Localization+of+function

Explain one study related to localization of function in the brain // (Exam questions tend to follow the exact wording above. This learning outcome would be answered in the form of a SAQ - Short Answer Question - for Paper 1) //
 * Localization of function **
 * Learning outcome **

Please ensure that you have sufficient detail - make sure you provide key details of the study you choose to write on that you explain its significance to our understanding of localization

The study you discuss can be any study relevant to localization of function, such as current research on Wernicke's area or Broca's area, or Gazzaniga and Sperry's work on split-brain studies).

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 * WHEN you have completed the activities below, use the outline format to help you construct your answer.**
 * DO NOT DO THIS UNTIL YOU HAVE WORKED THROUGH THE ACTIVITIES BELOW SEQUENTIALLY.**

Outline format

 * Definition of localization
 * Explanation of the behavior you are discussing - set the context (//eg. symptoms of the aphasia, or what you mean by spatial memory//)
 * Specific locale of the behavior - so that you link to function (//eg. brain regions associated with a specific aphasia//)
 * One study that supports the theory that ......(name the function) is localized in ......... (again, name the locale or area of the brain) is ..........
 * Outline the :
 * Aim
 * Procedure
 * Findings/ Results
 * Explain researchers' conclusion and its significance in connection to the SAQ question (//eg. how the study's conclusions support the localization of language processes specific to this aphasia//)
 * Explain researchers' conclusion and its significance in connection to the SAQ question (//eg. how the study's conclusions support the localization of language processes specific to this aphasia//)


 * You have 20 minutes to write an SAQ. There is no point in creating an answer that will take you more than 20 minutes to write. **
 * Prepare answers carefully. **

=**Learning the parts of the Brain**= __**Activity 1**__
 * Use this 2 sources:**
 * 1) ** The [|Annenberg] resource '[|A brief history of neuroscience]' to familiarize yourself with the following: **//[Note: the 'video-on-demand' (VOD) will pop up in a separate window]//
 * 2) [|Brain Basics - Know your brain] (an overview from basic architecture, to localization, to the role of neurotransmitters)
 * Take notes using the following topics as sub-headings:**
 * The beginnings of neuroscience
 * The story of Phineas Gage
 * Localization theory
 * Moving from localization theory to neuron theory
 * Introduction to technology used to look inside the brain

__**Activity 2: Exploring**__ In your groups, write down THREE observations about what you notice about these images and ONE question.
 * Have a 'play' with the brain - look for sections in this 3-D image from [|The Whole Brain] (found on the Harvard Medical School site)
 * Compare healthy and damaged brains in the [|SPECT Gallery]
 * What do you see?**

A [|criticism] of the SPECT scans
 * Discussion**

__**Your outcomes so far:**__
 * 1) You have point form notes on the sub-headings above
 * 2) You should now have a visual image of what the brain looks like, an understanding of its basic architecture, and an understanding of localization theory.

=Video Explorations=
 * Watch the 2 brain videos below and complete the following tasks:**
 * 1) Define localization theory
 * 2) Write down TWO pieces of evidence from the video that supports this theory

[|In this video Paul Andersen explains the structures and functions of seventeen major parts of the brain. He begins with a quick discussion of brain evolution and ends with a review of the major parts presented inside the brainstem, cerebellum, thalamus, and cerebrum.] media type="youtube" key="kMKc8nfPATI" width="560" height="315"
 * I:The brain - Structure and function**

media type="youtube" key="mD34o-sW22A" width="560" height="315"
 * II: Using TMS to localize brain function**

=Thinking about the learning outcome= Let's look at the learning outcome for this section again. Explain one study related to localization of function in the brain (for example, Wernicke, Broca, Gazzaniga and Sperry). You can choose any function you have studied in class to illustrate your answer to this learning outcome. You will come across more examples as you move through your study of psychology in the levels of analysis, and in your option units. Make sure you understand that there are many topics you can use to answer this question.


 * 4 examples of functions are outlined below. Choose __ONE__ to explore and use in your answer to this learning outcome**

=Function 1 - Language areas of the brain=


 * READ**: [|The connection between thought and language]


 * We will focus on two areas connected with the reception and expression of language: Broca's area and Wernicke's area**
 * 1) Describe __EITHER__ Broca's area __OR__ Wernicke's area
 * 2) Describe the aphasia condition connected with that area
 * 3) Choose ONE study from your reading that provides evidence of the localization of the aphasic condition (don't use the original 19th century Broca and Wernicke studies - choose a more current investigation)
 * 4) EXPLAIN how the study supports localization theory.

I: Broca's area
To give you an understanding of this area and Broca's aphasia, read: [] [] []

II: Wernicke's area
Study of stroke patient - [] [|**Aphasia facts**]


 * STUDIES - CHOOSE ONE (either Metter OR Binder)**

The actual study
 * Metter et al. //Broca's aphasia: Comparison to metabolically aphasic subjects//**
 * This is a college level reading. Break it into sections. Try and identify:**
 * aim
 * procedure
 * findings
 * conclusion.

You will find this gets easier, as you develop a stronger grasp of vocabulary
 * Next step **
 * 1) Now compare your notes with this model [[file:Broca’s area study - Metter.docx]]
 * 2) Assess yourself. Did you find most of this information? Well done for making the attempt.

The actual study ..........(some problem with uploading - see Ms Leong for a copy)
 * Binder et al., (1996), ‘//Human brain language areas identified by functional magnetic resonance imaging (FMRI)//’, Medical College of Wisconsin **
 * This is a college level reading. Break it into sections. Try and identify:**
 * aim
 * procedure
 * findings
 * conclusion.

You will find this gets easier, as you develop a stronger grasp of vocabulary
 * Next step**
 * 1) Now compare your notes with this model ...(some problem with uploading - see Ms Leong for a copy)
 * 2) Assess yourself. Did you find most of this information? Well done for making the attempt.

=**Function 2 - the nucleus accumbens and emotion**=

**Robert Heath; Olds and Milner**
[|The Limbic system] - scroll down to the section titled 'Pleasure Centers' [|The Olds and Milner study] [] (**links to both studies**) Read the material and take notes under the sub-headings below:
 * Aim
 * Procedure
 * Findings/ Results
 * Explain Heath's conclusion and its significance in connection to the SAQ question (//eg. how the study's conclusions support the function localized in the nucleus accumbens//)


 * Discussing the ethics of Heath's work**
 * Please note - elements of Heath's studies are disturbing, involving his experimentation with sexual arousal on 2 "severely ill" patients one suffering from chronic depression, and the other a woman of borderline intelligence suffering from grand mal epilepsy
 * Robert Heath "//Pleasure and brain activity in man//" (a copy of this article may be found on our moodle). It may also be found in pdf form online by searching in Google Scholar.
 * Extension Reading**
 * The complexities of happiness: The Functional Neuroanatomy of Pleasure and Happiness by Morten L. Kringelbach and Kent Berridge
 * From the nucleus accumbens to the use of deep brain stimulation (DBS) in the treatment of illnesses

=**Function 3 - Spatial memory and the hippocampus**=

**Maguire**
[]
 * Memory and hippocampus function**

[] [] Read the material and take notes under the sub-headings below:
 * The study**
 * Aim
 * Procedure
 * Findings/ Results
 * Explain Maguire's conclusion and its significance in connection to the SAQ question (//eg. how the study's conclusions support the function localized in the hippocampus//)

=Function 4 - Lateralization= Lateralization and its [|connection to localization]


 * Background: Definitions in neuropsychology**
 * localisation refers to the identification of function in a specific region of the brain,
 * lateralisation refers to the identification of a function in one hemisphere (an assymetry in the nervous system)

Research indicates that despite the anatomical similarities between hemispheres, some functions(behaviors) appear to be lateralized. However - research has so far been unable to determine the extent of such lateralization or why patients who have undergone hemispherectomies can regain functions that appear then to have been 'picked up' by the opposite hemisphere.

Sperry and connection to the Gazzaniga study
 * Activity 1: Discussion of lateralization**


 * 1) Try a little exercise with your hemispheres - []
 * 2) Read '[|Localization of function and brain lateralization]'
 * 3) Ask yourself: //Why is this information significant?//

media type="custom" key="24023846"
 * Activity 2: Watch a Tedtalk**
 * [|Julia Bolte-Taylor's]//[|stroke of insight]//**

[]
 * Activity 3: Click on the link below and complete the activity to consolidate your understanding of hemispheric specialization**

[|The Gifford lectures]


 * Now, choose ONE study from either Sperry OR Gazzaniga to explain in the context of the role of the hemispheres**

**Sperry**
[] This is a long explanation. Read the material and take notes under the sub-headings below:
 * One study on lateralization**
 * Aim
 * Procedure
 * Findings/ Results
 * Explain Sperry's conclusion and its significance in connection to the SAQ question (//eg. how the study's conclusions support the roles of each hemisphere//)

Review the research: []

Gazzaniga
[|Michael Gazzaniga]

A student summary reviewing Gazzaniga's work

media type="custom" key="26713748"

[|Overview of Gazzaniga's research]

One study from Gazzaniga's work - illustrating the separate function of the hemispheres Read pages 743 - 744 of Use only the experiment on the split brain patients titled 'block-design task' (Bogen, J. E. and Gazzaniga, M. S. 1965, Cerebral commissurotomy in man: minor hemisphere dominance for certain visuospatial functions. J. Neurosurg. 23, 394-399) This is college-level reading. Feel free to read the whole thing, but in terms of what you would use in an answer, the information from the split brain patient study on the 'block design task' is all you need to use for that one study to illustrate a function.
 * 1) Summarise the elements of the study (follow the outline used previously)
 * 2) Then explain how this is significant in the context of the learning outcome.

//Do Gazzaniga and Bogen's results hold?//

"...//findings contributed to the popular notion that the right hemisphere is specialized for visuospatial processing. Subsequently, a number of researchers proposed dichotomies suggesting that the two hemispheres process information in different, though complementary, ways. For example, Sergent suggested that the left hemisphere selectively processes the high-spatial-frequency information in a stimulus and the right hemisphere selectively processes the low-spatial-frequency information ([|Sergent, 1982]). Similarly, Lamb and colleagues proposed that the left hemisphere processes the local details of a stimulus, whereas the right hemisphere processes its global layout ([|Lamb et al., 1989])....// //Each of these dichotomies suggests that the hemispheres both contribute their expertise to the overall processing of the stimulus, effectively dividing the workload between them. While these theories have each received some empirical support, there has been relatively little effort to test them directly in the split brain.//" [|Gazzaniga, M. (2000). Cerebral specialization and interhemispheric communication: Does the corpus callosum enable the human condition? Brain: A Journal of Neurology.] [|Volume 123, Issue 7, 01 July 2000]
 * Read on...**

//you don't need this, but it's interesting!//
 * Extension reading**
 * [|a quick overview of split-brain surgery]
 * [|Gazzaniga on split-brain research] (listen to the audio or read the transcript)
 * [|Gazzaniga on interactions between the right silent brain and the left brain talking interpreter]