Integrated theories of brain function claim that damage to a single brain area results in loss of all higher skills dependent on that area.

• A. True.
• B. False.
• C. Only motor skills are affected.
• D. It depends on age.

Answer: (A)

Integrated theories treat higher cognitive abilities as arising from networks that are anchored around specific brain regions, with certain areas acting as hubs that support multiple dependent skills. When one of these hub areas is damaged, the disruption isn’t limited to a single subskill; because that region coordinates and integrates processes across the network, the entire set of higher skills that rely on that hub tends to be affected. In other words, damage to a key node can produce broad deficits across all the higher functions that depend on that network.

That’s why this statement aligns with the integrated perspective: knocking out a central area can lead to a loss across the range of higher skills tied to that region. While some functions can be supported by other pathways or show some preservation due to redundancy or plasticity, the core idea under integrationist views is that the network-level dependence means broad impairment across dependent skills in the wake of focal damage.

The other options don’t fit this idea as well. It’s not primarily about age, and it isn’t limited to motor skills. The emphasis here is on how network hubs underpin multiple higher-level abilities, so attributing broad loss to damage of a single area captures the integrated view.