Lesson 3: Brain Amatomy Flashcards
What is the responsibillity of the two hemispheres of the brain? Name 2 traits.
LEFT & RIGHT
They control the opposite sides of the body
ALmost copy of the other side
We can live with half a brain
Is there a left vs right brain?
No, some functions may be slightly more skewed on one side vs another
BUT
the whole brain works as a system and network to make it body function
WHat is the NeoCortex? Describe its appearance and why it appears that way
It is the outer-most part of the brain (the bumpy folded stuff). The folding of the brain, and the resulting gyri and sulci, increases its surface area and enables more cerebral cortex matter to fit inside the skull.
Name the 4 lobes of the Newcortex and their general functions.
- Frontal lobe (attention, decision, movement)
- Parietal Lobe (touch, taste, temp, pain)
- Temporal Lobe (hearing, smell, memory, language)
- Occipital Lobe (sight)
Other than the Newcortex & Lymbic, what are the other 2 important parts of the brain and their functions?
- Cerebellum - Movement, coordination
- Brain stem - heart rate, breathing etc.
What is the Triune brain?
- Reptilian - better known as Primal Brain controls basic bodily functions like heart rate, breathing and flight/fight
- Mammalian or Lymbic brain - emotions/fight or flight - in all mammals
- Neocortex - responsible for all other senses and logic/reasoning (PFC) - only in Primates
What are the two parts of our PRIMAL BRAIN
Brain stem - Connects to our spinal chord. Critical to living. Is responsible for regulating all the body functions (heart rate, breathing, blood pressure)
HypoTHALAMUS - Regulates hormones and all body cycles, sleep, temp, sex, emotions. It GIVES ORDERS to other parts of the brain.
What are the 5 parts of the Lymbic systems? What do they do?
- HippoCAMPUS - Passes ST memory to LT memory, especially related to sleep. This is where a lot of neuro genesis happens. Dementia/Alzhiemers happen here as sleep cycles get spoilt.
- Thalamus - HIghway recieving info and disseminating it
- HypoThalamus - hormones & body cycles
- Amygdala - Fight, flight or Freeze
- Cingulate Gyrus - Connects senses to emotions, emotions to pain
Describe the distributed way in which memory formation and recall works.
Blender w/o a cover analogy - All types of info input from senses and feelings and get distributed to diff parts of brain.
Recall - Diff parts of brain try to get recalled and put together memory again. Can be patchy/inaccurate
How often do we use Pre Frontal Cortex (PFC)
5% of the time
Describe the function of the Lymbic Amygdala
Responsible for fear, aggression, survival, dominance or submission type of emotions - NO RATIONAL INFO
Sends signal to primal brain to act! Block PFC completely.
HIJACK - Losing control when you freeze, panic attacks or anger outbursts
Can be trained with meditation to lower triggers and calm down
Which part of the brain is the highway of the brain? What does this mean?
Thalamus - gets info from all senses (except Olfactory) and sends to correct part of brain to process. PRECONSCIOUS PROCESSING CENTER
Its responsible for consciousness and alertness
What are the two things Thalamus is focused on?
Threats & Opportunities - Before we become aware of it, Thalamus takes the info from the env, DECIDES if it’s a T or O, and sends to relevant part of brain. Like a RELAY station.
Eg. Could be threat and it activates Amygdala to take over/hijack
What is RAS? Where is it located and what does it do?
Reticular Activating System - it’s near the Thalamus & in the Brainstem.
Responsible for consciousness and is the gate between subconscious and conscious. Works closely with Thalamus to relay info to Neocortex or spinal chord.
What’s the diff between Thalamus and HypoThalamus
The thalamus acts as a gatekeeper for messages passed between the spinal cord and the cerebral hemispheres. The hypothalamus controls emotions. It also regulates your body’s temperature and controls crucial cycles — such as eating or sleeping.
How do you activate your RAS?
Say your goals out loud.
Imagine yourself achieving them.
Disrupt negative thinking patterns.
Look at images of what you want.
Visualize each step towards the final objective.
What is the part of the brain found under the folds of the Neocortex?
INSULAR CORTEX - responsible for self awareness, emotions and perception of present moment. Close to ears so equilibrium and balance can be affected with nausea also.
Default Mode Network when activated will light this area up. (Eg day dreaming, rumination negative feelings)
What’s the role of the Cerebellum
Voluntary movement(muscle control) and Balance
What’s the Celeblum’s most UNIQUE quality
It’s our Oldest part of the brain and our main learning center - has 50% of all neurons. Very few GLEAL CELLS so it’s slow to learn and unlearn.
Eg riding a bike - once learnt won’t be forgotten because gleals don’t clean out those neurons.
What part of the brain connects left and right hemispheres
Corpus Callosum
Solve the mystery of the men vs female brain
Women have 10% more Corpus Callsoum than men in proportion to their brain size.
Men have 10% bigger brains vs female but no impact on IQ/functions.
Corpus Callosum in both men and women is actually same just that when compared to their brain size, men’s seems less because their brains are larger.
