Module 5: The Cerebral Cortex Flashcards
1
Q
Cerebrum
A
- Two cerebral hemispheres making up 85% of brain’s weight
- Enable perceiving, thinking, speaking
2
Q
Cerebral Cortex
A
- Intricate fabric of interconnected neural cells covering the cerebral hemispheres
- The body’s ultimate control and information processing center.
- Much of what makes us human comes from the complex functions of the cerebral cortex.
3
Q
Frontal Lobes
A
- The portion of the cerebral cortex lying just behind the forehead
- Involved in speaking and muscle movements and in making plans and judgements
- Think about future and consequences
4
Q
Parietal Lobes
A
- The portion of the cerebral cortex lying at the top of the head and toward the rear
- Receives sensory input for touch and body position
5
Q
Occipital Lobes
A
- The portion of the cerebral cortex lying at the back of the head
- Includes areas that receive information from the visual fields
6
Q
Temporal Lobes
A
- The portion of the cerebral cortex lying roughly above the ears
- Includes the auditory areas, each receiving information primarily from the opposite ear
7
Q
Motor Cortex
A
- An area at the rear of the frontal lobes that controls voluntary movements.
- Stimulating left hemisphere causes movement on the right side of the body
- Brain devotes more tissue to sensitive areas and areas that need precise control
8
Q
Somatosensory Cortex
A
- An area at the front of the parietal lobes that registers and processes body touch and movement sensations.
- Receives information from skin senses
- Touch and temperature
- Receives information from movement of body parts
- More sensitive the body region —-> the larger the area devoted to it.
9
Q
Association Areas
A
- Areas of the cerebral cortex that are not involved in primary sensory or motor functions
- Rather, they are involved in higher mental functions such as learning, remembering, thinking, and speaking
10
Q
Prefrontal Cortex
A
- Association area found in the forward part of the frontal lobes
- Enables judgement, planning, social interactions, and processing of new memories
11
Q
Damage to frontal lobes
A
- Cannot plan ahead
- Can alter personality and remove inhibitions (voluntary or involuntary restraint of a behavior)
- Steer us away from violent actions
- Damage takes away our moral compass
12
Q
Association area in temporal lobes
A
- Recognize faces
- Understand words
13
Q
Association area in parietal lobes
A
- Mathematical and spacial reasoning
14
Q
What happens when the brain is damaged?
A
- Plasticity
- Other areas of the brain pick up the slack
15
Q
Neurogenesis
A
- The formation of new neurons.
16
Q
Corpus Callosum
A
- The large band of neural fibers connecting the two brain hemispheres and carrying messages between them.
17
Q
Split Brain
A
- Condition resulting from surgery that isolate’s the brain’s two hemispheres by cutting the fibers (mainly those of the corpus callosum) connecting them.
18
Q
Visual Wiring
A
- Each eye receives sensory info from entire visual field
- Information from left half of field of vision goes to right
hemisphere and right half of field of vision goes to left - Information from either hemisphere is transmitted to the other across the corpus callosum
- Information from left half of field of vision goes to right
19
Q
5 steps in reading a word out loud
A
- Visual cortex (receives written words as visual stimulation)
- Angular gyrus (transforms visual representations into an auditory code)
- Werinicke’s area (interprets auditory code)
- Broca’s area (controls speech muscles via the motor cortex)
- Motor cortex (word is pronounced)
20
Q
Left hemisphere
A
- Thoughts and logic
- Details such as “trees”
- Language: words and definitions
- Linear and literal calculations
- Pieces and detail
21
Q
Right hemisphere
A
- Feelings and intuition
- Big picture such as “forest”
- Language: tone, inflection, context
- Perceptions
- Wholes, including the self
