Brain Plasticity & Specialization

Plasticity

the brains ability to reorganize & adapt thru life in response to changes & expierience

Split Brain Research

studies people who have undergone “callostomy” which disconnects the 2 hemispheres of the brain; treatment of epilepsy

Contralateral Hemispheric Organization

each hemisphere of the brain controls the opposite side of the body

Hemispheric Specialization

the concept that each hemisphere has specialized functions and abilities

Linguistic Processing

understanding and producing language

Brocas Area

left hemisphere; frontal lobe; responsible for speech production and language processing

Brocas Aphasia

language disorder caused by damaged to Brocas area; difficulty with articulation & speech production

Wernickes Area

left hemisphere; temporal lobe; involved in language comprehension & understanding spoken & written language

Wernickes Aphasia

language disorder caused by damage to Wernickes area; has fluent speech but difficulty understanding spoken & written language & producing meaningful speech

Electroencephalogram “EEG”

neuro-imaging technique used to record the electrical activity of the brain; used to diagnose & monitor epilepsy, sleep disorders & brain imaging

fMRI

neuro-imaging technique used to measure brain activity by detecting changes in blood blow & oxygen levels

Lesioning

reaserch technique where brain is destroyed/damged to study brain function