The Brain

Question 1

Brain Lesion

Answer 1

Experimentally destroys brain tissue to study behaviors after such destruction.
Usually, lesions are done for scientific or medicinal purposes.

Question 2

Brain Scans - Electroencephalogram

Answer 2

An amplified recording of the electrical waves sweeping
across the brain’s surface, measured by electrodes placed on the scalp.

Question 3

Brain Scans - MRI Scan ((magnetic resonance imaging)

Answer 3

uses magnetic fields and radio waves to produce computer-generated images that distinguish among different types of brain tissue.

Question 4

Brain Scans - fMRI Scan

Answer 4

Measures brain activity by detecting changes associated with blood flow. The patient interacts with information during the scan to show that activity.

Question 5

Brain Scans - PET Scan (Positron Emission Tomography)

Answer 5

A process that’s used to observe metabolic processes in the body and brain. The patient ingests a radioactive form of glucose, PET then takes pictures of it being used in the body/brain.

Question 6

Brain Scans - CAT (CT) Scan (Computerized Tomography)

Answer 6

Combines a series of X-ray images to allow taken from
different angles, that create cross-sectional images of the body (bone) and brain.

Question 7

Limbic System

Answer 7

A set of brain structures located on both sides of the thalamus, immediately beneath the temporal lobe, which controls emotion, behavior, motivation, learning, and memory.

Question 8

Cerebral Cortex vs. Cerebrum

Answer 8

The cerebral cortex is the outermost layer of the cerebrum and the most prominent part of the brain.

The Cerebral cortex is made up of gray matter that covers the inner white matter of the cerebrum.

The Cerebral cortex is responsible for most of the sophisticated information processing of the brain

Question 9

Frontal Lobe (Also called the prefrontal cortex)

Answer 9

Controls functions like:
- judgment
- planning
- producing speech sounds
- emotions (controlling them)
- personality
- temperament
- movement (motor cortex)
- Works w/the motor
cortex to make precise
movements

Question 10

Frontal Lobe (Also called the prefrontal cortex)

Answer 10

Controls functions like:
- judgment
- planning
- producing speech sounds
- emotions (controlling them)
- personality
- temperament
- movement (motor cortex)
- Works w/the motor cortex to make precise movements

Question 11

Motor Cortex

Answer 11

• Located at the back of the frontal lobe, largely responsible for voluntary movement of parts of the body.
• If parts of the motor cortex are stimulated,
  corresponding parts of the body will move.
• movements that are precise or delicate are
  controlled by considerably larger portions of the
  motor cortex

Question 12

Homunculus

Answer 12

Given the proportionality of body parts to space in each
cortex, a homunculus is what the body would look like if it were proportionate to the space taken up in each cortex.

Question 13

Parietal Lobe

Answer 13

Controls functions like:
- body position
- spatial reasoning like
- touch
- pressure
- temperature
- pain
- somatosensory cortex

Question 14

Parietal Lobe

Answer 14

Controls functions like:
- body position
- spatial reasoning like
- touch
- pressure
- temperature
- pain
- somatosensory cortex

Question 15

Sensory Cortex

Answer 15

• Located at the front of the parietal lobe, largely responsible for perceiving touch and pressure on
  parts of the body.
• If a part of the sensory cortex is stimulated, it
  would cause the person to “feel” pressure on
  the corresponding part of the body.
• The more sensitive the area, the more surface
  area of the cortex dedicated to it.

Question 16

Temporal Lobe

Answer 16

Controls functions like:
- hearing (primary auditory cortex)
- storing long term memories
- speech and language
- understanding

Question 17

Occipital Lobe

Answer 17

Controls functions like:
- all aspects of vision (primary visual cortex)
- each piece of visual cortex corresponds to a particular place on the retina…receiving only information from that place…the pieces are later put together to form the whole

Question 18

Association Areas

Answer 18

Uncommitted (to sensory and motor functioning) areas of the cortex that are involved in higher mental functioning

Question 19

Wernicke’s Area

Answer 19

In the left temporal lobe, responsible for
language comprehension and expression.

Question 20

Broca’s Area

Answer 20

In the left frontal lobe, responsible for
directing motor movement involved in speech.

Question 21

Hemispheres

Answer 21

• The hemispheres are roughly mirrored images of each
  other.
• The function as two separate brains other than
  through the corpus callosum, through which all
  activity on one side is communicated with the other.
• Right side of the body is controlled by the left
  hemisphere, and vice versa.

Question 22

Left Hemisphere

Answer 22

Vision
- Words, Letters
Hearing
- Language sounds
Memory
- Verbal Memory
Language
- Speech, Grammar rules, Reading, Writing, Arithmetic

Question 23

Right Hemisphere

Answer 23

Vision
- Geometric patterns, Faces, Emotional expression
Hearing
- Nonlanguage sounds, Music
Memory
- Nonverbal memory
Language
- Emotional tone of speech
Spatial
- Geometry, Sense of direction, Distance, Mental rotation of shapes

Question 24

Brain Plasticity (Also known as neuroplasticity)

Answer 24

• … is the brain’s ability to continuously change
  throughout ones life due to it’s use (big takeaway
  being if you don’t use it, you lose it).
• Brain activity associated with a certain function can
  be transferred to a different location, particularly if
  the original area becomes damaged.

Question 25

Split-Brain Procedure

Answer 25

Split-Brain Procedure

• To better understand lateralization of the brain (how certain functions are in only one hemisphere), learning from split-brain patients gives a big advantage.
• To “split” the brain in a surgical procedure, what part of the brain would be severed (cut)?

Question 26

Splitting the brain

Answer 26

• The surgery allows the two hemispheres to be split from each other, which is only necessary in cases of severe epilepsy.
• But there are side effects that we can observe in these patients that helps us understand the specializations of each hemisphere.

The Corpus Callosum