The Brain and Spinal Cord

Spinal Cord

Connects the brain to the outside world, acts as a relay station, and controls automatic processes like reflexes.

Neuroplasticity

The nervous system's ability to change and adapt, involving processes like creating new synapses and pruning unused ones.

Hemispheres

The brain is divided into left and right hemispheres, connected by the corpus callosum, each with specialized functions and lateralization.

Lobes of the Brain

The brain is divided into frontal, parietal, temporal, and occipital lobes, each associated with different functions like reasoning, motor control, and language.

Broca's Area

Essential for language production; damage can result in difficulty producing language while other cognitive functions remain intact.

Phineas Gage

Famous case demonstrating frontal lobe damage resulting in personality changes and loss of impulse control, highlighting the role of the frontal lobe in behavior regulation.

Parietal Lobe

Located behind the frontal lobe, responsible for processing sensory information from the body's senses, contains the somatosensory cortex.

Somatosensory Cortex

Processes touch, temperature, and pain sensations from different body parts, with larger areas dedicated to body parts with more nerves, such as fingers over toes.

Temporal Lobe

Located on the side of the head, associated with hearing, memory, emotion, and language, contains the auditory cortex and Wernicke's area.

Occipital Lobe

Located at the back of the brain, contains the primary visual cortex responsible for interpreting visual information.

Thalamus

Acts as a sensory relay for the brain, routing all senses except smell to other brain areas for processing.

Limbic System

Involved in processing emotion and memory, includes structures like the hippocampus, amygdala, and hypothalamus.

Midbrain

Contains the reticular formation, substantia nigra, and ventral tegmental area, important for regulating sleep/wake cycle, arousal, motor activity, and dopamine production.

Hindbrain

Located at the back of the head, includes the medulla, pons, and cerebellum, controlling autonomic processes, connecting the brain, and regulating balance and movement.

Cerebellum

Receives messages for balance, coordination, movement, and motor skills, associated with procedural memory and learning tasks.

Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI)

A medical imaging technique that uses a strong magnetic field to generate detailed images of the body's tissues based on the behavior of hydrogen atoms.

Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI)

A type of MRI that tracks changes in brain activity over time by monitoring blood flow and oxygen levels, providing detailed images of brain structure and activity.

Electroencephalography (EEG)

A method to measure the electrical activity of the brain by placing electrodes around the head, showing brainwaves' frequency and amplitude with high accuracy in milliseconds.