Psychology - Brain

Frontal lobe

planning, problem solving, personality, organising, judging, contains primary motor cortex and BROCAs area

Parietal lobe

left: reading, writing, mental arithmetics, right: perceive 3D shapes and spatial awareness, contains somatosensory cortex

Occipital lobe

interprets visual information, contains the Primary Visual Cortex

Temporal lobe

Processes auditory information and memory, contains WERNICKE’S AREA

Right hemisphere

non verbal functions: imagination, music insight, creativity

Left hemisphere

verbal and analytical functions: math, language, reasoning

Special areas of the brain

BROCAs area, motor cortex, somatosensory cortex, wernicke’s area

Motor cortex

Controls voluntary movements of skeletal muscles, parts of the body that can be moved more are represented by larger areas on the cortex

Somatosensory cortex

receives and processes sensations of touch, temperature, pain and pressures from the body

Hypothalamus

controls emotions, motivated behaviours

Amygdala

processes emotions, fight/flight response, decision making

Hippocampus

limbic system, emotions, behaviour

Pons

controls breathing and basic life functions, role in REM sleep

Medulla oblangata

autonomic functions, regulating vital organs

Brain stem

connects the brain to spinal cord, passes messages

Cerebellum

voluntary movements and motor skills

Corpus callosum

allows exchange of communication between left and right hemispheres

Forebrain

4 lobes, high order thinking (planning, memory, thinking)

Midbrain

Coordinates movement, sleep, arousal

Hindbrain

For movement and balance

Prefrontal cortex

decision making, self control, emotional regulation, social behaviour

Axon terminals

The end of the axon that releases neurotransmitters

Myelin sheath

Covers the axon, insulation to keep electrical signals inside the cell, moves more quickly

Axon

A nerve fibre that transfers electrical impulse signals from the cell body to the next neuron, pathway for information

Dendrites

Tree like structures that receives electrical impulses from neighbouring neurons, receives information

Communication between neurons

chemical

Communication within neurons

electrical

Cerebral cortex

brain’s outer layer of grey matter, responsible for the higher mental processes and complex behaviours

Sympathetic nervous system

heightens the responsiveness of muscles and organs during activity, periods of stress or when threatened, fight/flight/freeze

Parasympathetic nervous system

returns body to a state of homeostasis by reversing physiological functions from sympathetic nervous system, rest and digest

Peripheral nervous system

Conveys messages from sense organs to CNS and from CNS to muscles and glands, split into autonomic and somatic

Autonomic nervous system

contains physiological systems involved in arousal, split into sympathetic and parasympathetic

Somatic nervous system

role in entire body communication, perceptual processing of information gathered from senses and controls movement/muscles