or psychological tasks. There was experimental evidence to support both positions of equipotentiality and localization in the late 19th century. In support of the position that regions of the brain are specialized, in 1863 Paul Broca presented compelling evidence from a series of case studies indicating that deficits of speech production were localized to an area in the posterior frontal lobe, a region now known as Broca’s area (Figure 1-1). Several years later, Carl Wernicke discovered an analogous region of the brain that is instrumental in the comprehension of language, today known as Wernicke’s area (Figure 1-1; Breedlove et al., 2013). Subsequently, more language centers and their connections, including the primary motor cortex (for speaking), the primary auditory cortex (for hearing), the angular gyrus (for comprehending written information), and the supramarginal gyrus (for repetition of heard speech) were discovered; language circuitry is covered in more detail in Chapter 2. The other side of the debate is captured by the influential work of Karl Lashley. Although not published until 1929 (decades after Broca’s work), his studies supported ideas about brain function that had been held since the 1820s. Lashley studied maze learning in rats and presented experimental evidence supporting equipotentiality (Meier, 1992). He would create a lesion in the rat’s brain by damaging a region of brain tissue and then see if the lesion had any effects on learning. His data suggested that learning was not related to a lesion in a specific part of the brain. However, the more brain tissue that was damaged, no matter the location, the more that learning was impaired. That is, all brain tissue appeared to function equally in support of learning. The only variable that seemed to impact learning was the size of the lesion. As is usually the case in science when there are two dominant and competing models, the ideas of localization and equipotentiality of brain function were both partially correct and will be discussed further in Chapter 2. What is important to understand at this point is that there was an engaging and stimulating debate as to the functional organization of the brain The rise of psychoanalysis and behaviorism Interest in the brain waned in the early 20th century and the nascent field of neuropsychology was dormant for a time (Stirling, 2002). Instead, there was more interest in the ideas of psychoanalysis and behaviorism . Freud, who is considered the father of psychoanalytic thinking, was a neurologist by training but paid little attention to brain function and behavior. The rise of neuropsychology The term neuropsychology was introduced and gained popularity in the 1930s and 1940s (Zillmer & Spiers, 2001). World War II played an important role in the development of clinical neuropsychology when many soldiers who survived head injuries on the battlefield returned home. There was a need for clinicians to assess the impairments and residual capabilities in these veterans and to design rehabilitation programs. There was a need for clinical research to understand the immediate and long-term consequences of head injuries on psychological processes, as well as to design empirically supported treatments. The field of clinical neuropsychology was poised to meet the unique needs of these veterans and emerged as new clinical and research specialty. In the 1950s, some founders of the field did not identify themselves as neuropsychologists. Arthur Benton, a pioneering figure in the field, considered himself “a clinical psychologist The field of neuropsychology evolves The field continued to expand from this time forward. Neuropsychological tests to measure a variety of brain functions (e.g., language, decision making, memory, visuospatial functions, processing speed) were developed in the 1950s and 1960s, first as research instruments and then for clinical purposes (Benton, 1992). The discipline of neuropsychology gained maturity in this period. In 1968, an organizational meeting to launch the International Neuropsychological Society (INS) was held. The
at the end of the 19th century. This debate inspired research, insights, and interest in brain- behavior relationships. Thus, many persons view this time as the birth of neuropsychology. Figure 1-1: Language Areas of the Brain Broca’s area is located in the posterior region of the left frontal lobe; Wernicke’s area is situated at the posterior region of the temporal lobe.
Note : From “Biological Psychology: An Introduction to Behavioral, Cognitive, and Clinical Neuroscience” (7th Ed.), by S. M. Breedlove, M. R. Rosenzweig, and N. V. Watson, 2013, p. 606, Figure 19.7. Copyright 2013 by Sinauer Associates. Reprinted with permission.
Behaviorists had even less interest in unobservable brain processes because behaviorism was concerned exclusively with the study of observable behaviors. Mental states or psychological processes were of little scientific or clinical interest to behaviorists.
with a special interest in patients with brain disease and in brain- behavior relationships” (Benton, 1992, p. 409). In the 1950s and 1960s, the “cognitive revolution” began in psychology and interest in the brain began to grow again, particularly among psychologists interested specifically in brain function and dysfunction (Stirling, 2002). Mental processes became the focus of scientific study and exciting discoveries were made. For example, the assumption that the right hemisphere of the brain is “cognitively silent” was proven false. The right and left hemispheres participated in cognitive tasks but there was division of labor, with each hemisphere playing a different role in thought, emotion, and problem solving (Benton, 1992). During this time period, an elegant combination of clinical observation and experimental research revealed that a specific part of the brain (i.e., the hippocampus) is crucial for new learning and memory (as reviewed in Squire, 1987). INS currently boasts more than 4,700 members from around the world and is the premier organization for clinicians and researchers (International Neuropsychological Society, 2021). The advent of the computed transaxial tomography (CT) scan in the early 1970s, which allowed for the first, if fuzzy, pictures of the brain, was a boon to the field; it was soon followed by the more detailed images provided by magnetic resonance
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