Unit 1.4 Flashcards
Brain stem
Oldest and innermost region
Responsible for basic life functions.
Pavlov’s Really Frickin’ Mad
(Pons, Reticular Formation, Medulla)
Brain’s Reward center
Perception of rewarding stimulus
Dopamine
Hemispheres
Right controls left side of body, left controls right side of body (i.e. see something out of left eye; information goes to right half of the brain)
Left is better at recognizing words and letters, at interpreting spoken language, at processing verbal memory and finding meaning in memories
Left is better for speech, reading, writing, and arithmetics
Right is better at recognizing faces, emotions, and geometrical patterns, at analyzing other sounds like music, at processing nonverbal memory and recalling perceptual aspects of memories
Right is better for spatial reasoning, rotating objects in the mind, and discerning direction or distance
Hypothalamus
Coordinates hormone production
Temperature regulation
Appetite
Sleep-wake cycle
Controls sex drive
Influences emotions and behavior
HypothalaMOUTH
Hippocampus
Responsible for converting short-term memories into long-term memories
Especially important for remembering specific events and the emotions associated with said event
Hippos never forget
I remember I saw a hippo on our campus
Like the school librarian. Librarian does not store the information of all the books in the library in their head, but can tell you where to find that information
Occipital lobe
Processes visual information
Imagine an octopus with eyes on its tentacles
Temporal lobe
Plays a key role in processing auditory information, language and memory
Imagine a metronome above your ear
Parietal lobe
Processes sensory information
Integrates said sensory information
Language processing
Motor coordination
Imagine a piranha biting the top of your head (where parietal is located)
Frontal lobe
Located at the top part of our brain behind our eyes
Where most of our personality hangs out
Split brain research
Involves studying individuals whose corpus callosum has been severed, either through surgical intervention or congenital abnormalities.
Split brain patient
People will lose the ability of their hemispheres to communicate with each other
EEG
a machine that measures brain waves
If you are awake it measures alpha waves (short active waves)
If you are asleep it measures other waves like delta waves (long inactive waves)
If the EEG measures no activity then you are brain dead
fMRI
A combination of PET scan and MRI
Gives us the best picture of the brain while showing use blood flow information
Medulla
Transmits signals between spinal cord and higher parts of the brain
Controls autonomic activities
Long, stem-like structure makes up the lowest part of the brainstem
Lying next to the spinal cord
Maintains and regulates heart rate, digestion, breathing, blood pressure, sneezing, and swallowing
Damage often results in death
Make me breathe, Medulla
Cerebellum
Little brain
Extends from the rear of the brainstem
Coordinates muscle movements (balance)
Like tracking a target
Limbic system
Emotional control center of our brain
Helps us feel our most raw emotions
Made up of Hypothalamus, Amygdala, Cerebellum, Thalamus and hippocampus
Made up of hypothalamus, amygdala and hippocampus
Amygdala
Processes emotions, especially fear, anxiety and rage
Involved in facial and emotional recognition
Angry Amy
Somatosensory cortex
Region of the brain that processes sensory information from the body
Located in the parietal lobe
Sensitive People Touch Very Much
S-Sensory
P-Parietal lobe
T-Touch
V-Visual
M-Motor coordination
Broca’s area
Region of brain responsible for language production and comprehension
Helps us speak; speech expression
Broca=broken
Aphasia
Trouble producing speech; language is slurred (happens when broca’s area is damaged)
Lesioning (brain surgical procedure)
Removal or destruction of part of the brain
Reticular activating system
Important structure in the hindbrain
Set of nerves that runs through the medulla and the pons
Plays a vital role in survival like alertness, attention and arousal (wake me up arousal, not sexual arousal)
Tickle alerts you
Cerebral cortex
Top layer of our brain
Separates us from other species on earth
Billions of neurons
Responsible for our higher thinking; problem solving; making music, etc.
Freud Tore Off his Pants
F-Frontal lobe
T-Temporal lobe
O-Occipital lobe
P-Parietal lobe
Thalamus
Receives sensory information and sends them to appropriate areas in the forebrain
All sensory information but smell
Pituitary gland
Small endocrine gland at the base of your brain
Produces and regulates several hormones that can affect your growth, metabolism, reproduction, stress, lactation, and more
Corpus callosum
Attaches the two hemispheres of cerebral cortex
A band of nerve fibers
Job is to help the two hemispheres communicate with each other
Motor cortex
Located in back of the frontal lobe
Thin strip of tissue sends signals (motor neurons) to tell our body to move
Move Fast And Precise
M-Motor control
F-Frontal lobe
A-Actions
P-Precision
Wernicke’s area
Responsible for understanding spoken and written language
Wernicke’s what?
(in charge of comprehension)
Brain plasticity
The ability for our brains to form new connections after the neurons are damaged (but never quite the same)
The younger you are, the more plastic your brain is
Pons
Connects hindbrain, midbrain and forebrain together
Helps coordinate movements
Ponzzzz (responsible for REM sleep)
