Brain Structure and Function

Frontal, pariental, occipital, temporal

There are 4 lobes in each hemisphere joined by the corpus callosum. They are:

Celebral Cortex

The outer layer/film (name means 'bark')

-role: memory, attention, perceptual awareness, thought, language, conciousness

-highest cognition levels

-folds contain <70% of human's braincells

Frontal Lobe

-Role: reasoning, planning, parts of speech, movement/control, emotions, problem-solving

-recognises future consequences of actions

-retains long-term memories

-primary motor cortex (op hemishpheres control op side)

Prefrontal Lobe

-Role: executive functioning (plan, execute and carry out tasks), distinguish conflicting thoughts (determines good/bad, better/best)

-future consequences, social control

-?changes in personality? (found in key studies)

Pariental Lobe

-Role: integrates sensory info from different senses (modalities)

-sensory memory, visuo-spatial processing, touch pressure stimuli, temperature, pain.

-controls every sense BUT hearing

The Brain

-Centre of the nervous system in all vertebrates and most invertebrates

-<100billion neutrons

-linked w/10000 synaptic connections each

-cross wired

-corplus callosum joins hemispheres together

Occipital Lobe

Smallest true lobe

-Role: visual processing centre, vision & visual perception.

-50/50 split down eyeball for visual

Temporal Lobe

Involved in speech, language, comprehension, memory, hearing and emotion control.

-contains the HIPPOCAMPUS

-if damaged, language difficulties, memory problems, and changes in emotional behaviour

Limbic System

-Set of the brain structures including: hippocampus, amygdala, in the medial part of temporal lobe

-Emotion, behaviour, long-term memory and olfaction (sense of smell)

-Process centre-> know who you are/ fight/flight

-empathy learned here

-sociapathic behaviours if lack of movement here in MRI scan

Cerebellum

The 'little brain' :>

-Sensory perception

-Coordination of voluntary movement

-Balance

-SOME speech and language

-many neural pathways linking the cerebellum w/ cerebral motor cortex

Hippocampus

-Responsible for declarative memory

-short term memory

-belongs to limbic system, plays central role in memory

-episodic memory

Declarative Memory

explicit/concious memory

-e.g. what you had for dinner on Sunday

Episodic Memory

The collection of past personal experiences that occurred at a particular time and place