An infection has caused limited damage to two regions of a patient's brain. The patient completes two assessments.
| Assessment | Patient's result | Typical result |
|---|---|---|
| Moving a hand-held pointer along a marked route | Pointer left the route 13 times | Pointer leaves the route 0 to 1 time |
| Heart rate before and immediately after a standard stepping task | Before: 69 beats per minute; after: 72 beats per minute | Before: 70 beats per minute; after: 116 beats per minute |
Suggest which two regions of the brain have been damaged.
Use the results to explain your choices.
During a further test, the concentration of dissolved carbon dioxide in the patient's blood increases.
Suggest how the patient's breathing rate may respond differently from that of a person without brain damage. Explain your answer.
135 exam-style questions on OCR GCSE Biology 3.1 Coordination and control – the nervous system, covering 3.1.1 Structure of the nervous system, 3.1.2 Coordinated response, 3.1.3 The reflex arc, 3.1.4 Structure of the eye, 3.1.5 Defects of the eye, 3.1.6 Structure and function of the brain, 3.1.7 Difficulties of investigating brain function, and 3.1.8 Limitations in treating nervous system damage. Each one has a worked solution and a mark scheme showing where the marks go.