VCE Psych UNIT 1 AOS2

Frontal Lobe

Upper forward half of each cerebral hemisphere; executive role in thinking, feeling, behaviour, planning, and initiating voluntary movements.

Parietal Lobe

Upper back half of each hemisphere; receives and processes somatosensory information (touch, temperature, muscle movement, body position).

Occipital Lobe

Back of each hemisphere; processes visual information.

Temporal Lobe

Sides of each hemisphere near the ears; involved in auditory perception, memory, visual perception (object/face recognition), emotions, and taste (gustatory cortex).

Primary Motor Cortex

Initiates and controls voluntary movements via skeletal muscles; located in the frontal lobe, just before the central sulcus.

Primary Somatosensory Cortex

Receives and processes sensory info from skin, muscles, joints; located in the parietal lobe, just behind the central sulcus.

Primary Visual Cortex

Receives and processes visual information from the retina; located in the occipital lobe.

Primary Auditory Cortex

Receives and processes sounds from both ears; located in the temporal lobe.

Broca's Area

Produces articulate, fluent speech; located in the frontal lobe, usually left hemisphere.

Broca's Aphasia

Difficulty producing speech, non-fluent, but comprehension mostly intact.

Wernicke's Area

Comprehends and interprets human speech; located in the temporal lobe, usually left hemisphere.

Wernicke's Aphasia

Fluent but meaningless speech; impaired comprehension.

Left Hemisphere Functions

Controls right-side movements, verbal tasks (speech, reading, writing), analysis, logical reasoning, sequential tasks.

Right Hemisphere Functions

Controls left-side movements, non-verbal tasks, spatial/visual thinking, creativity, recognising emotions, appreciation of art, fantasy.

Corpus Callosum

Connects left and right hemispheres; allows communication and coordination between both sides of the brain.

Hindbrain Structures

Medulla (vital functions: breathing, heart rate, swallowing) Pons (sleep, arousal, relays info between brain areas), Cerebellum (coordinates fine movements, posture, balance, motor learning).

Midbrain

Part of the brain involved in vision, hearing, motor control, sleep/wake, arousal, and temperature regulation.

Forebrain

Upper-level brain structures: cerebrum (conscious thought, emotion, behaviour), thalamus (sensory relay, attention), hypothalamus (hormone regulation, hunger, thirst, sleep), part of limbic system (amygdala, hippocampus).

Neuron Structure

Dendrites (receive info), Soma/cell body (integrates info), Axon (transmits info), Myelin sheath (insulates, speeds transmission), Axon terminals/terminal buttons (release neurotransmitters).

Direction of Action Potential

Dendrite → Soma → Axon → Terminal buttons → Synapse.

Synapse

Junction where neurons communicate; includes presynaptic neuron (terminal buttons & neurotransmitters), synaptic gap, postsynaptic neuron (dendrite & receptor sites).

Role of Neurotransmitters

Chemical messengers that transmit signals across the synaptic gap; can have excitatory or inhibitory effects.

Long-Term Potentiation (LTP)

Strengthening of synaptic connections

Long-Term Depression (LTD)

Weakening of synaptic connections due to low or no stimulation; 'use it or lose it.'

Neuroplasticity

Brain's ability to change structure/function in response to experience or injury; primarily occurs at synapses.

Experience-Expectant vs Experience-Dependent Plasticity

Expectant: occurs during development, species-wide, time-sensitive. Dependent: occurs throughout life, unique to individual experiences.

Types of Neuroplastic Changes

Synaptogenesis (new connections), Reassignment of function (reroute connections), Neurogenesis (new neurons, e.g., hippocampus).

Biopsychosocial Effects of Acquired Brain Injury (ABI)

Biological: motor issues, reflex changes. Psychological: emotion, personality, cognition changes. Social: difficulty with relationships, socially inappropriate behaviour.

Epilepsy

Neurological disorder with recurrent, spontaneous seizures due to abnormal brain activity.

Types of Seizures

Focal (one hemisphere), Generalised (both hemispheres), Unknown onset.

Common Causes of Epilepsy

Brain injury, lack of oxygen, infection, genetic factors, neurodegenerative disease, tumours.

Diagnosis and Treatment of Epilepsy

Diagnosis: EEG, MRI/CT, neurological exam. Treatment: medication, diet, brain stimulation, surgery.

Symptoms of Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE)

Memory loss, mood/personality changes, confusion, motor impairments, impulsivity, disorientation.

Causes of CTE

Repeated head trauma, often from contact sports.

Diagnosis of CTE

Diagnosed through autopsy by brain atrophy and tau protein build-up.

Treatment of CTE

Supportive only; progressive disorder; prevention of head injury is key.

Chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE)

Progressive brain degeneration and fatal condition.

Midbrain structures

The reticular formation (screen incoming information, alerts higher brain centres to important information, maintain consciousness, regulates arousal and muscle tone), Reticular activating system (RAS) 

(regulates arousal by either increasing or dampening arousal in response to feedback from upper and lower brain areas)