PSYCHOLOGY RQ - Exam 1 (Lecture 2 - 8)

RQ - Exam 1 (Lecture 2 - 8) Class 2 – Terms, historical issues Review questions 1. What is trephination or trepanning, why is it done? What cultures was it known in? What do we know about the 'theory' cultures used to justify trepanning? o Trepanning is an ancient surgical procedure where a hole is drilled or scraped into the skull in order to ease swelling or brain issues (after an injury) – This was done because back then they believed that this would increase your chances of healing. o Shown in skulls from Mesoamerica + Europe during Renaissance o The theory in which cultures used to justify trepanning was that of the ‘brain hypothesis’ instituted by Hippocrates and Galen  This theory emphasized that behavior comes directly from the brain – found out by Hippocrates b/c injuries to brain on one side causes paralysis on the other side of the body.  Galen found that if pressure from the brain causes death but pressure from the heart causes pain. 2. What were the two theories about the structure where behavior originates? What theory was held by Hippocrates? Aristotle? o Cardiac Hypothesis and Brain Hypothesis  Cardiac  this theory was held by Aristotle. Came to the conclusion that behavior came from the heart because the heart is warm and your actions in a sense are warm as well.  Brain  this theory was held by Hippocrates (as well as Galen). He noticed that the body that’s paralyzed has something to do with one half of the brain (in better words he noticed that if the left hemisphere of the brain is damaged then there would be no movement from the right side of the body - right side of body paralyzed) 3. What did humor theory and ventricular theory aim to explain? o These two theories aimed to explain how behavior originates. The humor theory states that behavior is similar to the 4 elements on Earth which need to be imbalanced. The 4 humors were Blood, Yellow, Black, and Phlegm which were stated to influence behavior. (how did they influence behavior, what about their balance made people behave in certain ways?) o The ventricular theory states that the brain is the center of where behavior originates from. (more detail) 4. What was Galen’s knowledge of anatomy based on? How did Andreas Vesalius improve upon this, how was he able to do so? o Galen’s knowledge of anatomy was based on a wide range of animals. o Vesalius started begging for corpses (the church began to give him the bodies of convicted criminals), which helped get some information about the actual structure of the brain rather than one that is based on other animals. 5. What is phrenology and its relation to localization of function? Who were the first two men famous for holding to localization of function in its weird variation? Who was famous for bringing evidence for localization of function in its non-weird variation? o Localization of function states that functions can be linked to different parts of the brain. German researchers, Gall and Spurzheim felt that if you felt the bumps on people’s heads you can tell their faculties – what they are good at and what they are bad at etc. The science of reading bumps is called phrenology. o Broca & Wernicke on the other hand brought evidence of the localization of function by observing subjects that have undergone accidents to the head. Broca, for example, speculated that language was located on the left hemisphere of the brain because one patient that came with the inability to speak due to an accident. 6. What is equipotentiality? What led Flourens to hold the view of equipotentiality of function in the brain? o Equipotentiality? -- one specific part is not working alone in the brain, the entire brain is working together but each part has a specific function o Flourens based his news on experimenting with animals. He would remove pieces of their brains and see how they reacted. He gathered the evidence that if you remove the brain stem the result would be death but if you removed the cerebellum the result would rather be the inability to walk. 7. What view did Hughlings Jackson propound (put forward) w.r.t the organization of the nervous system? o He claimed that the nervous system is an evolutionary hierarchy of 3 levels connected by process of weighted ordinal representation. The hierarchy of organization deals with three things; brainstem, posterior lobes, and frontal lobe. o W.r.t.  each area of the nervous system has a specific function that contributes to the overall system 8. What was Luria’s view on the organization of the nervous system? o Luria believed that equipotentiality existed but only in limited areas. Not all parts of the brain can take over for others. 9. What is the distinction between the central and peripheral nervous system? o The CNS is the brain and the spinal cord, while the PNS is a subsystem of the spinal cord (made up of sensory –afferent- and motor –efferent- neurons). o CNS interprets stimuli/ processes info o PNS connects all body parts to CNS