Task 7-History and Foundations

o papyrus from Ancient Egypt that contains short descriptions of the symptoms and treatment of different forms of brain injury.
o named after the person who bought the papyrus in Egypt and had it analysed.
o illustrates how physicians treating wounded soldiers quite early became convinced of the importance of the head (brain) in controlling behaviour

o spirits that were thought by Galen to travel over the nerves between the ventricles in the brain and the body.
o Ventricles:
-> apertures in the middle of the brain, which for a long time were thought to contain perceptions, memories and thoughts; seat of the animal spirits

- 1514-1564
o further established for certain that there were three ventricles.
-> front ventricle:
• was assumed to receive information from the senses and, therefore, was called the common sense.
• also included fantasy and imagination.
-> second ventricle:
• in the middle of the head
• comprised thought and judgement.
-> third ventricle:
• at the back of the head
• contained

o German physician
o particularly influential publication was the book Observationes Medicae de Capite Humano (Medical Observations on the Human Head, 1585)
-> reported clinical observations of brain injuries ranging from the ancient writings to new cases from contemporaries.
-> Concluded based on these observations that after brain damage patients sometimes could no longer speak even though their tongue was not paralysed. Rather, what seemed to happen was that the memory of words had disappeared or at least could no longer be accesse

- role in the regulation of physical functions.
- It was found that many bodily functions that did not seem to require the cerebral hemispheres.
- the work of Procháska strongly pointed towards the possibility that reflexes were mediated by the spinal cord and not by the cerebral hemispheres

Equipotentiality Theory:

Initially, the brain was considered a single, undivided organ.

Localization Theory:

Mental functions are localized in specific brain areas.

Franz Joseph Gall and Johann Spurzheim were early proponents.

Key Contributions:

Jean-Baptiste Bouillaud: Speech control localized in the left and right frontal brain regions.

Marie Jean Pierre Flourens:

Spinal cord for signal conduction.

Cerebellum for movement.

Medulla for vegetative functions.

Cerebral hemispheres for perception, memory, and will.

Paul Broca (1865): Identified a specific region in the left frontal lobe for speech production.

Karl Wernicke (1874): Identified a rear part of the left hemisphere involved in language comprehension, not speech.

- finding that the grey matter of the cerebral hemispheres consisted of billions of cells and that the white matter and the nerves were the ‘tails’ (later called axons) of these cells.
- Better microscopes had to be built and used correctly.
- Italian physician Camillo Golgi in 1873 when he used silver to colour the brain tissue.
• made the neurons stand out against the surrounding cells and revealed that they not only consisted of globules (cell bodies) but in addition comprised a highly interconnected network of branche

- 1876-1965
- He examined the consequences of small-scale wounds at the back of the head.

- Published a paper in world war II describing soldiers who lost their ability to recognise faces as a consequence of an injury to the rear of the brain.
• Prosopagnosia.

- branch of psychological research and practice that looks at the relationship between brain and behaviour.
- research traditionally focused on understanding the consequences of brain damage and localising the affected tissue.
- practice aimed at assessing the behavioural and mental consequences of the injury and administering the rehabilitation programme.
- they were thinking of a specific area of neurology that would be of interest to neurologists, psychiatrists, psychologists and neurophysiologists.
o topics explored would include disorders of language, perception, and action, focused mainly on the cerebral cortex.
o presented as a new link between psychologists and the medical wo

o a number of neuropsychologists became dissatisfied with the way in which the subject matter was investigated.
-> localisation issue turned out to be difficult to address based on human brain injuries.
-> results of the examinations rarely went beyond a list of symptoms displayed by various patients.
o By relating the consequences of brain damage to the theories of normal functioning, the cognitive neuropsychologists explicitly aimed to increase the impact of their research within the departments of psycholo

• Deep Dyslexia:

Impaired reading after brain injury, where patients may read a semantically related word instead of the actual word.

Logogen and Cognitive Systems:

Logogen System: Recognizes words but doesn’t store their meanings.

Cognitive System: Stores meanings and interacts with the logogen system.

Three Logogen Systems (Morton and Patterson, 1980):

Visual logogen system for written word recognition.

Auditory logogen system for spoken word recognition.

Output logogen system for speech production.

in neuroscience that allow the study of the workings of the brain without surgery or the use of irreversible interventions.

signal obtained by averaging the EEG signals to stimuli that are repeated a number of times; allows researchers to look for differences in the signal as a function of characteristics of the stimulus.

measurement of the electrical brain activity by means of measurement of the magnetic field around the head; is one of the most promising brain imaging techniques, because it has the potential of both a high temporal and spatial resolution.

brain imaging technique based on measurement of a radioactive tracer injected into the bloodstream.

- brain imaging technique based on the measurement of blood with oxygen vs. blood without oxygen.
- currently the most popular imaging technique because of its high spatial resolution (allows good localisation).
- has rather low temporal resolution (cannot trace what is happening at a speed of hundreds of registrations per second)

- stimulation of a brain region by means of a coil placed on the head; allows temporary interference with the processing of a small part of the brain.
- intensity of the electric current is so low that the interference with the brain activity is too small to elicit involuntary actions but is strong enough to interfere slightly with the ongoing activity.
- With the use of TMS, psychologists can establish which brain areas are needed for the completion of particular cognitive processes, just like cognitive neuropsychologists are able to test cognitive theories on the basis of brain injuries.
- Different than other techniques, TMS can show that a particular brain area is involved in certain actions

o the scientific study of the biological mechanisms underlying cognition; largely based on brain imaging techniques, TMS and the measurement of electrical activity.
o difference between empirically showing the brain regions involved in a particular task and speculating about them.
o localisation of the brain activity while a person is performing a task does provide information about the processes involved

• Patient Experience:

Believes her husband is an imposter, causing distress and interpersonal issues.

Psychoanalytical Explanation:

Capgras suggested the delusion stemmed from an incestuous desire for the father.

Clinical Evaluation:

Includes neuropsychological tests and emotional assessments.

Neuroimaging Findings:

Reveals abnormalities in brain regions related to facial recognition, emotional processing, and belief evaluation (FFA, amygdala, prefrontal cortex, TPJ).

Model Support:

Supports cognitive and affective models of Capgras delusion, emphasizing abnormal facial processing, emotional detachment, and impaired reality monitoring.

Implications for Treatment:

Neuroimaging biomarkers may aid in diagnosis and inform targeted therapeutic interventions.