Left/Right Brain Hemispheres, Cerebral Laterality, & the Endocrine System

Cerebrum

• Complex thought

• Responsible for sensing, thinking, learning, emotion, consciousness, and voluntary movement

Cerebral Hemispheres

Left and Right halves of the brain

Lateralization

One area excels w/ a particular task

Corpus Callosum

Structure that connects the 2 cerebral hemispheres

Where are Broca’s and Wernicke’s Areas located

In the cerebrum

Broca’s Area

Production of speech (frontal lobe)

Wernicke’s Area

Comprehension of language (temporal lobe)

Split-Brain Surgery

Corpus Callosum is severed

Contralateral hemispheric organization

• Each hemisphere’s primary connections to the opposite side of the body (ex. left brain primarily control right side of the body)

• Ex. a lesion on th eleft side of the brain can cause paralysison the right side of the body

Perceptual Asymmetries

Left-right imbalances between the cerebral hemispheres in the speed of visual/auditory processing

Left hemisphere

Laguage, speech, writing, reading

Right hemisphere

visual-spatial tasks, musical tasks, emotional expression

Endocrine System

Consists of glands that secrete chemicals into the bloodstream that help bodily functions

Controller of the endocrine system

Hypothalamus

Hormones

• Chemical substances released by the endocrine glands

• Travel much slower than neurostransmitters and generally faster

• Release in pulsatile