ABSTRACT
It has long been maintained that certain biological and psychological functions are localized within certain structures or regions of the brain. For some functions this is very clear, as removal of the structure concerned results in the total and irretrievable loss of that function. Some of these functions are localized to regions of the hindbrain. Within the medulla oblongata there are control centers for respiration and cardiovascular functioning, and the reticular formation is responsible for arousal and some aspects of sleep. It is harder to determine whether many of the higher functions are localized, mainly because they are multi-faceted. None are simply located in one discrete region of the brain. Nevertheless, there is good evidence that functions like language, memory and emotion are localized to a degree. The localization that does take place is usually that of sub-functions that are a part of the whole process. Emotion can be said to have a different form of localization in the brain.
