Brain and Minds Flashcards
How many neurons are in the human brain?
About 86 billion neurons.
How many neurons are in the cerebrum?
About 16 billion neurons.
How many neurons are in the cerebellum?
About 69 billion neurons.
How many neurons are in the brain stem?
About 1 billion neurons.
What did Galen believe about the brain?
Brain was for rational thought; thinking occurred in ventricles.
Where did Galen think the passionate and appetitive souls were?
Passionate soul: heart; Appetitive soul: liver.
What are ventricles?
Fluid-filled areas of the brain that connect to the spinal cord.
What did Andreas Vesalius contribute?
Brain is the seat of all thought, feeling, and action.
What did Luigi Galvani discover?
The brain uses electricity to function.
What was Franz Gall’s main idea?
Phrenology—different brain areas have different functions.
What was right and wrong about Gall’s theory?
Right: localization; Wrong: functions and skull shape correlation.
What harmful belief did phrenology support?
It was used to justify racism.
What did Phineas Gage’s accident show?
Brain parts do different things; damage affects behavior.
What did Pierre Paul Broca discover?
Damage to Broca’s area impairs speech but not other functions.
Why is Broca’s discovery important?
It started cognitive neuropsychology.
What is dualism?
Brain and mind/soul are separate entities.
Who is associated with dualism?
René Descartes.
What is monism/materialism?
Brain and mind are two parts of the same thing.
What is functionalism?
Mind carries out functions, implemented by the brain.
Who started the first psychology lab?
Wilhelm Wundt (1879).
Who did the first studies of memory?
Hermann Ebbinghaus (1885).
Who wrote the first psychology textbook?
William James (1890).
What role did early computers play?
Simulated human thought; enabled neuron experiments.
What metaphors were used for the brain/mind?
Gears (Industrial Revolution), computers.
