chapter 4 and 5 Flashcards
Brain vs heart:
The origin of this debate can be tracked to be 500 BC, to Classical Greece. The debate argues whether the mental processes happen in the brain or the heart.
Mind body problem:
Mind and body dualism represents the ideology that the mind and body are two separate entities each with different natures. According to Rene Descartes, human body and mind could not exist in unity. Therefore as opposed by René “a person lives through two histories one is what happens in and to the body the other what happens in and to ones life”.
phrenology :
- Different parts of the brain had different functions (localisation of brain function).
- Personality characteristics and mental abilities were controlled by different parts (‘brain organs’) which were located on its outer surface.
- The size of each parts indicated how fully developed it was and therefore the strength of its influence.
- The development of a particular part would push out the surrounding skull to the extent that it would cause a bump on the head that could be observed or felt externally.
- Gall started to investigate Phrenology because in school, he thought people with large eyes that bulge out had better memory.
First brain experiments:
Ablation:
involves destroying or removing selected brain tissue followed by an assessment of subsequent changes in behaviour, usually irreversible.
Electrical stimulation:
electrical stimulation of the brain is that there were electrical signals by neurons and by modifying those signals, there would be a chance to influence and change an individual’s brain
function.
Hindbrain:
A collection of lower level brain structures that include the cerebellum, medulla and pons. These control or influence various motor functions and vital, automatic (‘autonomic’) responses such as breathing and heart rate, as well as sleep and arousal (‘alertness’).
Medulla-
vital bodily functions such as swallowing, breathing, heart rate, blood pressure, vomiting, salivating, coughing and sneezing, all of which occur automatically and are essential for
survival.
cerebellum -
Coordinates fine muscle movement and involved in learning and memory associated with movement
Pons-
Involved in sleep, dreaming and arousal from sleep (‘waking’), as well as helping control breathing and coordination of some muscle movements.
Midbrain:
Reticular formation:
Helps screen incoming information so as not to overload the brain,
Regulates arousal (such as awakening from sleep) and muscle tone (tension)
fore brain
A collection of upper level structures that include the hypothalamus, thalamus and cerebrum.
Regulates complex cognitive processes such as thinking, learning, memory and perception, as well as various aspects of emotion and personality.
Hypothalamus-
Has a vital role in maintaining the body’s internal environment (i.e. homeostasis) and takes part in numerous behaviours.
main functions include:
The hypothalamus is responsible for regulating thirst, so damage could
result in excessive thirst.
● The hypothalamus is responsible for regulating body temperature, so
damage could result in difficulty regulating body temperature.
● The hypothalamus is responsible for regulating sex drive, so damage could
result in a reduced sex drive.
● The hypothalamus is responsible for regulating the release of sleep
hormones, so damage could result in issues in sleep cycle regulation.
Thalamus:
Filters information from almost all the sense receptor sites (except the nose), then passes it to relevant areas of the brain for further processing
Cerebrum:
Primarily responsible for almost everything we consciously think, feel and do.
- Divided into two cerebral hemispheres (left and right) and are connected by the corpus callosum, which enables information exchange and coordinated functioning of the brain.
- Consists of an outer surface called the cerebral cortex
Cerebral cortex
Processes incoming sensory information and is involved with the planning and control of voluntary bodily movements.
The areas of the cerebral cortex and their
main functions can be organised into 3 broad categories:
Sensory areas which receive and process sensory information
Motor areas which initiate voluntary movements
Association areas which surround sensory and motor areas and deal with more complex functions that require integration of inputs of information from different areas
Frontal lobe:
Responsible for planning and initiating voluntary bodily movements
Prefrontal cortex: involved with …
- Sophisticated mental abilities:
- Reasoning
- Planning
- Problem solving
- Decision making
- Symbolic thinking
- Attention
- Regulation of emotions
- Expression of emotional reactions
Self-awareness
- Aspects of personality (eg: Initiating appropriate and inhibiting inappropriate behaviour).
Premotor cortex:
Prepares the appropriate movement sequence
Sends the information to the adjacent primary motor cortex
Primary motor cortex:
initiates and controls voluntary movements through its
control of skeletal muscles.
Brocras area:
Has a crucial role in the production of articulate speech; that is, speech that is clear and fluent.
Parietal lobe:
Receives and processes bodily, or ‘somatosensory’, information.
This sensory information includes:
Touch and temperature (from the skin)
Information about muscle movement and the body’s position (from muscles, tendons and joints).
PRIMARY SOMATOSENSORY CORTEX
Located at the front of each parietal lobe, near the primary motor cortex
Receives and processes sensory information from the skin and body parts such as arms, hands, legs, feet, lip, tongue.
OCCIPITAL LOBE
The largest by far is the primary visual cortex, which is the major destination of visual information from the two eyes.
The information comes to the primary visual cortex from visual sensory receptors
located on the retina at the back of each eye.
TEMPORAL LOBE
Involved with auditory perception
Also plays an important role in:
- Memory
- Aspects of visual perception such as our ability to identify objects and recognise faces,
- Emotional responses to sensory information and memories.
AUDITORY CORTEX
- Receives and processes sounds from both ears so that we can perceive and identify different types of sounds
- Different areas of this cortex are specialised to register and respond to different features of sound.
