Module 7: Biopsychology Flashcards

A record of tiny electrical impulses produced by brain activity. Used to measure characteristic wave patterns and help diagnose conditions such as epilepsy.

Electrophysiological response of the brain to a specific sensory, cognitive, or motor event, isolated through statistical analysis of EEG data.

A method used to measure brain activity by detecting changes in blood oxygenation and flow in active regions of the brain.

A medical examination of a body after death. Used by psychologists to identify potential links between behaviour and brain features.

Methods used to investigate brain localisation, including fMRI, EEG, ERPs, and post-mortem examinations.

The increased blood flow directed to active areas of the brain, detected by fMRI as regions consuming more oxygen.

Often used to detect abnormal brain activity patterns, such as epilepsy, tumours, or sleep disorders.

Helps study brain responses linked to attention, perception, and specific cognitive processes by isolating event-related activity.

Helps investigate brain abnormalities linked to cognitive dysfunctions or behavioural changes during a person's lifetime.

Produces high spatial resolution images, providing a clear, detailed picture of brain localisation.

Virtually risk-free, non-invasive, and does not use radiation.

Expensive and has poor temporal resolution with a time lag of around 5 seconds.

Extremely high temporal resolution, detecting brain activity to the millisecond. Useful for studying sleep stages and epilepsy.

Generalised signal from thousands of neurons, making it difficult to pinpoint exact sources of neural activity.

Brings more specificity to measuring neural processes and has excellent temporal resolution.

Lack of standardisation across studies and difficulty in eliminating extraneous background noise.

Vital for early understanding of key brain processes. Used by researchers such as Broca and Wernicke to link brain areas to behaviour.

Causation issues—damage may not be linked to the condition under review. Also, raises ethical issues around lack of informed consent.

The theory that different areas of the brain are responsible for specific behaviours, processes, or activities.

The idea that different parts of the brain perform different tasks and are involved with different parts of the body.

The concept that some physical and psychological functions are controlled or dominated by one hemisphere of the brain (e.g., language is typically lateralised to the left hemisphere).

Located in the frontal lobe, controls voluntary movements by sending signals to muscles.

Located in the parietal lobe, processes sensory information from the skin, such as touch, pressure, and temperature.

Located in the occipital lobe, processes visual information, with each hemisphere receiving input from the opposite visual field.

Located in the temporal lobe, processes speech-based information and analyses sound.

Found in the left frontal lobe (in most people); responsible for speech production. Damage causes Broca's aphasia, characterised by slow, laborious speech.

Located in the left temporal lobe (in most people); responsible for language comprehension. Damage causes Wernicke's aphasia, involving difficulty understanding language and producing fluent but meaningless speech.

Evidence from neurosurgery shows localisation, e.g., cingulotomy for OCD with 30% of patients showing successful responses.

Matthew Glasser et al. (2016) identified 180 regions per hemisphere using fMRI, linking specific regions to cognitive functions like language and problem-solving.

Michael O'Sullivan (2025) argues brain regions are interrelated and function as part of intricate networks, challenging localisation theory.

Dick and Tremblay (2016) suggest language is distributed holistically across the cortex and subcortical regions, not just Broca's and Wernicke's areas.

Cases like Phineas Gage support localisation theory but are difficult to generalise due to subjective interpretation and individual differences.

Case studies lack meaningful generalisation and findings depend on subjective interpretation, affecting validity of localisation evidence.