The Brain Lecture Notes Flashcards
Metabolites
Glucose and oxygen are considered these. They are substances necessary for a living organism to maintain life
Glucose
The brains fuel
Brain is divided into three major parts
The brainstem, cerebellum and cerebral hemispheres
Hypothalamus
Sits on top of the brainstem just below the thalamus. It controls body maintenance functions such as hunger, thirst, body temperature, sexual function and helps govern the endocrine system by the pituitary.
Cerebellum
Assess his sensory input and is responsible for coordinating movement and posture/balance
The cerebral hemispheres
Responsible for our cognitive abilities and conscious experience
Subcortical structures
Bring structures that lie beneath the cerebral cortex but above the brainstem such as the basal ganglia (motor movement and control), amygdala (a motion) and hippocampus (memory)
Amygdala
Strongly associated with basic survival emotions such as fear, anger and pleasure. It is also associated with memory
Hippocampus
Associated primarily with memory (forming, organizing and storing). It is also associated with learning and emotion
Gray matter
Composed of neuron cell bodies (the thinking part)
White matter
Composed of axons and neurons
Cerebrum
The cerebral cortex is the largest part of the brain and is known as a cerebrum. The cortex is a thin layer of interconnected neurons (gray matter) covering the cerebral hemispheres. Neural networks in the cortex enable thinking, perceiving and speaking. It is the brains ultimate control and information processing center
Gyri (gyrus)
The folds of the cortex
Sulci (sulcus)
The grooves of the cortex
The four lobes of the cortex
The frontal lobe, parietal lobe, temporal lobe and occipital lobe
Neuroplasticity (brain plasticity)
The ability of the brain to recognize its self/change neural pathways in response to injury.
Frontal lobe
Vault in planning and organizing abilities. Also involved in making judgments and impulse control. It is also involved in speech production
Parietal lobe
Receives sensory input for touch and body position. Assist the frontal lobe/motor cortex to control motor movement
Motor cortex
At the rear of the frontal lobe. It controls voluntary movement
Occipital lobe
Receives and processes visual information
Temporal lobe
Receives and processes auditory information. Contains the primary auditory cortex and is important in language comprehension. Also it is strongly associated with memory ability
Corpus Collosum
The cerebral hemispheres are connected by a large band of neural fibers which carry messages in between them
Left and right temporal lobe’s
The left temporal lobe is primarily responsible for language and verbal memory. The right temporal lobe is primarily responsible for processing nonverbal auditory input and nonverbal memory
Contralateral
The functions of the cerebral hemispheres are said to be contralateral meaning the right hemisphere controls sensations and movement on the left side of the body
Replicated
Some functions of the brain are replicated meeting they are controlled by both sides of the brain such a sensation and movement
Lateralized
Other brain functions are mostly lateralized meeting they are controlled mostly by one side or the other
Association areas
Cerebral cortex areas primarily involved in higher mental functions such as learning remembering and speaking
Broca’s area
(An association area) located in the left frontal lobe. controls muscle movement involved in speech production (expression)
Wernicke’s area
(An association area) located in the left temporal lobe. It controls language comprehension (reception)
Aphasia
And impairment in language ability (expressive or receptive). It can also affect writing ability. Can because from brain injury or a degenerative disease
Agnosia
It is an inability to recognize familiar sensory stimuli such as visual or auditory. It can result from brain damage or disease. It may also affect other senses and affect more than one sense at a time
Expressive aphasia you
Problems producing language (Broca’s area)
Receptive aphasia
Problems understanding/comprehending language (Wernicke’s area)
Converging evidence
Defined as receiving similar findings from multiple studies using different methods
Phrenology
One of the first attempts to study the functions of the brain. The study of correlating bombs and indentions on the skull to functions of the brain
Dissection
A method used to study changes in the brain that occur in relation to various diseases or problems with functioning
CAT, CT and MRI scans
Look for changes in brain tissue/structures and correlate this to certain changes in behaviors and abilities
Difference between CT and MRI Scans
CT Uses computerized x-rays and MRIs use magnetic fields and radio waves
Cross-sectional
Provides different views, slices or planes of the brain
Sagittal plane
Vertical plane that runs front to back separating the brain into the left and right sides
Coronal plane
Vertical plane that runs from head to foot separating the front side and the backside of the brain
Horizontal plane (also called transverse or axial)
A plane that runs horizontally through a standing person. It separates the brain into top and bottom halves
Lesions and ablation
Some researchers induce lesions (damage) or use ablation (removal) to parts of the brain for study purposes (only in animals)
Pet scan
Positron emission tomograph. This technique most commonly used as a radioactive form of glucose and measures the rate at which it is used in the brain
Functional MRI
It is a functional neuroimaging procedure using MR technology that measures brain activity by detecting associate changes and blood flow and oxygen concentration
Electroencephalography (EEG)
Measures electrical activity of the brain. It looks it changes in brain waves
Four types of brain waves
Beta, alpha, beta, and Delta
Diffuse optical imaging (DOI)
A method of imaging using infrared light. Looks like changes in the properties of light as it passes through highly oxygenated blood as opposed to less oxygenated blood. Used to infer which brain areas are most active
Limbic System
Associated with emotion and memory. Makes up the hippocampus and the amygdala
