Structure of the Brain

Question 1

How many lobes is the brain made up of?

Answer 1

4

Question 2

What are the 4 lobes?

Answer 2

The temporal lobe, the parietal lobe, the occipital lobe & the prefrontal lobe.

Question 3

What are the 2 halves of the brain called?

Answer 3

Hemispheres

Question 4

What is lateralisation?

Answer 4

The idea that the brain is split into 2 hemispheres.

Question 5

The lobes of the brain are bilateral. What does this mean?

Answer 5

They are the same across the 2 hemispheres.

Question 6

‘Bilateral’ meaning?

Answer 6

2 sides

Question 7

‘Unilateral’ meaning?

Answer 7

One side

Question 8

What is the part of the brain that joins the 2 hemispheres?

Answer 8

The corpus callosum.

Question 9

Any messages the travel between the 2 hemispheres pass through?

Answer 9

The corpus callosum.

Question 10

What happens if the corpus callosum is split?

Answer 10

The individual can’t link messages between the 2 hemispheres.

Question 11

Example of difficulties in vision caused by the 2 hemispheres not communicating with one another?

Answer 11

The left eye sends messages to the right hemisphere, & the right eye sends messages to the left hemisphere.

Someone with a split corpus callosum would have a message from the left eye going to the right hemisphere, & their right eye would send information to the left hemisphere.

But there would be no communication between the 2 hemispheres.

Speech is usually in the left hemisphere, so someone would be able to say what they saw in the right eye, as that information goes to the left hemisphere, but they wouldn’t be able to name what they saw in the left hemisphere.