ASSIGNMENT A-3.1 (20 MARKS).

-NABIHA ZONAB

After watching the video on Phineas Gage answer the following questions:

1. (1 point) Which lobe of Gage’s brain was damaged?

1- Answer-Left Frontal Lobe

2. Provide a hypothesis to explain why Phineas Gage’s personality

(2 points)

changed. How would you test your hypothesis?

2-Answer- Phineas Gage personality changed to do damage to his leg frontal lobe, this
damage resulted in decreased ability to inhibit impulsive actions and emotional
responses, leading to alterations on his personality traits, such as decreased impulsivity.
To test this hypothesis we could conduct a complete, neurophysiological evaluations of
with similar brain lesions, focusing on the left frontal lobe.We could compare their
behaviour personality traits and cognitive functions before and after surgery to
determine if their are constant patterns of personality changes and social behavioural
disruptions associated with the left frontal lobe damage.

In 1949, Portuguese neurologist Antonio Egas Moniz received the Nobel Prize for
his surgical procedure known as prefrontal leucotomy in which some of the nerve
tract between the thalamus and the frontal lobes is severed. Use internet to
answer the following questions.

3. (1 point) What was the goal for this surgery?

3-Answer-The goal of the prefrontal leucotomy (lobotomy) was to alleviate severe

mental disorders by severing connections in the brain's prefrontal cortex. However, this
surgery often led to personality changes and emotional problems, including increased
irritability, emotional volatility, and sometimes, angry outbursts due to disruptions in
emotional regulation caused by the procedure.

4. (2 points) What would justify such an operation?

4-Answer-A physician might attempt this type of operation to make it more bearable for
the patient if the patient have major behavioural issues especially anger management it
makes it impossible to live with that patient and also it makes the patients life danger to
himself/

5. (8 points) List the four regions of the cerebral cortex and state the function of
each.

5-Answer- 1-Frontal Lobe: Positioned at the front of the brain, the frontal lobe is
involved in a wide array of higher cognitive functions. It plays a crucial role in executive
functions, which include decision-making, planning, problem-solving, reasoning, and
judgment. Additionally, this area is responsible for voluntary movement, motor function,
and aspects of personality and emotional regulation. The prefrontal cortex, located in
the frontal lobe, contributes to social behavior, impulse control, and complex cognitive
behavior. Parietal Lobe: Situated behind the frontal lobe, the parietal lobe is primarily
responsible for processing and interpreting sensory information from various parts of the
body. It integrates sensory information related to touch, pressure, temperature, and
pain. Moreover, it plays a role in spatial orientation, spatial reasoning, and attention.
Temporal Lobe: Located on the sides of the brain, the temporal lobe is vital for
processing auditory information and interpreting sounds. It houses the auditory cortex,
enabling us to perceive and understand sound. This region is also associated with
memory formation, including the encoding and retrieval of memories. Moreover, it plays
a role in language comprehension and emotional regulation. Occipital Lobe:
Positioned at the back of the brain, the occipital lobe is primarily dedicated to visual
processing. It contains the primary visual cortex, which receives and processes visual
information from the eyes. This region is essential for making sense of the visual world,
enabling us to perceive shapes, colors, and motion.

Physicians sometimes choose to make an incision completely through the corpus

callosum, severing the two hemispheres.

6. (1 point) What is the goal of this surgery?

6-Answer-The goal for corpus callosotomy is to treat severe and in tractable cases of
epilepsy, paritulary those in which seizures originate from one hemisphere of the brain
and then spread to the other through the corpus callosum. By severing this bundle of
nerve fibres that connects the two cerebral hemispheres ,the surgery aim to prevent the
spread of sizures of one side the brain to other, thus reducing the severity and
frequency of seizures.

7. (1 point) Give examples on how this might affect the patient.

7-Answer-The surgery gives rise to the “split brain”,phenomenon where cognitive

functions become laterized impacting tasks requiring inter hemispheric
coordination.Information transfer between hemisphere is impaired affecting processes
like language and information sharing.Emotional and cognitive changes may also occur
varying among individuals.While the procedure can offer relief from debilitating
seizures, it involves significant adjustment in cognitive processing and inter hemispheric
communication ,necessitating careful consideration of its potential benefits and
drawbacks.

8. The old saying that “an elephant never forgets” seems to have some
(4 points)

basis. What areas of the brain are involved in the process of creating a long-
term memory and therefore would you examine? Explain why?

8-Answer-The process of creating long-term memories in the brain. Involves multiple

interconnected brain regions, including hippocampus ,which is crucial for the initial
encoding and consolidation of memories ,the amygdala, responsible for adding
emotional significance to experiences.The prefrontal cortex, involved in working
memory and organizing information for storage ,various regions of temporal lobe, which
process sensory input and integrate in into memory and also different areas of the
cerebral cortex specialized for various types of memory.