3.2 Flashcards
Phrenology
The practice of assessing personality traits and mental abilities by measuring bumps on the human skull.
-Psychographs used to measure this
Broca’s area
A small portion of the left frontal region of the brain, crucial for the production of language
Spinal cord functions
- Coordination of reflexes
- Carry sensory information up to the brain and carry motor signals from the brain to the body parts below to initiate action.
- composed of grey matter and white matter
What does the brain stem consist of?
Medulla oblongata, the pons, and the midbrain.
Brain Stem
Houses nerves that control heart rate, breathing, swallowing, vomiting, urination, and orgasm.
Reticular formation
A network of neurons in the brainstem
Cerebellum
Located at back of the brain, below cerebral cortex and behind brain stem. Important for proper motor function and memory.
Forebrain
Right+left hemisphere, cerebral cortex
Aspects of motivation and emotion
Hypothalamus
A brain structure that is involved in the regulation of bodily functions, including body temperature, blood pressure, blood glucose levels, and also influences our basic motivated behaviors.
Thalamus
The gateway to the brain; receives almost all incoming sensory information before the information reaches the cortex.
Hippocampus
Formation of memories
Grows larger with increased use.
Amygdala
A brain structure that serves a vital role in our learning to associate things with emotional responses and in processing emotional information.
Basal ganglia
A system of subcortical structures that are important for the production of planned movement.
Cerebral cortex
The outer layer of brain tissue, which forms from the convoluted surface of the brain.
Occipital lobes
Regions of the cerebral cortex—at the back of the brain—important for vision.
4 lobes of cerebral hemisphere
Occipital, parietal, temporal, frontal lobes
Parietal lobes
devoted partially to touch
Temporal lobes
Regions of the cerebral cortex important for processing auditory information, memory, and for object and face perception.
Prefrontal Cortex
The frontmost portion of the frontal lobes, especially prominent in humans, important for attention, working memory, decision making, appropriate social behavior and personality
Frontal Lobes
Essential for planning and movement.
Gage’s rod through his skull
Led to lobotomy’s, a deliberate damaging of the prefrontal cortex.
