The central nervous system and human behaviour Flashcards
2 main functions of the nervous system
- Collects, processes and responds to information from the environment
- Coordinates the working of different organs and cells in the body
What are the 2 main parts of the central nervous system
The spinal cord
The brain
The spinal cords:
What is it responsible for
reflex actions such as pulling your hand away from a hot pan
- passes messages to and from the brain
The brain:
role
where decision making takes place
The brain:
structure
Devided into 2 near-symmetrical hemispheres
The brain:
control of body
brains control of body in contralateral,
- left hemispshere controls activity on right side of the body
- right hemisphere controls activity on left side of body
The brain:
what is the outer layer of the brain called
cerebral cortex, distinguishes our mental functioning from that of other animals
- 3mm thick
Subcortical structures:
Thalamus role
- Brains relay station
- recieves info from various senses and passes to cerebral cortext for higher level processing
Subcortical structures:
Hypothalamus role
- controls motivational behaviour (hunger, thirst, sex)
- maintains balance in body’s internal function like temperature
Subcortical structures:
Limbic system role
- highly interconnected with areas of the cortex, integrates cortical and subcortical areas of the brain
The cerebral cortex:
What are the 4 lobes of the cerebral cortex of both hemispheres
Frontal lobe
Partietal lobe
Temporal lobe
Occipital lobe
The cerebral cortex:
What is the role of the convolutions
Increases the cortex’s surface area, giving it more processing power
The cerebral cortex:
Frontal lobe - location
on the front
The cerebral cortex:
Frontal lobe - function
controls cognitive functions like thinking, planning, problem solving and decision making
- contain motor cortex which controls voluntary movements on the opposite side of body
(Left lobe - right side, Right lobe - left side)
The cerebral cortex
Partiel lobe - location
just behing frontal lobe, other side of the central sulcus
The cerebral cortex:
Partiel lobe - function
contains somatosensory cortex - processes sensory info from the skin in contralateral manner
The cerebral cortex:
Temporal lobe - location
beneath lateral sculus of each hemisphere
The cerebral cortex:
Teporal lobe - function
contains auditory cortex - deals with auditory info coming in from opposite ears (contralateral).
- process location, volume and pitch of sounds
The cerebral cortex:
Occipital lobe - location
back of the brain
The cerebral cortex:
Occipital lobe - function
contains main visual cortex, along with secondary visual cortex’s - vision seen from left eye, processed by right occipital lobe (and vise versa)
Language areas of the brain
What are the 2 language areas of the brain
Brocas area and Wernickes area
Language areas of the brain
Role of Broca’s area
responsible for speech production
- damage to this causes slow, laborious speech lacking fluency
Language areas of the brain
Role of Wernicke’s area
comprehension of speech sounds
- damage causes fluent but meaningless speech
