Behavioural Neuroscience - The Brain

Question 1

The Brain

What we are learning

Answer 1

-major parts of the brain
-hemispheres
-brain damage and disorders

Question 2

Phrenology

Answer 2

-idea that different regions of the brain is responsible for specific functions
-Franz Gall (1800s)
-Bumps on skull reveal mental abilities and traits, the bigger the region the more of that trait you have
-Skull readings
-Turned out to be wrong… but right idea that various brain regions have particular functions

Question 3

Three main parts of the brain

Answer 3

Hindbrain (oldest, reptilian brain, and responsible for survival functions)
-Medulla
-Pons
-Cerebellum

Midbrain

Forebrain (Newest)
-Basel Ganglia, Amygdala, Hippocampus, Hypothalamus, Thalamus
Cerebral cortex
-frontal lobe, parietal lobe, Occipital lobe, Temporal lobe

Question 4

Hindbrain and Midbrain

Answer 4

The brainstem (damage is lethal)

Question 5

The Brainstem

Answer 5

-Where spinal cord meets the skull
-Autonomic functions, related to survival
-Medulla, Pons, Midbrain, Cerebellum

Question 6

Medulla

Answer 6

Heart rate, blood pressure, reflexes (swallowing and coughing)

Question 7

Pons

Answer 7

Breathing, relays sensory info from face and skull to rest of brain, pain signals

Question 8

Midbrain

Answer 8

-Motor movements (movement of eye for example) and reflexes

-part of the brainstem

Question 9

Cerebellum

Answer 9

-coordinates voluntary movement
-important for balance and coordination, fine motor control

-called the little brain
-can still be able to move if damaged

Question 10

Forebrain: Subcortical (Limbic System)

Answer 10

Thalamus
Hypothalamus
Hippocampus
Amygdala
Basa Ganglia

Question 11

Forebrain: Subcortical (Limbic System)

Thalamus

Answer 11

-Sensory switchboard - relaying sensory information to appropriate brain regions
-sleep, consciousness

Question 12

Forebrain: Subcortical (Limbic System)

Hypothalamus

Answer 12

-directly below the thalamus
-responsible for body maintenance
-thirst, hunger, sex drives, temperature

Question 13

Forebrain: Subcortical (Limbic System)

Hippocampus

Answer 13

-Consolidation of information from short-term to long-term memory
-Spatial memory

Question 14

Forebrain: Subcortical (Limbic System)

Amygdala

Answer 14

-Emotions, emotional behaviour
-Fear responses
-Memory for emotional events

Question 15

Forebrain: Subcortical (Limbic System)

Basal Ganglia?
What happens if damaged?

Answer 15

-Planning and carrying out movement

-damage leads to Parkinson’s

Question 16

-newest part of our brain
-has grooves and folds
-Two hemipheres, each separated info four sections (lobes)

Answer 16

Cerebral Cortex

Question 17

4 lobes of the Cerebral Cortex

Answer 17

-FPOT…
-Frontal Lobe
-Temporal Lobe
-Parietal Lobe
-Occipital Lobe

-Plus…a hidden 5th lobe called the Insular Lobe

Question 18

Frontal Lobe

Answer 18

-Planning and goals
-Inhibition
-Personality
-Executive functions (The prefrontal cortex (PFC) is the anterior part of the frontal lobes involved in executive function, all we do to behave as human beings)
-Primary Motor Cortex (movement)

Question 19

Phineas Gage

Answer 19

-Railroad foreman in 1848
-dynamite explosion caused a large iron rod into head (4 feet long and 1 and a half inch in diameter)
-Large rod driven through head (left frontal lobe destroyed)
-Survived with temporary altered personality
-Often used as an example of localization of brain function

Question 20

Temporal Lobe

Answer 20

-Speech production and language
-Primary auditory cortex
-Object and facial recognition

Question 21

Aphasia

Answer 21

-language impairment due to damage to left temporal lobe
-result is an inability to speak (Broca’s) and/or understand what others say (Wernicke’s)

Question 22

Parietal Lobe

Answer 22

-Spatial attention and spatial sense
-primary somatosensory cortex (all sensations come from touch go to first)

Question 23

Spatial Neglect

Answer 23

-attention impairment due to damage to the right parietal lobe
-result is a failure to attend to objects in left space
-spatial neglect of left visual field or center field

Question 24

Occipital Lobe

Answer 24

-Vision
-distinct groups of neurons are responsible for detecting shape, colour, movement, etc…
-Other parts of the brain are recruited to help put all the information back together into coherent picture
-where visual information is first sent

Question 25

Left and right hemispheres

Answer 25

-depending on the task these two hemispheres interact to different degrees -all communication about tasks must pass through the Corpus Callosum -e.g. to move right hand, sent from left Corpus Callosum

Question 26

Lateralization of Function

Answer 26

Left: Language Right: Spatial Ability

Question 27

Lateralization of Function Which side of the Temporal lobe is responsible for: Grammer, vocabulary, literal meaning, speech

Answer 27

left Temporal lobe

Question 28

Lateralization of Function Which side of the Temporal lobe is responsible for: Emotional content of words, metaphor

Answer 28

Right Temporal lobe

Question 29

Lateralization of Function Which side of the Parietal lobe is responsible for: Spatial awareness

Answer 29

Right Parietal lobe

Question 30

Lateralization of Function Which side of the Parietal lobe is responsible for: Reading, writing and math (involve spatial functions)

Answer 30

Left Parietal lobe

Question 31

Split Brain Patients

Answer 31

-Scientists believed that epileptic seizures resulted from amplification of brain functioning. Can we reduce this by not allowing the hemispheres to talk to each other? - severed the corpus callosum -Both hemispheres comprehend and follow instructions -do so independently of each other, patients now think with two minds -if image flashed to right visual field, patient can name the object -if image flashed to left visual field, patient reports nothing, but can point to correct object with right hand

Question 32

Do we use only 10 percent of our brain?

Answer 32

-What about the man missing 90 percent of his brain -Unclear how many neurons were damaged -Hydrocephalus: Cerebrospinal fluid builds up and destroys cell bodies of neurons as well as connections between neurons (white matter) -many neurons probably compressed into residual layer -Neural Plasticity: Capacity of the brain to modify itself, functionally, and structurally, in response to experience and injury

Question 33

Hydrocephalus

Answer 33

Hydrocephalus: Cerebrospinal fluid builds up and destroys cell bodies of neurons as well as connections between neurons (white matter)

Question 34

Neural Plasticity

Answer 34

Neural Plasticity: Capacity of the brain to modify itself, functionally, and structurally, in response to experience and injury