biological psychology

Cerebral Cortex

The outer layer of the brain, responsible for higher brain functions such as thought and action.

Occipital Lobe

The lobe at the back of the brain that is responsible for processing visual information.

Primary Auditory Cortex

The first stop for processing auditory information, located in the temporal lobe.

Parietal Lobe

The lobe located above the occipital and temporal lobes, focused on processing sensory information.

Somatosensory Cortex

Part of the parietal lobe that processes tactile sensory information; areas with more sensory receptors have larger representations.

Frontal Lobe

The front part of the brain involved in higher order functions like impulse control and planning.

Motor Cortex

Part of the frontal lobe responsible for voluntary movement, with contralateral organization.

Broca's Area

Region in the frontal lobe associated with language production.

Broca's Aphasia

Condition where a person can understand speech but struggles to produce it, often after a stroke.

Wernicke's Area

Region in the brain responsible for language comprehension.

Wernicke's Aphasia

Condition where a person can produce fluent speech that lacks meaning and struggles to understand speech.

Brain Plasticity

The brain's ability to remap functions and adapt, especially prevalent during childhood.

Contralateral Organization

The phenomenon where one hemisphere of the brain controls the opposite side of the body.

Split Brain Studies

Research on patients with severed corpus callosum, showing differing functions of the left and right hemispheres.

Neuron

A cell specialized in receiving and transmitting information.

Myelin Sheath

A fatty insulation around axons that increases the speed and efficiency of neural communication.

Multiple Sclerosis

A condition resulting from damaged myelin, leading to impaired communication between the brain and the body.

How do Neurons send and recieve messages?

2 parts to the process - Action Potential and Transmission across the synapse

Action Potential

the fundamental units of communication between neurons - part of how neurons send and receive messages

Synapse

The junction between the axon of one neuron and the dendrites or cell body of another.

Santiago Ramon y Cajal

Known as the father of neuron science, he contributed significantly to the understanding of neurons.