Cortical Functions

Cortical Functionsis a companion to Kevin Silber's series title,The Physiological Basis of Behaviourand concentrates on the cerebral cortex, its structure, connections, functions and dysfunctions. John Stirling includes clinical descriptions and case studies to illustrate various forms of agnosia, aphasia and the split brain syndrome. Methods in neuropsychology are reviewed and other chapters provide comprehensive but straightforward coverage of the role of the brain in language, sensation, perception and movement.

List of illustrations

xiii

Acknowledgments

xv

The brain and psychological functioning

1

(8)

Introduction

1

(1)

Some history

2

(1)

The localisation of function debate

2

(4)

The rise and fall of phrenology

3

(1)

Interest in aphasia

4

(1)

Mass action and equipotentiality

5

(1)

Distributed control

6

(1)

Summary

7

(2)

The structure of the brain

9

(18)

Introduction

9

(1)

The neuron hypothesis

10

(3)

Neurons and glia

10

(2)

Development and ageing aspects

12

(1)

Dividing up the nervous system

13

(2)

The central nervous system (CNS)

15

(4)

The spinal cord

16

(1)

The brain stem

16

(1)

The midbrain

17

(1)

The basal ganglia and limbic system

17

(2)

The cortex

19

(3)

Sensory, motor and association cortex

22

(1)

The lobes of the cortex

22

(3)

The frontal lobes

23

(1)

The parietal lobes

23

(1)

The occipital lobes

24

(1)

The temporal lobes

24

(1)

Summary

25

(2)

Methods in Neuropsychology

27

(12)

Introduction

27

(1)

Techniques of measurement of brain structure and function

27

(7)

Lesion and ablation

28

(1)

Electrical stimulation

29

(1)

Electrical recording

29

(2)

In-vivo imaging

31

(3)

Evaluation of in-vivo techniques

34

(1)

Neuropsychological assessment

34

(3)

Evaluation of neuropsychological assessment

36

(1)

In-vivo imaging in psychiatry

36

(1)

Summary

37

(2)

Lateralisation

39

(22)

Introduction

39

(1)

Structural differences

40

(2)

Neurological cases

40

(2)

The split brain syndrome

42

(6)

Experimental studies

43

(4)

The split brain syndrome and laterality

47

(1)

Evaluation of split brain research

48

(1)

Callosal agenesis

48

(2)

Evaluation of research with acallosal individuals

50

(1)

Asymmetries in normal individuals

50

(1)

What is lateralised?

51

(3)

Evaluation of the `processing styles' approach

54

(1)

Inter-hemispheric transfer via the corpus callosum

54

(2)

Developmental aspects

55

(1)

Individual differences in brain organisation

56

(4)

Handedness

56

(1)

Handedness and cognitive function

57

(1)

Sex differences

58

(2)

Summary

60

(1)

Sensory and motor function

61

(16)

Introduction

61

(2)

Reflexes

62

(1)

The somatosensory system

63

(5)

Somatosensory pathways

64

(1)

Somatosensory cortex

65

(2)

Secondary and tertiary somatosensory cortex

67

(1)

Evaluation of research into the somatosensory cortex

67

(1)

Motor control

68

(6)

The cerebral cortex and movement

69

(1)

Initiating movement

70

(1)

Empirical support for the hierarchical model

71

(1)

Sub-cortical structures and movement

72

(1)

Evaluation of motor systems in the mammalian brain

73

(1)

Summary

74

(3)

Language and the brain

77

(16)

Introduction

77

(2)

Broca's aphasia

79

(2)

Wernicke's aphasia

81

(2)

Connectionist models of language

83

(3)

Evaluation of the neurological approach to language

86

(1)

The psycholinguistic approach

86

(2)

Neurophysiological approaches

88

(1)

Language and laterality

88

(2)

Summary

90

(3)

Visual mechanisms and perception

93

(28)

Introduction

93

(1)

Sensation and perception

94

(1)

Sensory processes: from eye to brain

94

(9)

The retina

95

(3)

The blind spot

98

(1)

The lateral geniculate nucleus (LGN)

99

(1)

The visual cortex

99

(1)

Hubel and Weisel in retrospect

100

(2)

Modules in V1

102

(1)

Visual processing beyond V1

102

(1)

Colour vision

103

(2)

The trichromatic and opponent theories

103

(1)

Evaluation of the trichomatic and opponent theories

104

(1)

Colour perception

105

(1)

Perceptual processes

105

(2)

The What and Where streams and visual perception

106

(1)

Object recognition: the What stream and agnosia

107

(6)

Visual agnosia

107

(2)

Recognition of faces and prosopagnosia

109

(3)

Evaluation of the What stream and agnosia

112

(1)

Spatial functions and the Where stream

113

(4)

Spatial skills related to perception

113

(1)

Spatial skills related to constructional skills

114

(1)

Route finding

115

(2)

Specific disorders of spatial processing

117

(1)

Balint's syndrome

117

(1)

Hemineglect

118

(1)

Evaluation of spatial perception and the Where stream

118

(1)

Summary

119

(2)

Three research reports

121

(6)

Introduction

121

(1)

Report 1

122

(1)

Report 2

123

(2)

Report 3

125

(2)

Study aids

127

(14)

Improving your essay writing skills

127

(1)

Practice essay 1

128

(5)

Practice essay 2

133

(8)

Glossary

141

(8)

References

149

(6)

Index

155

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