Topic 1: Parts of the Brain

Question 1

What are the 3 structures that protect the brain?

Answer 1

1. Skull
2. Cerebrofluid
3. Meninges

Question 2

Function of cerebellum

Answer 2

• located at the base of the brain
• called ‘little brain’
• muscle-coordination and balance

Question 3

Function of Pons

Answer 3

• the largest part of the brain stems that functions as a connection between the cerebrum and cerebellum
• regulates breathing and sleep cycles

Question 4

Function of Outer Cerebral Cortex

Answer 4

• the outer layer of the cerebrum
• where all conscious thought about how we think, feel, and we what we do happens

Question 5

Function of Frontal Lobe

Answer 5

• used for problem-solving, decision-making, planning, expression of emotion and personality.
• production of speech (Broca’s aphasia)

Question 6

Location and Function of Primary Motor Cortex

Answer 6

• Located in the frontal lobe
• Initiates voluntary muscle movement
• The larger the area of PMC assigned to a part part, the more dextrous (skilled) it will be
• takes information from Broca’s area and tells the muscles of your face, mouth, tongue, lips, and throat how to move to form speech.

Question 7

Function of Parietal Lobe

Answer 7

• used to process sensory information and for spatial awareness/direction.
• located upper back half of brain

Question 8

Location and Function of Primary Somatosensory Cortex

Answer 8

• located in Parietal Lobe
• receives and processes information about touch, temperature, and position of muscles.
• the larger the area of PSC assigned to the body part, the more sensitive it will be.

Question 9

Function of Occipital Lobe

Answer 9

• dedicated to vision and visual processing
• The left lobe receives information from the right visual field, and the right lobe receives information from the left visual field
• Contains primary visual cortex

Question 10

Function of Temporal Lobe

Answer 10

• located next to the ears
• responsible for hearing, language comprehension and recognising faces, places, paintings and songs.
• contains Primary Auditory Cortex

Question 11

Broca’s Aphasia

Answer 11

• located in the LEFT frontal lobe
• responcible for motor speech production.
• they struggle with the production of fluent speech, experiencing difficulty forming words, but can understand other people’s speech
• struggle to form words, limited language

Question 12

Wernicke’s Aphasia

Answer 12

• located LEFT temporal lobe
• responcible for the comprehension of speech, including the interpretation of the sound of human speech
• reading is difficult due to comprehension difficulties
• include words that aren’t needed

Question 13

What nutrients do neurons need?

Answer 13

Glucose, fatty acids, amino acids

Question 14

What wastes are removed?

Answer 14

Carbon Dioxide, Water

Question 15

Function of Brain Stem

Answer 15

• regulates survival functions eg heartbeat, blood pressure and breathing rates

Question 16

Function of Thalamus

Answer 16

sensory data arrives here and is then relayed to specific parts of the cortex

Question 17

Function of Hypothalamus

Answer 17

• regulates body temperature, appetite, thirst and hormones (growth).

Question 18

Function of Hippocampus

Answer 18

• makes new memories, is our direction finder/navigator

Question 19

Function of Pineal Gland

Answer 19

• body internal body clock, regulates out body’s sleep-wake cycles, and releases melatonin

Question 20

Function of Amygdala

Answer 20

• emotions of fear and anger, play a key role in our emotional responses
• releases adrenaline

Question 21

Definition of Hemispheric Specialisation

Answer 21

the idea that each hemisphere of the brain has specific functions that it is better at performing

Question 22

Role of Left Hemisphere

Answer 22

• controls the right side of the body
• logical and analytical side eg science + math

Question 23

Role of Right Hemisphere

Answer 23

• controls the left side of the body
• creative and intuitive side eg; recognising faces, understanding emotion