lecture 6 -biopsyc -guided tour of the brain

Question 1

processing happens in ____

Answer 1

neurons

Question 2

facts of the brain

Answer 2

10 billion of neurons in the brain (1000000000000)
100,000 miles of blood vessels and other transport systems in each brain.
1.5 pints of blood flow through the brain every minute
-even a relaxed brain used 20% of the body’s energy
-a 1x1x1mm cube contains on average 3km of axons, 90000 neurons, 400 meters of dendrites and 4500000 synapses

Question 3

why do we need a brain

Answer 3

-perceiving, thinking — acting

Question 4

perception is immediately transformed into _____

Answer 4

action

Question 5

what is biopsychology

Answer 5

the science of how the brain controls behaviour

Question 6

what is
-dura mater
-arachnoid membrane
-pia matter

Answer 6

dura mater ‘hard mother’
-flexible but unstretchable, keeps the brain in place,and via large blood vessles, brings blood to the brain

arachnoid membrane ‘spider membrane’
-cushions the brain. underneath is the subarachnoid space, filled with cerebrospinal fluid

pia mater ‘tender membrane
-a very slight membrane directly on the top of the brain (not visible)

Question 7

brain
-posterior /caudal
-anterior/rostral
-dorsal / superior
-ventral/inferior

Answer 7

-back
-front
-upper
-lower

Question 7

what is
-the cerebrum
-cerebellum

Answer 7

The largest part of the brain. It is divided into two hemispheres, or halves, called the cerebral hemispheres. Areas within the cerebrum control muscle functions and also control speech, thought, emotions, reading, writing, and learning.

cerebellum - part of your brain that helps coordinate and regulate a wide range of functions and processes in both your brain and body. While it’s very small compared to your brain overall, it holds more than half of the neurons (cells that make up your nervous system) in your whole body.

the brain stem leads into the spinal cord

Question 8

gyrus and sulcus
-what are they
-what do they allow for

Answer 8

gurus ‘bulge’
sulcus ‘groove’
Gyri (singular: gyrus) are the folds or bumps in the brain and sulci (singular: sulcus) are the indentations or grooves

gyri and sulci are relatively recent addition to mammalian brains

-provide a further cushion against shocks

they allow a lot more processing space to be crammed into the brain

Question 9

coronal cuts
grey matter
white matter

Answer 9

A coronal section is one that separates the brain into anterior and posterior halves.

-processing happens in the grey matter, the outer parts of the brain, called the cortex

-the white matter underneath transfers information between cortical sites

Question 10

fissures in the brain
-lateral fissure
-transverse fissure

Answer 10

-very large grooves, separating parts of the brain from one another

-lateral fissure/sylvian fissure,

-transverse fissure
separates the cerebellum

Question 11

temporal lobe

Answer 11

The temporal lobes sit behind the ears and are the second largest lobe. They are most commonly associated with processing auditory information and with the encoding of memory
-temporal lobe tells you what things are, their ‘meaning’ -connects you with the memories you have about this thing

Question 12

medial temporal lobe

Answer 12

middle temporal lobe

Question 13

interhemispheric fissure

Answer 13

Essentially, the fissure’s purpose is to separate the brain into two hemispheres, left and right

Question 14

how are the two hemispheres connected

Answer 14

-the two hemispheres are connected via the corpus callosum

-this is how the two halves of the brain communicate with each other

Question 15

central sulcus
-frontal lobe
-parietal lobe

Answer 15

-the top line thing that goes through the brain
-everything infront of it (frontal lobe) planning according to goals, emotions etc

parietal lobe
-linking the body to the world.

Question 16

primary motor cortex

Answer 16

-control of bodily movements
-if you put electrical currents in there, you get movements of different body parts ,depending on where you stimulate

Question 17

contralateral organisation

Answer 17

left motor cortex controls right side of the body, and vice versa

Question 18

somatotopic organisation

Answer 18

the topographic distribution of areas of the motor cortex relating to specific activities of skeletal muscles, as mapped by electrically stimulating a point in the cortex and observing associated movement of a skeletal muscle in the face, the trunk, or a limb.

Question 19

what is the motor strip of the brain

Answer 19

-just in front of the central sulcus lies the motor strip of the brain
-this controls the bodily movements
-the hand area is a prominent bulge called ‘hand knob’ that is an easy landmark for the central sulcus
-alot of space in the brain dedicated to hands

Question 20

the ventricles of the brain
-cerebrospinal fluid functions

Answer 20

-interconnected systems filled with cerebrospinal fluid. The CSF serves several functions
-further protection against trauma
-buoyancy
-removal of waste products into the blood
-hormone transport