Brain Structure and Behaviors

Question 1

Mind

Answer 1

Functioning brain

Question 2

Lower Level (primitive) Brain Structures

Answer 2

Structures shared by many animals (be they complex or simple, and there are the first evolved brain structures

Question 3

ontogeny recapitulates phylogeny

Answer 3

a phrase that describes the idea that an organism’s development (ontogeny) follows the same stages as the evolutionary history of its ancestors (phylogeny)

Question 4

Ontological development

Answer 4

Ontology is the prenatal development of the organisms

Question 5

Brain Stem

Answer 5

Oldest brain structure in terms of evolution
Central core of the brain
An extension of the spinal cord that enters the skull

Question 6

Brain Structure

Answer 6

Reticular formation
Keeps the brain aroused
Can be related to how we see personality

Question 7

Medulla

Answer 7

Regulates automatic survival functions such as heart rate and breathing (pons connects the medulla and the thalamus)

Question 8

Reticular Formation

Answer 8

A finger shaped network of neurons that extends from the spinal cord up to the thalamus. Controls arousal of the brain

Question 9

Cerebellum: Organ of Agility

Answer 9

Structure at the rear of the brain stem with convolutions
Primary function is the integration and coordination of voluntary movement (walking, balance)
These processes occur outside of awareness

Question 10

Limbic Systems

Answer 10

A system of neural structure at the intersection of the brainstem and the cerebral hemispheres
Some general functions
Regulates emotion (e.g. fear and aggression)
Regulates drives (e.g. food and sex)

Question 11

Hippocampus

Answer 11

A structure that integrates memories. If it is destroyed, no new memories are formed.

Question 12

Amygdala

Answer 12

Two almond shaped (a misnomer) structure that affect aggression and fear

Question 13

Hypothalamus

Answer 13

A structure that helps maintain different functions such as thirst, temperature, and sexual behavior.

Question 14

Olds and Milner

Answer 14

Misplaced an electrode in the hypothalamus of a rat. The rat was stimulated on a table top and kept returning to the spot on the table top WHERE the stimulation occurred

Question 15

Cerebral Cortex

Answer 15

The most recently evolved brain structure in animals

Question 16

Hemispheres

Answer 16

Brain is divided into two symmetrical halves (hemispheres)
Each hemisphere is covered with a thin layer of folded (convolutions) neural cells

Question 17

convolutions

Answer 17

the folds and ridges that make up the surface of the cerebral cortex

Question 18

Size of Brain

Answer 18

size of an animal cortex reflects the complexity of an animal’s behavior (“the amount of “association area”), the amount of cortex increases = control of behavior is relaxed
Self-regulation increases

Question 19

Frontal Lobe

Answer 19

Involved in the comprehension of auditory information
Involved in motor control (motor cortex)
Personality
Planning and decision-making (executive functions)

Question 20

Parietal Lobe

Answer 20

Involved in high level processing of sensory information (sensory cortex)

Question 21

Temporal Lobe

Answer 21

Speech comprehension;

Question 22

Occipital Lobe

Answer 22

A visual center of the Cortex

Question 23

Broca’s Area

Answer 23

Is located in the left frontal lobe, and is involved in speech production, controls our ability to speak, specifically controlling motor functions related to articulating words; Frontal Lobe

Question 24

Wernicke’s Area

Answer 24

What helps us understand these words; Temporal Lobe

Question 25

Corpus Callossum

Answer 25

Large set of myelinated (white fatty substance) neural fibers connecting the left and right hemispheres of the brain

Question 26

Split Brain

Answer 26

When the two hemispheres of the brain are surgically severed;
Often to control random, persistent seizures of the brain that are debilitating