Localisation of Brain Function

• Phineas Gage

  • Had a metre long iron pole blasted through his skull and brain in an accident
  • He survived but his personality drastically changed
• Localisation - The idea that different parts of the brain have different tasks
• Holistic - All parts of the brain could process actions and thoughts
• The cerebellum


  • Largest part of the brain, incl. left & right hemispheres
  • Connected by the corpus callosum - allows the two hemispheres to 'communicate'
  • Each brain hemisphere is divided into four lobes
• Language Centres


  Only found in the brain's left hemisphere

  Broca's area - Speech production

  Wernicke's area - Language Understanding
• The left and right hemispheres are contralateral – each affects the opposite side of the body.

  • The left hemisphere controls all the activity on the right-hand side of the body and vice versa

  
• Broca's aphasia - Damage of Broca's area in the brain. Patients have:

  • Difficulty with speech production
  • Language comprehension (Can't understand speech as well as someone without brain damage)
  • Reading

  
• Wernicke's aphasia - Damage to Wernicke's area.

  Patients have:

  • Difficulty understanding spoken language
  • Difficulty producing meaningful speech