AQA Psychology: Brain localisation of function

Which part of the brain is involved in speech production?

• Somatosensory cortex

• Broca's area

• Wernicke's area

• Occipital lobe

Which disorder is characterised by fluent but meaningless speech?

• Stroke

• Broca's aphasia

• Wernicke's aphasia

• Epilepsy

Broca's aphasia is characterised by:

• Fluent but meaningless speech

• Inability to move the right hand side of the body

• Long term memory loss

• Laborious, slow and effortful speech but understanding remains intact

• Short term memory loss

The somatosensory cortex

• Processes vision

• Processes sensory information such as heat, pressure, touch

• Produces speech

• Processes sounds in the environment

Localisation of function theory suggests that

• Areas of the personality are located in different places across the skull

• Specific functions take place in specific areas of the brain

• Brain functions take place throughout the brain

• Brains only function in local areas

Which area of the brain processes speech for understanding?

• Auditory cortex

• Broca's area

• Wernicke's area

• Somatosensory cortex

Which area controls voluntary movements?

• Cerebellum

• Frontal lobes

• Somatosensory cortex

• Motor cortex

What does the auditory cortex do?

• Produces speech

• Comprehends speech

• Processes sounds in the environment

• Processes visual information

How does plasticity challenge localisation of function?

• Sometimes different areas of the brain can learn to take over functions from damaged areas after trauma, suggesting that functions do not have to be localised

• Removal of up to 50% of rats' brains didn't affect their ability to learn

• Removal of up to 50 % of rats' brains didn't show that learning was localised to one area

• Taxi drivers can learn new routes

How does Lashley's research challenge localisation of function theory?

• Removal of up to 50% of rats' brains didn't show that learning was located in one specific area

• Taxi drivers had larger posterior hippocampi than controls

• Phrenologists believed you could tell personality from skull bumps

• Rats could press a switch to release food