Document Type
Book Chapter
Publication Date
4-25-2025
Keywords
brain processes, brain study techniques, cognition, lesion studies
Disciplines
Cognition and Perception | Developmental Psychology
Abstract
Brain study techniques are used to understand how the brain processes information and manages behavior. They can establish which parts of the brain are responsible for different types of cognition and behavior. One technique, called lesion studies, involves conducting case studies of patients with brain injury and associating damage in specific regions or structures with loss or impairment of specific cognitive processes and behaviors. For example, in the mid1800s, using post-mortem autopsy, Paul Broca observed that patients who had lost the ability to speak, but could understand language, had damage in the posterior sections of the inferior frontal gyrus; whereas, Carl Wernicke observed that patients who could speak, but could not understand language, had damage in a posterior section of the superior temporal gyrus, establishing a double dissociation between these structures and functions.
Recommended Citation
Douglas Brown, Rhonda, "Brain Study Techniques" (2025). Essays in Developmental Psychology. 32.
https://nsuworks.nova.edu/edp/32