Parts of the brain Flashcards
Which parts of the body does the central nervous system cover?
Brain and spinal cord
Which parts of the body does the peripheral nervous system cover? And what 2 types are there
All nerves outside the Central nervous system. These are then further broken down in 2 types:
1) somatic
2) automatic
Define clinical method and who created it
Involves studying the behavioural result of the brain injury
who? Paul Broca
Name the procedure performed after death to identify injuries to areas though to be responsible got behavioural conditions existing before death?
Posthumus examination
Name the 5 areas of the CORTEX and their functions
1) Broca’s area: The speech centre
2) Frontal lobe: involved in movement, problem solving, decision making, inhibition, basically everything critical thinking
3) parietal lobe: involved in sense of touch, spatial ability, attention
4) Occipital lobe: involved in vision, edge detection, shape, form
5) Temporal lobe: involved in memory, hearing, language and complex vision
Which part of the cortex is involved in complex vision such as recognizing faces?
Temporal lobe specifically the Fusiform Gyrus
What is the condition where you cannot recognize faces?
Prosopagnosia
Name the 3 areas of the CEREBRAL HEMISPHERES and their functions
1) Cerebrum: composed of 2 cerebral hemispheres
2) Corpus callosum: Connection that separates the hemispheres
3) Cerebral cortex: Covers the cerebral hemispheres and is responsible for higher mental processes(language, memory, thinking)
Which one of the three cerebral hemispheres is responsible for higher mental processes and is compared to the bark of a tree?
The cerebral cortex
Why was Einstein’s Brian so fascinating?
Einstein’s brain didn’t have more or larger neurons like most people thought BUT INSTEAD he had a greater concentration of glial cells than the average brain
Name the 3 parts of the brainstem and their functions
1) medulla
2) pons
3) reticular formation
1) Medulla: controls autonomic functions such as heart rate, breathing, swallowing, puking, coughing
2) pons: responsible for facial movement and touch sensations of the face AND also responsible for sleep/dreaming
3) Reticular formation: regulates attention, arousal and alertness
Which portion of the brainstem is responsible for keeping us paralyzed during REM sleep( dreams) and where is it located?
The locus coeruleus is responsible and it is located in the pons
Name the 4 parts of the limbic system and its role.
1) amygdala
2) hippocampus
3) thalamus
4) hypothalamus
1) Amygdala: involved in fear and aggression. also responsible for EMOTIONAL MEMORIES
2) Hippocampus : process memory.
3) Thalamus: brains sensory switchboard
4) Hypothalamus: regulates hunger, thirst, body temperature and sexual behaviour
Describe what happens when we remove and stimulate the Amygdala
remove amygdala = mellow
stimulate amygdala = rage or fear
What happens when the Hippocampus is damaged?
Prevents new memories to form but old memories stay intact
