Brain Structure and Processes

Question 1

Central nervous system

Answer 1

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Question 2

Spinal cord

Answer 2

connects the brain and the peripheral nervous system (PNS)

initiates spinal reflex

Question 3

Peripheral nervous system (PNS)

Answer 3

carries messages to and from the central nervous system (CNS)
comprises of:

somatic nervous system

Autonomic nervous system

Question 4

Somatic nervous system

Answer 4

sensory (afferent) neurons carry messages from sensory receptor sites to the CNS and motor (efferent) neurons carry ‘movement’ messages away from the CNS to skeletal muscles, organs and glands

Question 5

afferent nerves

Answer 5

afferent nerves carry sensory messages to the CNS

Question 6

efferent nerves

Answer 6

efferent nerves carry motor messages from the CNS to skeletal muscles (e.g hands, legs, face) enabling control of voluntary body movements, and to glands and organs

Question 7

Autonomic nervous system

Answer 7

comprises of nerves that control bodily functions not usually under voluntary control (i.e. autonomous) e.g circulatory, respiratory and digestive systems

controls activities of internal organs (e.g heart, stomach, and intestines) and glands (e.g. thyroid and adrenal)

two subdivisions- sympathetic and parasympathetic

Question 8

sympathetic nervous system

Answer 8

increases the responsiveness of muscles and organs during activity, stress or when feeling threatened

Question 9

parasympathetic nervous system

Answer 9

decreases responsiveness of muscles and organs, thereby restoring the body’s functioning to a normal level

Question 10

Frontal lobe

Primary motor cortex

association areas

Broca’s area

Answer 10

Primary motor cortex:
controls voluntary movement of skeletal muscles

motor cortex in the left frontal lobe controls voluntary movement in the right side of the body and vice versa.

Areas at the top of the motor cortex control lower parts of the body and vice versa

Amount of motor cortex is related to precision of movement of area (e.g. hands, fingers, mouth and lips have proportionately more motor cortex

association areas- integrate information; involved in thinking, planning, abstract reasoning, personality, temperament, control of emotions

Broca’s area (left hemisphere only) involved in the production of speech

Question 11

Parietal lobe

Primary somatosensory cortex

association areas

Answer 11

parietal lobe comprises:
Primary somatosensory cortex- receives and processes sensory inputs from the body

primary somatosensory cortex in the left parietal lobe processes sensory information from the right side of the body and vice versa

Amount of sensory cortex is related to sensory sensitivity of the body area (e.g mouth, lips, tongue, and genital areas have proportionately more sensory cortex)

association areas- integrate information; monitor body limb positions and determine spatial positions of objects

Question 12

Temporal lobe

Primary auditory cortex

association areas

Wernicke’s area

Answer 12

Temporal lobe comprises:

Primary auditory cortex- receives and processes auditory information from ears
left temporal lobe processes verbal sounds (e.g words)
right temporal lobe processes non-verbal sounds (e.g. music)

association areas integrate information; involved in speech, memory, object identification and determining appropriate behavioural responses to stimuli

Wernicke’s area (left hemisphere only) involved in speech comprehension

Question 13

Occipital lobe

Primary visual cortex

association areas

Answer 13

Occipital lobe consists of:

primary visual cortex- receives and processess visual signals from the two eyes

right occipital lobe processes left visual field (information inputs from the right half of each retina

left occipital lobe processes right visual field information (inputs from the left half of each retina)

association areas- select organise, and integrate features of the visual stimulus; also interact with association areas in other lobes

Question 14

Broca’s area

location and function

Answer 14

location:
left frontal lobe next to the primary motor cortex

function:
coordinating movements of facial muscles and larynx to produce clear and fluent speech (this information is sent to the motor cortex)

contributes to speech comprehension, particularly grammatical structure

Question 15

Wernicke’s area

location and function

Answer 15

Location:
left temporal lobe next to the auditory cortex

Function:
Comprehension and production of speech

Question 16

Aphasia

Answer 16

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Question 17

Wernicke’s aphasia

Answer 17

An impairment in the ability to comprehend language and formulate coherent, meaningful speech, caused by damage to Wernicke’s area in the left temporal lobe

can string together long word sequences and phrases but not in an understandable way, i.e speak nonsense

unique conscious experience of the world; little/no conscious awareness of the disorder

Question 18

Broca’s aphasia

Answer 18

An impairment in the ability to produce articulate speech, caused by damage to Broca’s area in the left frontal lobe

speech is slow requiring concentration and effort

use very short sentences and mostly verbs and nouns, with prepositions and conjunctions omitted

unique conscious experience of the world; usually consciously aware of the disorder

Question 19

Spatial neglect

Answer 19

tendency to ignore the left or right side of one’s body or the left or right side of visual space resulting from damage to one of the cerebral hemispheres. Most commonly the right parietal lobe, therefore spatial neglect of left side is most common