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‘All that is psychological is first physiological’
Session 2: Localisation of Brain Function
What were the there principles of the biological
level of analysis?
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There are biological correlates of
behaviour
Animal research can provide insight
into behaviour
Human behaviour is, to some extent,
genetically based
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Explain one study of localisation of function
of the brain
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When a behaviour is localised in the brain, it
is possible to trace the origin of a behaviour
to a specific part of the brain
Studies in localisation of function led to the
desire to map out the brain’s functions
Though localisation does not explain all
human behaviour, the mapping out of the
brain was an important step forward in brain
research
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Iron rod blew threw his
skull and he turned into a
jerk
Shows that behavior has a
physiological basis (his
personality changed)
Shows there are biological
correlates of behavior
(after his frontal lobe was
damaged he lost his ability
to restrain himself)
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Amnesia: the inability to learn new information or retrieve
information that has already been stored in memory.
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Amnesia: the inability to learn new information or retrieve
information that has already been stored in memory.
Anterograde Amnesia
failure to store new memories
after a trauma
Retrograde Amnesia
failure to recall memories that
have been stored before a
trauma
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Important in the formation and storage of
memories
Case studies of patients with hippocampal
damage have shown that they can no longer
form new explicit memories
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Important because it provided evidence that
there are different memory systems in the
brain
Milner (1957) was first to report case of H.M.
and memory function after H.M.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IKP6tBhM2T4
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Suffered from epileptic seizures after he
fell of his bike aged seven
It was assumed his seizures were related
to his accident
He became increasingly incapacitated
When he was 27, a neurosurgeon
performed experimental surgery to stop
the seizures
Tissue from the medial temporal lobe,
including the hippocampus, was removed
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After the operation H.M. suffered from amnesia
He could recall information acquired in early life, but was
unable to form new memories
H.M. suffered from anterograde amnesia (failure to store
memories that happened AFTER a trauma)
He was unable to remember the faces of new people he
met
He could carry out normal conversations, but would not
remember people he met after the operation
He could read and re-read the same magazine without
realising that he had read them before
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Did an MRI scan* of
H.M.’s brain
Brain imaging was used
because it allowed
researchers to get a
precise image of the
brain damage
They were then able to
identify where the
damage was i.e. the
removal of the
hippocampus
*MRI-Magnetic resonance
imaging- a type of brain
scanning technique
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Only his memory was affected by the removal
of the hippocampus
His personality remained unchanged and
there was no general intellectual impairment
Suggests hippocampus is not involved in
other behavioural processes
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The hippocampus plays a critical role in
converting memories of experiences from shortterm to long-term memory
H.M. retained memories of what happened
BEFORE the surgery.
Indicates that hippocampus is responsible for
storing new explicit memories
H.M. could learn a few new procedural memories
which indicates that procedural memories are not
stored via the hippocampus
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The fact that H.M. (and other people with amnesia)
had deficits in one part of the memory but not in
others is evidence that the brain has several memory
systems and that these are supported by distinct brain
regions
Shows that memory processes are much more
complex than originally believed
Although hippocampus is very important in the
storage of new memories it is not the only part of the
brain involved in the process
Other parts of brain must be
responsible for storage of procedural
memories etc.
In his mid-forties suffered from a brain
infection which damaged parts of his brain
Left with a memory span of only a few
seconds
Most devastating case of amnesia ever
recorded
Suffers from anterograde and retrograde
amnesia
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vwigmktix2Y
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Wearing’s episodic and some of his semantic memory
are lost
He also cannot transfer new information into long term
memory
Wearing can still play the piano and conduct music
(procedural memories)
He also still demonstrates affection for his wife
suggesting his emotional memory is intact
This is evidence of a distributed memory system i.e.
different parts of the brain are involved in different
parts of memory
Explain one study of localisation of function of
the brain (8 marks)
This should include:
◦ Definition of localisation of function of brain
◦ Description of one study (H.M.)
◦ Detailed explanation of what study tells us about
brain