PSYC 370 Chapter Notes -Motor System, Frontal Lobe, Global Aphasia
31 Jan 2014
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Document Summary
Lateralization, language, and the split brain. Commissurotomy: surgical severing of the cerebral commissures. Lateralization of function: unequal representation of various psychological functions in the two hemispheres of the brain. Split- brain patients: patients that have undergone a commissurotomy. Language abilities are the most lateralized. (16 : 1) Cerebral lateralization of function: introduction. Marc dax first to anticipate that different regions of the brain had different functions. Noted that patients with language deficits always had damage in the left hemisphere. Aphasia: inability to produce or comprehend language. Paul broca discovered language centre of the brain (broca"s area, see figure) Apraxia: inability to perform voluntary movements that are out of context. Hugo- karl liepmann found that apraxia was almost always associated with damage in the left hemisphere (even though symptoms are bilateral). Thus both language and voluntary movement appear to be housed within the left hemisphere. Tests of cerebral lateralization: sodium amytal test. Done prior to neurosurgery: dichotic listening.
