallucinations
• Conclusion

  interpretive cortex is an area of the temporal lobe where interpretations of memories are stored
• weakness

  -can't be generalised

  only tested patients suffering from severe epilepsy. people without epilepsy might get different results as their brain works different

  -contradicting research

  he repeated his study and found only 7% of participants relived an experience when the temporal lobe was stimulated. lacks reliability