The Brain and

Neuropsychology

The impact of neurological damage

Neurological damage
Neurological damage refers to any kind of damage to parts of the nervous system.
The proper functioning of the nervous system depends on the quality of the
communication between the parts of the system.
Sometimes the communication may be interrupted or damaged by injury (neuronal
damage).
The extent of the injury may vary from:
- large scale brain injury (e.g. stroke)
- small scale (a few neurons in a larger network are damaged and not working properly)
Neurological damage can have a significant impact on perception, thinking and
behaviour.
Visual agnosia
Agnosia refers to an inability to process sensory information.
Often there is a loss of the ability to recognise familiar objects,
persons, sounds, shapes, or smells while the specific sense is
not defective nor is there any significant memory loss.
Visual agnosia is an impairment in the recognition of visually
presented objects. It is not due to a deficit in vision (acuity,
visual field, and scanning), language, memory, or intellect.
It may be a result of damage to the occipital or rearmost part of
the parietal lobe.
Symptoms:
➔ cannot identify/ recognise the objects they see
➔ may not recognise the colour of an object
➔ may not be able to recognise familiar places
Watch: Visual agnosia (5 minutes) - recognise the symptoms
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ze8VVtBgK7A
Prosopagnosia
Prosopagnosia or ‘face blindness’ refers
to a cognitive disorder in which the
ability to recognize familiar faces,
including one's own face
(self-recognition), is impaired, while
other aspects of visual processing (e.g.,
object discrimination) and intellectual
functioning remain intact.
The eyes send the information about the
face to the brain, but the brain is unable
to recognise the face, even when the
person is well-known to the patient. Symptoms:
Prosopagnosia can be caused by ➔ Difficulty or inability to identify people from their faces
damage to the fusiform face area area ➔ Cannot tell faces apart
of the brain, a part of the temporal lobe ➔ Can read and recognise people’s voices
which is specialised in face recognition. Watch: Living with face blindness (15 minutes)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-vQGPcYfIAo
The impact of damage to the prefrontal cortex
The prefrontal cortex is involved in:
- impulse control
- emotional self-regulation
Q: What would you expect to happen if this area of the brain is damaged?
Answer: Increased impulsiveness and aggression
Adrian Raine et al (1997) have found that there were differences in the prefrontal
cortex activity between murderers and people who have not committed murders
(murderers had less activity in the prefrontal cortex than non-murderers).
Damage to the prefrontal cortex makes it difficult for people to control their
emotions - their personality may change.
Extension: Read the case of Phineas Gage (Classic Case Studies in Psychology)
Sources and useful resources
Edexcel GCSE (9-1) Psychology, Pearson - pages 88-89
Edexcel GCSE (9-1) Psychology, Pearson - Topic Guide 4: The Brain and Neuropsychology

Oliver Sacks - The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat (page 9-24)
Brain Injury Explanation website
https://www.braininjury-explanation.com/consequences/invisible-consequences/agnosia

Visual agnosia
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ze8VVtBgK7A

Oliver Sacks: Face Blindness

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=22&v=k5bvnXYIQG8

Living with face blindness

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-vQGPcYfIAo

Crime and violence the biology behind murder: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EcaDSJ1LplQ