Cortical Functions

by Stirling,John

• ISBN13: 9780415192675
• ISBN10: 0415192676
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Nonspecific Binding
• Copyright: 2001-01-29
• Publisher: Routledge

Summary

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.

Table of Contents

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