BRAIN Flashcards
What is the name for the sausage bit on the brain?
Gyrus
What is the name for the grooves on our brain?
Sulcus
What is the name for the groove that separates our brain into 2?
longitudinal sulcus
Why does our brain have grooves?
increase surface area, fit more brain
How is our brain organized?
contralaterally
What does contraleterally mean?
left side is controlled by right brain, right side is controlled by left brain.
do our hemispheres function independently?
no
What is the corpus callosum
bundle of millions of axons that go from left to right brain (what you see when you split the longitudinal sulcus)
What does the corpus callosum do?
Allows the left and right part of the brain to communicate
When does epilepsy occur?
when there is disorganized communication between the left and right hemispheres
how do you control extreme forms of epilepsy?
by cutting the corpus callosum
What happens when he corpus callosum is cut?
no information interfering from left to right side. As if you have 2 brains.
what side of the brain produces and understands speach?
left
How many areas can we divide the brain into?
3
What are the 3 parts of the brain
Hind brain, Mid brain, Forebrain
Broadly, what is the hind brain responsible for?
Automatic processes (Typing, breathing, walking, balancing
Where are neurotransmitters predominantly made?
mid brain
Where do we get our ability to think, see, listen, hope and dream etc?
forebrain
What does the cerebellum have to do with?
Regulating and refining Fine motor movement
Balance: Walking, running, ability to ride a bike, stay on a skateboard
Where do the signals for fine motor movement come from when they did not come naturally??
motor cortex
What is the reticular formation?
a long set of nerves at the back of the brain stem
What are the 4 parts of the hind brain?
Cerebellum, reticular formation, medulla, pons
What dies the reticular formation have to do with?
how alert we are
What is the medulla responsible for?
Has to do with some automatic processes (heart beating, regulating blood circulation, breathing)
What does the pons do?
relays information from the cerebellum to the rest of brain
What is the pons?
a bundle of nerves in the hind brain
What does the midbrain do?
produces a lot of neurotransmitters
what does substantia nigra stand for?
black substance
What does the substantia nigra do?
makes dopamine
What does the ventral tegmental area do?
makes dopamine?
Why do we have 2 places that make dopamine?
because the dopamine goes to different tracts of the brain.
What are the raffi nuclei? What do they do?
bundle of nerves near the reticular formation that make seratonin
What does the locus cerilious produce?
norepinepherine
What is the mid brain made up of?
Substantia nigra, Ventral tegmental area, Raffi Nuclei, Locus cerellious
What is the outside of the brain known as?
the cerebral cortex
Where are subcortical structures
just behind the cortex
What makes up the forebrain?
The 4 lobes and the subcortical structures
What is the frontal lobe responsible for?
Executive functioning: Planning, organization, attention, judgments
Where is the primary motor cortex?
long meaty finger near frontal lobe sulcus
What is th primary motor cortex involved with?
coordinated movement
What happens in the pre-frontal cortex?
Executive functioning
What and where is the brocas area?
Bundle of nerves near a w shaped gyrus in the prefrontal cortex
What is the broaca’s area responsible for?
Speach/language production
What makes up the frontal lobe?
Pre-frontal cortex, primary motor cortex, broca’s area
What does the parietal lobe have to do with?
how we move through space and time. Perception
Where is the somatasensory cortex?
large gyrus on parietal lobe
What does the somatosensroy cortex do?
senses sensory information from the body (touch, pressure, temperature)
how us the somatosensory cortex arranged?
topographically
what does topographically mean?
the parts of your brain that deal with touch are organized as you are as a person. Feet near legs, legs near hips, hips near stomach etc
at makes up the parietal lobe?
the somatosensory cortex
What does the primary auditory cortex have to do with?
being able to process auditory information
What is the temporal lobe close to? What does this mean?
the hippocampus. Processing of memory and emotion also happens in the temporal lobe
What is the temporal lobe responsible for?
auditory processing, memory, emotion
What is the Wernikies area responsible for?
deals with comprehension
What can damage in the wernickes area lead to?
difficulty in being understood or understanding
What is the difference between Broca’s area and wernickies area?
Broca’s area is in the frontal lobe and deals with speach/language production. Wernikies area is in the temporal lobe and deals with comprehension
What is the primary visual cortex (Occipital lobe) responsible for?
processing visual information
How is the occipital lobe organized?
retinotropically
What does retinotropically mean?
it means the visual information maps from the eye directly to the occipital lobe because of the way the neurons are organized
Is the image reversed in the back of our brain?
yes but it flips it
What is the temporal lobe made up of?
wernickies area, Primary auditory cortex
What is the occipital lobe made up of?
Primary visual cortex
What are the subcortical areas?
The parts that are just below the cortex
What does the amygdala have to do with?
emotion regulation (mainly fear and anger) and emotional learning (attaches emotion to memories)
What does hippocampus have to do with?
emotion, learning and memory
What are the 4 subcortical structures?
amygdala, hippocampus, thalamus, hypothalamus
What does the thalamus do?
receives signal from eyes and sends it where it needs to go
What is the hypothalamus responsible for?
Homeostatic functions, endocrine system.
How many ways are there to image the brain?
3
What are the ways of imaging the brain?
Radiation, magnetic feilds, electricity
Which scans use radiation?
CT scans, PET scans
What does CT scan stand for?
Computerized tomography
What does CT scan use? what does it do?
uses x rays and gives the structure of the brain
What are the dark areas in CT scans?
holes called ventricles, hold spinal fluid
What does PET scan stand for?
Positron emission tomography
What does PET scan use and what does it show?
uses radioactive tracer injected into blood stream. Shows the function of the brain
What are pet scans good for understanding
neurotransmitter receptors
What types of imaging use magnetic feilds?
MRI and fMRI
What does MRI stand for?
Magnetic resonance imaging
What does MRI do and what does it show?
creates a magnetic field that aligns all hydrogen atoms, When they stop spining they snap back (relax) and release energy. Measures these bursts of energy to show the structure of the brain
What does fMRI stand for?
functional magnetic resonance imaging
What does fMRI use? What does it show?
Similar to MRI but looks at oxygen. It maps the flow of blood and shows the function of the brain
What is used to image the brain using electricity
EEG
What does EEG stand for?
Electroencephalography
What does the EEG use? what does it show?
measures action potentials in the brain. Looks at frequency (# of waves per second) and amplitude (height of the waves). Gives a good idea of where the brain is being active.
What are the stages of sleep?
Awake (beta waves) , stage 1 (alpha waves), stage 2 (Theta waves), Stage 3 (Delta waves), REM
