LOCALIZATION &
LATERALIZATION
OF BRAIN
FUNCTION
INTRODUCTION:
The Brain is the only body organ to exhibit
both localisation and lateralisation of function.
Localization = Different areas of the brain do
different things.
Lateralization = Each brain hemisphere is
adapted to certain functions better than the
other.
Structure of the Cortex
Why do our brains have so many folds in them?
Four lobes of the cerebral cortex
Frontal
Parietal
•Motor activity
•Higher level
intelligence
•Planning
•Problem solving
•Emotions
•Self-awareness
•Bodily sensations,
e.g., pain, heat
•Body movement
Temporal
•Hearing
•Vision
•Smell
•Memory
Occipital
•Primary visual
area of the brain
AN EXAMPLE
OF BRAIN
LOCALIZATION:
 Different areas of brain associated with same functions.
 Broca's area: Articulation of speech. Patients with Broca's
aphasia can understand speech but cannot articulate it
themselves.
 Wernicke's area: Understanding language. Patients with
Wernicke's aphasia can understand language and reply in
fluent, yet garbled or meaningless sentences.
Functions of the Cortex
The motor cortex – controls
movement of the
Body. The motor cortex sends
messages from
The brain to the body. Right side
of the brain controls the left side
of the body, and vice versa.
Sensory Functions - Receive
information from
from different senses and in
different areas of
the brain the information is
processed.
THE CORTEX
> Emotion and experience, association areas, frontal
motor area.
> Sense of touch in different parts of the body.
> Vision.
> Hearing, language and memory for objects.
The cortex is the part of the brain
which is most strongly associated
with the mind and general
consciousness.
BRAIN LATERALIZATION & THE
CEREBRAL
HEMISPHERES
 Each hemisphere responsible for the opposite side of the body
 Left hemisphere receives information from right field of view and
vice versa
 Work with split brain patients helped to identify differences in
function of the two hemispheres of the brain.
 Hemispheric specialization also linked with handedness, in that
right handed people have a dominant left hemisphere and so