Mid-Term Paper Question 1 National University of Singapore Department of Psychology

Semester I 2011/12

PL1101E: INTRODUCTION TO PSYCHOLOGY

Name: Jiten Khemlani S/O Suresh Matriculation Number: A0072196B Discussion Group: DG12 Instructor/Teaching Assistant: Date/Time of Submission:

Question 1 Given what we know about localization of function in the human brain, is it scientifically legitimate to categorize people as left-brained or right-brained?

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Semester I 2011/12

Brain lateralization refers to the intriguing phenomenon that the two hemispheres (left and right) differ in their structure and in their functional output (JM, 1990). Brain lateralization was first discovered in the 1800's by physicians, such as Broca and Wernicke who did autopsies on patients who had had several language difficulties before their deaths, usually due to damage in the left hemisphere of their brain (Boeree, 2004) refer to Annex A. Cognitive brain functions like language, memory and spatial attention are continuously distributed across the hemispheres, with a preponderance of one hemisphere in most individuals (A. Jansen, 2006). The typical lateralization pattern localizes the function of the brain into the verbal and linguistic left and visuospatial right (J.M. Lust, 2011). This was shown in Sperry & Gazzanigas experiments (Roser, 2009). Meanwhile, number processing (exact computations and numerical comparisons) utilizes mainly the left hemisphere while the right hemisphere is capable of numerical approximation and estimation (Michael Andres, 2005; Stanislas Dehaene, 2003; Dehaene S, 1999). Dr. Roger Sperry and Dr. Michael Gazzaniga were the pioneers of split-brain experiments in humans. Testing the split brain can reveal whether each isolated hemisphere is competent at a particular task and the degree to which a process can be supported by a single hemisphere (Roser & Gazzaniga, 2009). The experiments were usually done on patients who had undergone corpus callosotomy, usually as treatment of severe epilepsy (Gazzaniga, 1984). One of their key findings was that the right hemisphere was capable of basic language processing, but often had no lexical or grammatical abilities. (Kandel E, 2000). In the experiment, the right hemisphere was able to understand the meaning of the words and could choose a picture that represents the item represented by an auditory or visual word stimulus, but most patients was unable to match rhyming words and pictures. (Roser, 2009). Research has also focused on the anatomical differences between the two cerebral hemispheres in the human brain, proposing that cerebral dominance is based on structural

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asymmetries. (Koenig, 1990) It has been reported that the planum temporale the upper surface of the posterior portion of the temporal lobes is larger in the left cerebral hemisphere in the adult brain. This area is part of the temporal speech region of Wernicke, hence it has been proposed that this asymmetry may be responsible for the localisation of speech in the left cerebral hemisphere (Geschwind, 1968; Teszner.D, 1972; Wada. J. Clark, 1975; Witelson. S., 1973). Other ways used to determine speech and language hemispheric dominance in a human was the Wada Test (Bruce Hermann, 2005) and EEG spectral analysis (Wada, 1978). The Wada Test was conducted through the technique of transient hemispheric anesthetization through carotid amytal injection before surgery and provided information regarding both cerebral dominance for speech and the adequacy of memory function in each hemisphere. (Bruce Hermann, 2005). The left hemisphere was found to be dominant for language in eight subjects and the right hemisphere in only one subject (Corcia P, 1999). Meanwhile, spectral analysis of the EEG alpha rhythm was studied in nine temporal epileptic right-handed patients in order to predict localization of the speech area. Six patients had a significant alpha power reduction in the hemisphere concerned during lateralized cognitive tasks. The three remaining patients had no significant EEG spectral power variations. (Corcia P, 1999) The decrease in alpha power during cerebral activation seems to indicate that there is a lefthemispheric dominance for language in right-handed subjects, consistent with the Wada Test. To conclude, it would be scientifically legitimate to categorize people as left-brained and right-brained. However, there are certain cognitive functions that integrate both the left and right hemispheres of the brain. These include arithmetic, binaural sound localisation and emotions, all of which are more bilaterally controlled.

Mid-Term Paper Question 1 ANNEX A Extracted from : http://webspace.ship.edu/cgboer/speechbrain.html

Semester I 2011/12

Broca's Area The first language area within the left hemisphere to be discovered is called Broca's Area, after Paul Broca. Broca was a French neurologist who had a patient with severe language problems: Although he could understand the speech of others with little difficulty, the only word he could produce was "tan." Because of this, Broca gave the patient the pseudonym "Tan." After the patient died, Broca performed an autopsy, and discovered that an area of the frontal lobe, just ahead of the motor cortex controlling the mouth, had been seriously damaged. He correctly hypothesized that this area was responsible for speech production. Physicians called the inability to speak aphasia, and the inability to produce speech was therefore called Broca's aphasia, or expressive aphasia. Someone with this kind of aphasia has little problem understanding speech. But when trying to speak themselves are capable only of slow, laborious, often slurred sequences of words. They don't produce complete sentences, seldom use regular grammatical endings such as -ed for the past tense, and tend to leave out small grammatical words. It turns out that Broca's area is not just a matter of getting language out in a motor sense, though. It seems to be more generally involved in the ability to deal with grammar itself, at least the more complex aspects of grammar. For example, when they hear sentences that are

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put into a passive form, they often misunderstand: If you say "the boy was slapped by the girl," they may understand you as communicating that the boy slapped the girl instead. Wernicke's Area The second language area to be discovered is called Wernicke's Area, after Carl Wernicke, a German neurologist. Wernicke had a patient who could speak quite well, but was unable to understand the speech of others. After the patient's death, Wernicke performed an autopsy and found damage to an area at the upper portion of the temporal lobe, just behind the auditory cortex. He correctly hypothesized that this area was responsible for speech comprehension. This kind of aphasia is known as Wernicke's Aphasia, or receptive aphasia. When you ask a person with this problem a question, they will respond with a sentence that is more or less grammatical, but which contains words that have little to do with the question or, for that matter, with each other. Strange, meaningless, but grammatical sentences come forth, a phenomenon called "word salad." Like Broca's area is not just about speech production, Wernicke's is not just about speech comprehension. People with Wernicke's Aphasia also have difficulty naming things, often responding with words that sound similar, or the names of related things, as if they are having a very hard time with their mental "dictionaries."

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References
A. Jansen, R. M. (2006). The assessment of the hemispheric lateralization in functional MRIRobustness and reproducibility. NeuroImage , 204-217. Boeree, D. C. (2004). Speech and the Brain. Retrieved from Shippensburg University: http://webspace.ship.edu/cgboer/speechbrain.html Bruce Hermann, P. (2005). Wada Test Failure and Cognitive Outcome. Epilepsy Currents , 5(2), 61-62. Corcia P, D. T. (1999). Determination of language dominance using EEG spectral analysis versus the Wada test in temporal epilepsy (right-handed subjects). Neurophysiologie Clinique (6), 473-481. Dehaene S, S. E. (1999). Sources of mathematical thinking: behavioral and brain-imaging evidence. Science , 284 (5416), 970-974. Gazzaniga, M. S. (1984). Neurologic perspectives on right hemisphere language following surgical section of the corpus callosum. Seminars in Neurology (4(2)), 126135. Geschwind, N. &. (1968). Human brain: Left-right asymmetries in temporal speech region. Science , 161, 186-187. Hinke, R. H. (1993). Functional magnetic resonance imaging of Brocas area during internal speech. NeuroReport , 4, 675-678. J.M. Lust, R. G. (2011). Functional cerebral lateralization and dual-task efficiencyTesting the function of human brain lateralization using fTCD. Groningen, The Netherlands: Elsevier. JM, B. (1990). Lateral assymetries and hemispheric specialization: theoretical models and research. Amsterdam: Swets & Zeitlinger. Kandel E, S. J. (2000). Principles of Neural Science. (4th edition ed.). New York: McGraw Hill. Koenig, O. (1990). Child Neuropsychological Development: Lateralization of Function Hemispheric Specialization. Advances in Psychology , 64, 357-388. Michael Andres, X. S. (2005). Hemispheric lateralization of number comparison. Cognitive Brain Research (25), 283-290. Roser, M. &. (2009). Split-Brain Patients. In Encyclopedia of Neuroscience (pp. 351-356). Stanislas Dehaene, M. P. (2003). Three parietal circuits for number processing. Cognitive Neuropsychology , 20, 487506. Teszner.D ., T. A. (1972). L'asymetrie droite-gauche du planum temporale: A propos de 1'etude anatomique de 100 cerveaux. Revue Neurologique, , 126, 444-449.

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Wada, A. E. (1978). Speech Dominanceand Handedness in the Normal Human. Brain and Language (5), 42-55. Wada. J.. Clark, R. &. (1975). Cerebral hemisphere asymmetry in humans. Archives of Neurology , 32, 239-246. Witelson. S., &. P. (1973). Left hemisphere specialization for language in the newborn: Neuroanatomical evidence of asymmetry. Brain , 96, 641-646.