With reference to one case study, explain the localisation of function in the brain (short answer question)

Localisation was first discovered in the 1800's by physicians Broca and Wernicke who did autopsies on patients who had several language difficulties before their deaths. Localisation is defined as specific areas of the brain being responsible for certain behaviours. Broca's area was found to be related to speech production, and Wernicke's area was found to process the meaning of language. One study that explains the localisation of function in the brain is by Kim and Hirsch who used an fMRI to study 2 groups of bilingual people. 1 group learnt their second language as children and the second group learnt their language later on in life. Both groups were put inside scanner and asked to think about what they had done the day before first in one language then the other. The use of the fMRI allowed Kim and Hirsch to see which parts of the brain were getting more blood and were thus more active. The results showed that both groups used the same area of Wernicke’s area regardless of which language thinking in, but their use of Broca’s area differed. The group that was bilingual from birth used same region of Broca’s area for both languages, and the group that learned their language later on in life used a larger area of brain with the second language activating an area adjacent to the area activated by the first language. This study demonstrates the localisation of function in the brain as the results link specific areas of the brain with specific functions.