What happens to behaviour when the brain is damaged?
The impact of neurological damage: how damage to the brain (for example from injury or stroke) affects movement and behaviour, and how this reveals the localisation of function.
A focused answer to Edexcel GCSE Psychology Topic 4, covering the impact of neurological damage on movement and behaviour, and how case studies of damage reveal the localisation of function.
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What this dot point is asking
Edexcel wants you to explain the impact of neurological damage (from injury, stroke or illness) on movement and behaviour, and how studying such damage reveals the localisation of function (the idea that specific areas control specific functions). This links directly to the Sperry and Damasio core studies.
How damage affects movement and behaviour
The effects depend on where the damage is.
- Movement. Damage to the motor areas of the frontal lobe, or to the cerebellum, impairs movement. A stroke affecting the motor area on one side of the brain often causes weakness or paralysis on the opposite side of the body, because each hemisphere controls the opposite side. Cerebellum damage causes clumsy, uncoordinated movement and poor balance.
- Behaviour and thinking. Damage to the frontal lobe can change personality, decision making and self-control. Damage to language areas can impair speaking or understanding language, and damage to areas involved in memory can impair forming or recalling memories.
How damage reveals localisation of function
This approach has limits: damage is rarely confined to one neat area, no two patients are identical, and the brain can sometimes reorganise (plasticity) so other areas partly take over. Still, the consistent link between damaged area and lost function is strong evidence for localisation.
Try this
Q1. What is a stroke? [1 mark]
- Cue. A loss of blood supply to part of the brain, which damages that area.
Q2. If the left motor cortex is damaged, which side of the body is affected? [1 mark]
- Cue. The right side (each hemisphere controls the opposite side).
Q3. Explain how brain-damage case studies support localisation of function. [2 marks]
- Cue. Damage to a specific area causes a specific, predictable loss while sparing other functions, suggesting that function was located there.
Exam-style practice questions
Practice questions written in the style of Pearson Edexcel exam questions on this dot point, with worked answer explainers. The year tag is the paper they imitate, not the source.
Edexcel 20193 marksDescribe one way neurological damage can affect a person's movement. (Paper 1)Show worked answer →
A 3-mark Describe item rewards a clear account of a movement effect linked to a brain area.
Damage to the motor areas in the frontal lobe, or to the cerebellum, can impair movement. For example, a stroke (where blood supply to part of the brain is cut off) that damages the motor area on one side of the brain can cause weakness or paralysis on the opposite side of the body, because each hemisphere controls the opposite side. Damage to the cerebellum can cause clumsy, uncoordinated movement and poor balance.
Markers reward linking a damaged area (motor cortex or cerebellum) to a movement effect, such as paralysis on the opposite side of the body, or loss of coordination and balance.
Edexcel 20214 marksExplain how case studies of brain damage support the idea that functions are localised in the brain. (Paper 1)Show worked answer →
A 4-mark Explain item rewards linking the effects of specific damage to localisation of function.
Localisation means particular functions are controlled by particular areas of the brain. Case studies show that damage to a specific area reliably affects a specific function while sparing others, for example damage to a language area can leave a person unable to speak fluently but still able to move and see normally. Because the loss matches the damaged area, this supports the idea that the function was localised there. Patients like those studied by Damasio also show that damage to the frontal area can change personality and decision making.
Markers reward defining localisation, the point that specific damage causes specific, predictable deficits while sparing other functions, and an example such as language or personality change.
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Sources & how we know this
- Pearson Edexcel GCSE (9-1) Psychology (1PS0) specification — Pearson Edexcel (2017)