Week 8; The Brain Flashcards
Corpus Callosum
- A massive bridge of fibers and 300 million axons that connects both hemispheres
- Allows flow of info between hemispheres
- Largest white matter structure in brain
Split Brain Operation
- Intractable epilepsy; reduce spread of neural activity between hemispheres and reduce seizures
- AKA Corpus Callosotomy
Localization of Function
Different areas of the brain are responsible for specific functions or behaviours
Primary Projection Areas
Hubs that are the first to receive info before relaying it elsewhere for further processing
Primary Sensory Projection Area
Areas within the cortex that first receive info from sense organs
Primary Motor Projection Areas
Areas within the cortex that serve as departure points for signals going to muscles
Occipital Lobes
- Back of head
- Responsible for visual perception including colour, form and motion
Primary Visual Cortices
- Regions of cerebral cortex at back of occipital lobes that receives info from visual system
Function of Visual Cortices
- Analysis of visual info
- Adjacent areas of brain receives info from adjacent areas in space i.e. right hemisphere receives sensory inputs from the left visual field
Secondary Visual Areas
Process various attributes of visual image i.e. colour, form and motion
Parietal Lobes
- Vital for sensory perception and integration including management of taste, hearing, sight, touch and smell
- Important for attention to environment i.e. spatial awareness, understanding of environment and location
Primary Somatosensory Cortices
Primary input area from the somatosensory system
- Analyses somatosensory info i.e. pain, pressure, touch, temperature and position
- Each region receives input from a specific body part with more sensitive parts having more cortical area devoted to it i.e. skin
Primary Input Zone for Somatosensory Cortices
Skin
Where are the Somatosensory Cortices
Front of parietal lobe
Somatosensory Homunculus
A map along the cerebral cortex of where each part of the body is processed
Frontal Lobes
- Front of brain
- More complex behaviour and thought
- Important for voluntary movement, expressive language and managing higher level executive functions (planning, reasoning etc.)
- Most common area of injury
Primary Motor Cortices
- Back of frontal lobes
- Contains neurons that control movements of skeletal muscles
Motor Homunculus
Each region within the primary motor area controls movement of a specific body part
Contralateral Association
Movements/ sensations of one side of the body are controlled by the opposite hemisphere
Hemispatial Neglect
- Occurs when one brain hemisphere is damaged
- Results in a deficit of attention or awareness toward the side of space opposite to damage
- Typically occurs with damage to parietal lobe
Prefrontal Cortex
- Front most part of frontal lobes
- Attention, working memory, planning, decision making, prosocial behaviour and personality
Damage to Prefrontal Cortex
- Reduced social or emotional behaviour
- Link between crime and brain abnormalities in prefrontal cortex and amygdala i.e. fell off a swing as a child
Frontal Lobe Legion (damage)
Behavioral Abnormalities and executive dysfunction
Association Areas
- Each primary sensory area sends info to adjacent area called sensory association area
-Neurons allow us to analyse sensory info from primary sensory cortex - Thus, allowing us to engage in perception
