Physiology and behavior:
Localization of function
• Explain one study related to localization of function in the brain.
• Examine one interaction between cognition and physiology in terms of behavior
(Evaluate two relevant studies).

Early investigation of localization of function
Phrenology
• The attempt to make inferences about ones personality and intelligence by examining skull formation.
• Done by manually searching for bumps and indentations.
Franz Joseph Gall

In general….
• If there is a bump or protrusion in that area it indicates
MORE of that ability or trait.
• If there is an indentation it indicates a
deficiency of that ability or trait.

Phrenology?
• Do you think it is a valid science?
• Work was picked up by
Cesare Lombroso
• These ideas, although dangerous, are still the basis behind modern day criminal profiling.

Case studies of people with naturally occurring brain damage
Phineas Gage
Paul Broca
• Worked with a patient he called “Tan”
• “Tan” could only say the word “Tan”
• “Tan” died

Broca’s Area
• In post-mortem autopsy, Broca found damage in the left frontal area of Tan’s brain.
• Broca discovered the area of our brain that is responsible for making our mouth move during speech.

Broca’s Aphasia
• Aphasia means damage to a speech area of our brain.
• Very common in TBI or stroke patients.

Sarah Scott

Carl Wernicke
• Discovered the area of our brain that deals with the comprehension of written and spoken speech.
• Left temporal lobe.
• So what do you think
Wernicke’s Aphasia is like?

Studies of individuals who have undergone brain surgery

HM
• HM (Henry Gustav
Molaison) had epilepsy and had part of his temporal lobes removed in hope to reduce seizures.
• They took out a little too much and removed part of his hippocampus.
• Experienced both
Retrograde and
Anterograde Amnesia.

Memories and the Hippocampus
Retrograde Amnesia
• Forget past.
• It can be time period, event or select person.
Anterograde Amnesia
• Cannot form new memories.

Roger Sperry and the Split Brain
• The top of our brain is divided into a left and right hemisphere.
• Contralateral controlled- left controls right side of body and vice versa.
• This is called Brain Lateralization.
• Lefties are better at spatial and creative tasks.
• Righties are better at logic.

Roger Sperry and the Split Brain
• Corpus Collosum attaches the two hemispheres of cerebral cortex.
• Sperry first experimented by taking out the Corpus
Collosum from cats.
• Then tried it on 10 epileptic patients.

They became known as split brain
patients.