Module 13 - Brain Hemisphere Organization and the Biology of Consciousness

Question 1

Corpus callosum

Answer 1

The large band of neural fibers connecting the two brain hemispheres and carrying messages between them

Question 2

Split brain

Answer 2

A condition resulting from surgery that isolates the brain’s two hemispheres by cutting the fibers (mainly those of the corpus callosum) connecting them

Question 3

Left hemisphere

Answer 3

Controls speech, comprehension, arithmetic, and writing

Question 4

Right hemisphere

Answer 4

Excels at making inferences, helps us control our speech to make meaning clear, and helps us be self-aware

Question 5

Consciousness

Answer 5

Our subjective awareness of ourselves and our environment

Question 6

Cognitive neuroscience

Answer 6

The interdisciplinary study of the brain activity linked with cognition (including perception, thinking, memory, and language)

Question 7

Dual processing

Answer 7

The principle that information is often simultaneously processed on separate conscious and unconscious tracks

Question 8

Blindsight

Answer 8

A condition in which a person can respond to a visual stimulus without consciously experiencing it

Question 9

Parallel processing

Answer 9

Processing many aspects of a problem simultaneously; generally used to process well-learned information or to solve easy problems