Brain Regions/Functions – Cerebral Cortex

Question 1

The primary motor cortex, premotor cortex, supplementary motor cortex, and Broca’s area make up the _____ lobe.

Answer 1

Frontal

Question 2

Damage to this area of the frontal lobe produces expressive aphasia and nonfluent aphasia. People with this disorder have slow, labored speech that consists primarily of nouns and verbs. They also exhibit impaired repetition and anomia (an inability to recall the names of familiar objects), but their comprehension of written and spoken language is relatively intact.

Answer 2

Broca’s area

Question 3

This area of the frontal lobe plays an important role in executive functions, which are also known as higher-order cognitive functions and include planning, decision-making, social judgment, and self-monitoring. It also contributes to working memory, prospective memory (memory for future events), attention, and emotion regulation.

Answer 3

Prefrontal cortex

Question 4

Damage to the this area of the prefrontal cortex produces dysexecutive syndrome, which involves deficits in working memory, impaired judgment and insight, lack of planning ability, perseverative responses, and disinterest and apathy.

Answer 4

dorsolateral

Question 5

Damage to this area of the prefrontal cortex results in disinhibited syndrome, which is characterized by behavioral disinhibition, distractibility, emotional lability and inappropriate euphoria, and “acquired sociopathy.”

Answer 5

Orbitofrontal

Question 6

Damage to this area of the prefrontal cortex produces an apathetic-akinetic syndrome, which involves decreased motor behavior and verbal output, a lack of initiative and motivation (abulia), and flat or diminished affect.

Answer 6

Mediofrontal

Question 7

This area of the frontal lobe is involved in planning and coordinating SELF-INTIATED complex movements and is active not only when people actually perform movements but also when they imagine performing them and when watching another person perform them.

Answer 7

Supplementary motor cortex

Question 8

This area of the frontal lobe is involved in planning and coordinating complex movements that are triggered by EXTERNAL (sensory) stimuli. It is active not only when people perform movements but also when they imagine performing them or watch others perform them.

Answer 8

Premotor cortex

Question 9

This area of the frontal lobe executes movements by sending signals to the muscles. The effects of damage to it depend on its extent and location and range from weakness to paralysis in one or more muscles in the opposite (contralateral) side of the body.

Answer 9

Primary motor cortex

Question 10

This lobe contains Wernicke’s area and the auditory cortex.

Answer 10

Temporal

Question 11

This is a major language area in the temporal lobe and is located in the dominant (usually left) hemisphere. Damage produces receptive aphasia and fluent aphasia. People with this disorder have impaired comprehension of written and spoken language, impaired repetition, and anomia. Although their speech is fluent, it contains many word substitutions and other errors and is devoid of meaning.

Answer 11

Wernicke’s area

Question 12

This lobe of the brain contains the somatosensory cortex, which processes sensory information related to touch, pressure, temperature, pain, and body position.

Answer 12

Parietal

Question 13

This somatosensory agnosia results from damage to the parietal lobe and results in an inability to recognize objects by touch.

Answer 13

Tactile agnosia

Question 14

This somatosensory agnosia results from damage to the parietal lobe and results in a lack of interest in or recognition of one or more parts of the body.

Answer 14

Asomatoagnosia

Question 15

This somatosensory agnosia results from damage to the parietal lobe and results in denial of one’s illness.

Answer 15

Anosognosia

Question 16

Hemispatial neglect, ideomotor apraxia, ideational apraxia, or Gerstmann’s syndrome all result from damage to what lobe?

Answer 16

Parietal

Question 17

This is also known as unilateral neglect and contralateral neglect and is usually caused by damage to the right (nondominant) parietal lobe and involves neglect of the left side of the body and stimuli on the left side of the body.

Answer 17

Hemispatial neglect

Question 18

This is usually caused by damage to the dominant (usually left) hemisphere of the parietal lobe and is an inability to perform a motor activity in response to a verbal command (e.g., “pretend to comb your hair”)

Answer 18

Ideomotor apraxia

Question 19

This is usually caused by damage to the dominant (usually left) hemisphere of the parietal lobe and involves an inability to plan and execute a task that requires a sequence of actions (e.g., an inability to complete the steps needed to make a sandwich)

Answer 19

Ideational apraxia

Question 20

This is usually caused by damage to the dominant (usually left) hemisphere of the parietal lobe and involves finger agnosia, right-left disorientation, agraphia (a loss of writing skills), and acalculia (a loss of arithmetic skills).

Answer 20

Gerstmann’s syndrome

Question 21

This lobe of the brain contains the visual cortex, which processes visual information. Damage to this area can cause visual agnosia, visual hallucinations, achromatopsia (loss of color vision), or cortical blindness.

Answer 21

Occipital

Question 22

This is usually caused by bilateral lesions in the occipitotemporal junction and involves an inability to recognize the faces of familiar people and, in some cases, the faces of pets and other familiar animals.

Answer 22

Prosopagnosia

Question 23

For about 95% of right-handed people and 50 to 70% of left-handed people, written and spoken language, logical and analytical thinking, and positive emotions are functions of the ______ hemisphere of the brain.

Answer 23

Left

Question 24

For example, for about 95% of right-handed people and 50 to 70% of left-handed people, holistic thinking, intuition, understanding spatial relationships, creativity, and negative emotions are _____ hemisphere functions.

Answer 24

Right