Deck 16: Lateralization, Language, and the Split Brain

Question 1

Apraxic patients

A) display a tremor, but only when they are not engaging in some activity.
B) have difficulty performing requested motor responses, especially out of context.
C) have no difficulty whatsoever performing responses with the left hand.
D) both A and B
E) both B and C

Answer 1

have difficulty performing requested motor responses, especially out of context.

Question 2

Broca's area is in the

A) left hemisphere.
B) frontal lobe.
C) inferior prefrontal cortex.
D) all of the above
E) both A and B

Answer 2

all of the above

Question 3

Although the symptoms of apraxia are ________, apraxia usually results from damage to the ________ hemisphere.

A) unilateral; left
B) contralateral; right
C) ipsilateral; left
D) bilateral; right
E) bilateral; left

Answer 3

bilateral; left

Question 4

The discovery of the lateralization of aphasia and apraxia led to the

A) concept of a dominant left hemisphere.
B) concept of a dominant right hemisphere.
C) development of commissurotomy.
D) development of split-brain surgery.
E) both C and D

Question 5

The two hemispheres, although similar in appearance, differ in function. The study of these functional differences is commonly referred to as the study of

A) bilateral representation.
B) lateralization of function.
C) the split brain.
D) fundamental functional duality.
E) both C and D

Question 6

How many digits are presented during one trial of the conventional dichotic listening test of language lateralization?

A) 2
B) 4
C) 6
D) 8
E) 12

Question 7

Split-brain patients are those who

A) have been commissurotomized.
B) have split personalities.
C) are schizophrenic.
D) have two cerebral commissures.
E) have only one hemisphere.

Question 8

This cortical region, just anterior to the left primary motor cortex, is

A) Broca's area.
B) the somatosensory cortex.
C) the frontal eye field.
D) the angular gyrus.
E) Wernicke's area.

Question 9

How many injections of sodium amytal are administered during a conventional sodium amytal test?

A) 1
B) 2
C) 4
D) 8
E) 12

Question 10

Apraxia is usually associated with

A) left-hemisphere lesions.
B) right-hemisphere lesions.
C) asphyxia.
D) damage to Broca's area.
E) damage to Wernicke's area.

Question 11

Broca's area is adjacent to the

A) left longitudinal fissure.
B) right lateral fissure.
C) left primary motor cortex face area.
D) left primary somatosensory cortex face area.
E) right primary somatosensory cortex.

Question 12

Broca's area is in the __________ cortex.

A) left frontal
B) right frontal
C) left temporal
D) right temporal
E) left parietal

Question 13

Apraxia usually

A) results from right-hemisphere damage.
B) results from left-hemisphere damage.
C) affects the left side of the body far more than the right side.
D) affects the right side of the body far more than the left side.
E) both B and D

Question 14

Sodium amytal and dichotic listening tests are commonly used tests of

A) audition.
B) intelligence.
C) handedness.
D) language lateralization.
E) brain damage.

Question 15

Brain-damage-produced deficits in language-related ability are generally referred to as

A) aphasia.
B) aphagia.
C) apraxia.
D) dyslexia.
E) dementia.

Question 16

Apraxic patients display

A) muscle weakness on the left side of the body.
B) muscle weakness on the right side of the body.
C) abnormal spinal reflexes.
D) a serious disturbance of motor coordination.
E) none of the above

Question 17

The cerebral commissure indicated here is the

A) corpus callosum.
B) posterior commissure.
C) anterior commissure.
D) hippocampal commissure.
E) massa commissura.

Question 18

The most widely used behavioral test of language lateralization for healthy subjects is Kimura's adaptation of the

A) dichotic listening test.
B) sodium amytal test.
C) unilateral-lesion procedure.
D) token test.
E) split-brain test.

Question 19

The left and right hemispheres are connected by the

A) fornix.
B) septum.
C) cerebral commissures.
D) cerebral ligaments.
E) arcuate fasciculus.

Question 20

__________ first reported evidence of the lateralization of language functions, but he received little or no recognition for his insightful observations.

A) Dax
B) Broca
C) Wernicke
D) Hebb
E) Penfield

Question 21

According to the text, which of the following statements is true?

A) Some evidence suggests that the brains of females are less lateralized than those of males.
B) Some evidence suggests that the brains of males are less lateralized than those of females.
C) The evidence that the brains of males are less lateralized than those of females is very strong.
D) Recent evidence has finally established that male and female brains are lateralized to the same degree.
E) none of the above

Question 22

The left-hemisphere is dominant for speech in

A) all left-handers and a few right-handers.
B) nearly all left-handers and a few right-handers.
C) nearly all right-handers and the majority of left-handers.
D) nearly all right-handers and only a few left-handers.
E) a few right-handers and even fewer left-handers.

Question 23

Visual information can be restricted to the right hemisphere of a laboratory animal by

A) blindfolding the left eye.
B) cutting the optic chiasm longitudinally.
C) cutting the corpus callosum longitudinally.
D) all of the above together
E) both A and C together

Question 24

Sodium amytal tests have indicated that

A) the cerebral dominance for speech is more variable in left-handed individuals than in right-handed individuals.
B) right-handers are more likely to be left-hemisphere dominant for speech than right-hemisphere dominant for speech.
C) left-handers are more likely to be right-hemisphere dominant for speech than left-hemisphere dominant for speech.
D) all of the above
E) both A and B

Question 25

In order to establish that the dichotic listening test is a valid test of language lateralization, Kimura showed that

A) patients shown to be right-hemisphere dominant for speech by the sodium amytal test display a left-ear superiority for the recall of dichotically presented digits.
B) most people display a right ear superiority for the recall of dichotically presented melodies.
C) only left-handers display a left-ear superiority for the recall of dichotically presented digits.
D) all of the above
E) both A and B

Question 26

In healthy individuals, information from the right eye can cross to the left hemisphere via the

A) optic chiasm.
B) corpus callosum.
C) fornix.
D) all of the above
E) both A and B

Question 27

The results of sodium amytal tests suggest that the percentage of healthy right-handers in the general population that are left-hemisphere dominant for speech is

A) more than 90%.
B) about 90%.
C) about 80%.
D) about 70%.
E) less than 60%.

Question 28

During language tests, PET and fMRI typically reveal greater activity in

A) aphasics.
B) dyslexics.
C) the left hemisphere.
D) the right hemisphere.
E) males.

Question 29

During the conventional dichotic listening test, most participants correctly report

A) all digits heard through the right ear but none heard through the left.
B) all digits heard through the left ear but none heard through the right.
C) only those digits that are presented simultaneously to the two ears.
D) more of the digits presented to the right ear.
E) more of the digits presented to the left ear.

Question 30

The ground-breaking experiment of Myers and Sperry established that

A) one function of the corpus callosum is to transmit learned information between hemispheres.
B) the key to studying the function of the cerebral commissures is to develop experimental procedures for presenting information to one hemisphere while keeping it out of the other.
C) one hemisphere is capable of solving simple problems as rapidly as two hemispheres working together.
D) the cerebral hemispheres are capable of functioning independently.
E) all of the above

Question 31

Left-handers and right-handers are

A) dextrals and sinestrals, respectively.
B) sinestrals and dextrals, respectively.
C) more variable than androids.
D) equally lateralized with respect to language functions.
E) none of the above

Question 32

Left-handers are also known as

A) sinestrals.
B) carminatives.
C) minor hemisphere dominants.
D) dextrals.
E) none of the above

Question 33

The largest commissure in the human brain is the

A) optic chiasm.
B) anterior commissure.
C) massa intermedia.
D) majora commissura.
E) none of the above

Question 34

In experiments on split-brain laboratory animals, visual information can be presented to only the left hemisphere by

A) cutting the optic chiasm longitudinally.
B) blindfolding the left eye.
C) blindfolding the right eye.
D) both A and B together
E) both A and C together

Question 35

Kimura argued that although signals from each ear are projected to both hemispheres, the contralateral connections take precedence

A) when different sounds from the two ears are simultaneously competing for access to the same cortical auditory circuits.
B) in split-brain subjects.
C) in aphasics.
D) in patients under the influence of sodium amytal.
E) in patients with apraxia.

Question 36

Cutting the optic chiasm longitudinally produces blindness in the

A) medial half of each retina.
B) right half of the visual field of the right eye.
C) left half of the visual field of the left eye.
D) all of the above
E) none of the above

Question 37

Many of the early studies of the split brain were conducted in the laboratory of

A) Roger Sperry.
B) Wilder Penfield.
C) Brenda Milner.
D) John Pinel.
E) Doreen Kimura.

Question 38

In the ground-breaking experiment of Myers and Sperry on the learning of a visual discrimination by split-brain cats, when the eye patch was shifted to the other eye, the performance of all cats

A) in the experiment fell to 50% correct.
B) with transected corpus callosums fell to 50% correct.
C) with both their optic chiasms and their corpus callosums transected fell to 50% correct.
D) with transected optic chiasms fell to 50% correct.
E) with both their optic chiasms and their corpus callosums transected fell to zero correct.

Question 39

The volunteers in the first experiments performed on split-brain humans had

A) suffered from severe cases of epilepsy.
B) their corpus callosums severed.
C) their optic chiasms severed.
D) all of the above
E) both A and B

Question 40

It has been estimated that the corpus callosum contains 200 million

A) nuclei.
B) axons.
C) glia.
D) synapses.
E) cell bodies.

Question 41

Which of the following investigators, along with Sperry, played a major role in testing the original series of human split-brain patients?

A) Kimura
B) Gazzaniga
C) Kolb
D) Milner
E) Petersen

Question 42

What proportion of the digits recognized by healthy volunteers in the conventional dichotic listening test are typically those presented to the right ear?

A) 100%
B) 95%
C) 90%
D) 85%
E) 55%

Question 43

After the picture of a familiar object is flashed in the left visual field of a split-brain patient, the patient can

A) say what it was.
B) reach into a bag containing several test items with the left hand and pull out the object that was presented.
C) reach into a bag containing several test items with the right hand and pull out the object that was presented.
D) both A and B
E) both A and C

Question 44

A spoon is presented in the left visual field of a split-brain patient, and an apple is simultaneously presented in the right. Then, the patient is instructed to reach into two bags (one with each hand) and feel around until he comes up with the object that was presented on the screen. However, before the objects are withdrawn, the patient is asked to tell the experimenter what he has in each hand. The patient is likely to say, "I have

A) an apple in each hand."
B) a spoon in each hand."
C) an apple in my left hand and a spoon in my right."
D) a spoon in my left hand and an apple in my right."
E) no idea."

Question 45

The decision to treat "terminal" human epileptics with commissurotomy was made on the basis of previous comparative studies that had shown that

A) epileptic discharges spread from one hemisphere to the other via the corpus callosum.
B) commissurotomy has little disruptive effect on behavior outside contrived laboratory situations.
C) commissurotomy eliminates seizure discharges.
D) all of the above
E) both A and B

Question 46

Cross-cuing is communication between the hemispheres of a split-brain patient that occurs

A) externally, via the behavior of one of the hemispheres.
B) via the corpus callosum.
C) via any cerebral commissure.
D) via any cerebral commissure other than the corpus callosum.
E) B or C

Question 47

The study of lateralization of function has focused on the right hemisphere because

A) most people are right-handed.
B) most people are dextrals.
C) the right hemisphere is dominant.
D) the special abilities of the left hemisphere have been more apparent.
E) both A and B

Question 48

One way of using the Z lens to test the left hemisphere's comprehension of spoken words is to

A) read words to the left ear.
B) read words to the right ear.
C) present visual stimuli in the right visual field, then verbally instruct the patient to respond to the visual stimuli.
D) both A and B
E) both B and C

Question 49

Visual information is presented to only the left hemisphere of a human split-brain patient by getting the patient to fixate on the center of the display screen and then

A) presenting the information on the side of the screen to the patient's right.
B) flashing the information for 0.1 second on the side of the screen to the patient's right.
C) flashing the information for 0.1 second on the side of the screen to the patient's left.
D) presenting the information to only the left eye for 0.1 second.
E) either B or D

Question 50

The Z lens was developed by

A) Zaidel.
B) Zalman Amit.
C) Zurif.
D) Zimbardo.
E) Zola-Morgan.

Question 51

A major advantage of the Z lens over conventional procedures for testing split-brain patients is that it

A) does not restrict the experimenter to the use of simple visual stimuli presented for 0.1 seconds.
B) permits the testing of both hemispheres.
C) does not require an eye patch.
D) all of the above
E) both B and C

Question 52

Who were the neurosurgeons who performed the first major series of commissurotomies for the treatment of intractable epilepsy?

A) Vogel and Bogen
B) Kolb and Whishaw
C) Olds and Milner
D) Pinel and Barnes
E) Sperry and Gazzaniga

Question 53

During a test in which split-brain patients were asked to verbally specify which of two colors, red or green, had been presented in the left visual field, an interesting phenomenon was discovered. This phenomenon is

A) unilateral emotion.
B) cross-cuing.
C) the helping-hand phenomenon.
D) transfer of hircismus.
E) interhemispheric transfer of color.

Question 54

According to the text, the independence of the hemispheres of split-brain patients tends to be overestimated because

A) most published discussions of split-brain patient's focus on those cases in which independence is relatively complete.
B) few studies have focused on emotional information, which is more readily transferred between separated hemispheres.
C) most studies of split-brain patients have used simple tests, which are readily performed by one isolated hemisphere.
D) all of the above
E) most split-brain patients are right-handed.

Question 55

The helping-hand phenomenon was demonstrated in a test

A) involving the presentation of a photograph of a nude human figure.
B) involving the presentation of a chimeric figure.
C) in which the test items were in open view on top of a table.
D) in which the patients were asked to reach into two different bags and pull out two different objects.
E) in which the patients were asked to simultaneously pull the same object from two different bags.

Question 56

This split-brain patient was asked to reach under the ledge with her left hand and select the object that appeared on the screen. She selected the

A) spoon.
B) apple.
C) first the spoon and then the apple.
D) first the apple and then the spoon.
E) none of the above

Question 57

After the picture of a familiar object is flashed in the right visual field of a human split-brain patient, the patient can

A) say what the object was.
B) reach into a bag with her right hand and select the object that was presented from a group of test objects.
C) reach into a bag with her left hand and select the object that was presented from a group of test objects.
D) both A and B
E) both A and C

Question 58

The right hemispheres of most split-brain patients

A) have no language abilities.
B) have more language abilities than the left hemispheres.
C) have language abilities equivalent to those of the left hemispheres.
D) can understand many spoken or written words and simple sentences.
E) none of the above

Question 59

Chimera

A) developed the dichotic listening test.
B) has studied the lateralization of musical ability.
C) has shown that subjects tend to make gestures during speech with the hand controlled by the hemisphere that is dominant for speech.
D) all of the above
E) is a mythical monster composed of the combined parts of different animals.

Question 60

Each hemisphere of a human split-brain patient is capable of completion. That is why on the chimeric figures test, each hemisphere sees

A) the entire stimulus.
B) a complete, but different, face.
C) only half a face.
D) the same face.
E) only half the stimulus.

Question 61

As a result of mounting evidence that broad categories of cognitive function are not lateralized, research on the lateralization of function has started to focus on

A) language.
B) constituent cognitive processes.
C) emotion.
D) spatial ability.
E) cognitive tasks.

Question 62

One theory of why lateralization of function evolved is that there are two fundamentally different modes of thinking, each requiring different neural circuitry. These two modes of thinking are referred to as

A) positive and negative.
B) scientific and nonscientific.
C) logical and illogical.
D) synthetic and analytic.
E) motor and sensory.

Question 63

According to the text, the main problem with the analytic-synthetic theory of cerebral asymmetry is its

A) specificity.
B) brevity.
C) vagueness.
D) simplicity.
E) age.

Question 64

According to the analytic-synthetic theory of cerebral asymmetry,

A) the left hemisphere thinks in an analytic mode.
B) the left hemisphere operates in a logical computer-like fashion.
C) the right hemisphere is concerned with overall stimulus configuration and processes information in Gestalts or wholes.
D) the left hemisphere abstracts relevant details and attaches verbal labels to them.
E) all of the above

Question 65

Broca's area roughly corresponds to

A) the left planum temporale.
B) the left frontal operculum.
C) the left Heschl's gyrus.
D) Wernicke's area.
E) the right frontal operculum.

Question 66

A structural MRI study found that the __________ in the left hemisphere in musicians with perfect pitch than it is in musicians without perfect pitch.

A) planum temporale is larger
B) planum temporale is smaller
C) frontal operculum is larger
D) frontal operculum is smaller
E) Heschl's gyrus is larger

Question 67

Although several average neuroanatomical asymmetries have been reported in the areas of the human neocortex that are thought to play important roles in language, there is no strong evidence that these anatomical asymmetries

A) occur in healthy people.
B) are related to the lateralization of language functions in individuals.
C) occur in women.
D) occur in musicians.
E) occur in the left hemisphere .

Question 68

The left planum temporale roughly corresponds to

A) Wernicke's area.
B) Broca's area.
C) the frontal operculum.
D) Heschl's gyrus.
E) primary auditory cortex.

Question 69

Evidence that the perception of music is lateralized comes from demonstrations that

A) the left ear is superior to the right in the melodic dichotic listening test.
B) the right ear is superior to the left in the melodic dichotic listening test.
C) left temporal-lobe damage is more likely than right temporal-lobe damage to disrupt musical abilities.
D) both A and C
E) both B and C

Question 70

Which of the following structures was found to be larger in the left hemisphere in about 65% of human brains?

A) Heschl's gyrus
B) planum temporale
C) frontal operculum
D) Broca's area
E) both C and D

Question 71

With respect to cerebral lateralization of function,

A) the left hemisphere plays the greater role in many aspects of language in most people.
B) the right hemisphere plays the greater role in many aspects of spatial perception in many people.
C) lateralization of neither language nor spatial perception is total.
D) all of the above
E) both A and B

Question 72

Most people palpate with their

A) prefrontal cortex.
B) fingers.
C) right hemispheres.
D) visual cortex.
E) mouths open.

Question 73

Both the planum temporale and Heschl's gyrus are in

A) the temporal lobe.
B) the frontal lobe.
C) primary olfactory cortex.
D) Wernicke's area.
E) Broca's area.

Question 74

The left hemisphere plays a greater role in controlling the left hand than

A) it does in controlling the right hand.
B) the right hemisphere does in controlling the left hand.
C) the right hemisphere does in controlling the right hand.
D) all of the above
E) both B and C

Question 75

Heschl's gyrus is the location of the primary

A) visual cortex.
B) language area.
C) somatosensory cortex.
D) auditory cortex.
E) reading area.

Question 76

Left-hemisphere damage is more likely than right-hemisphere damage to be associated with

A) contralateral motor problems.
B) ipsilateral motor problems.
C) motor problems of the left hand.
D) both A and C
E) both B and C

Question 77

The study of how left and right hemispheres differ in their approach to cognitive tasks has led to the concept of a left hemisphere

A) interpreter.
B) reporter.
C) responder.
D) calculator.
E) scientist.

Question 78

Kimura found that the __________ ear was better at identifying digits and the __________ ear was better at identifying melodies in the __________ test.

A) left; right; sodium amytal
B) right; left; dichotic listening
C) left; right; dichotic listening
D) right; left; sodium amytal
E) left; right; cross-cuing

Question 79

A major difficulty in studying the asymmetry of the cortical language areas is

A) their boundaries are unclear.
B) they differ greatly from person to person.
C) that it is unclear how anatomical asymmetries are related to functional asymmetries.
D) all of the above
E) both A and C

Question 80

The hypothetical neural mechanism in humans that continuously assesses patterns of events and tries to make sense of them is termed the

A) right-hemisphere interpreter.
B) left-hemisphere interpreter.
C) right prefrontal lobe.
D) left prefrontal lobe.
E) left-hemisphere dominatrix.