Biopsychology: case studies supporting Localisation of function

Spec Pt 5 case studies and research showing localisation of function includes: Phinneas Gage , Petersen and Maguire

When was the Phinneas Gage case

1848

What happened to Phinneas Gage

an explosion led to an iron rod piercing his cheek and to his frontal lobe and out of his skull.

Remained fully conscious, speaking coherently

How did Phinneas Gage recover

He knew how much time had passed but had difficulty with size and amounts of money. One year later was in good health and continued to work

What was the main change to Phinneas Gage after his accident

Family noted a drastic change to his personality and a predisposition to alchoholism

What does Phinneas Gages case show about functional recovery

supports idea that his brain was able to take on some of the roles of the damaged areas

What conclusions were made about Functional recovery as a result of Gages case

the Frontal Lobe is key to personality and behaviour and also its role in visualisation

Who studied taxi cab drivers for localisation of function

Maguire et al (2000)

what did Maguire want to study

navigation related structural changes in the hipocampi of taxi drivers who had studied ‘The Knowledge’ before driving for 1.5 years or more

Who took part in Maguires study

16 right handed male london taxi drivers

50 healthy right-handed men

What did Maguire do as part of his study

Had Structural MRI scans done of all brains and compared them

What did Maguire find in the MRI scans

Increased grey matter found in hippocampi of taxi drivers

Positive correlation between number of years driving and volume of posterior hippocampi

What did this show about brain plasticity

Shows that the brain grows develops and changes over time depending on external stimulation

When was Petersen et al study done

1988

what did Petersen et al do

conducted PET scans of Brocas and wernickes areas during reading and listening activities

What did Petersen find

Brocas area was active when Reading

Wernickes area was active when listening

Why are these modern studies good evidence

Techniques used are objective and clinical so can be replicated to show consistency, therefore have high reliability

Which study is a limitation of LOF

Lashley (1950)

What did Lashley (1950) do

researched rats with parts of their cortex removed memorising and navigating a maze

What did Lashley (1950) find in his study

Found that ability to solve maze didnt correspond with a specific brain region

What could Lashley conclude from his study

cognitive functions are more hollistic across the cortex