Study Guide: The Brain, Sleep, and Consciousness

Vocabulary practice flashcards covering brain structures, cortical lobes, language centers, plasticity, sleep stages, sleep theories, and specific sleep disorders from Topics 1.4 and 1.5.

Brainstem & Medulla

Brain structures that control basic life-support processes like breathing and heart rate.

Reticular Activating System (RAS)

A subcortical area that controls alertness and influences voluntary movement, eye movement, cognition, emotion, and learning.

Cerebellum

A brain structure responsible for balance, muscle movement coordination, and procedural memory learning.

Occipital Lobes

Cortical regions located in the rear of the brain that control visual information processing.

Temporal Lobes

Cortical regions located on the sides of the brain that manage auditory processing and linguistic functions.

Parietal Lobes

Cortical regions located near the back crown that house association areas for processing and organizing information, as well as the somatosensory cortex for processing touch sensitivity.

Frontal Lobes

Cortical regions located behind the forehead that manage higher-order thinking, linguistic processing, and executive functioning (in the prefrontal cortex), as well as skeletal movement control (via the motor cortex at the rear of the lobe).

Broca’s Area

A language center located in the left hemisphere that controls speech production.

Wernicke’s Area

A language center located in the left hemisphere that controls speech comprehension.

Corpus Callosum

A nerve tract connecting the brain hemispheres; its severing to treat severe epilepsy enables split-brain research on hemispheric specialization.

Brain Plasticity

The brain's capacity to rewire itself, modify connections, or create new pathways during development or after injury, allowing standard functions to be assumed by alternative brain regions.

Consciousness

Varying degrees of awareness regarding internal thoughts and external environmental events, encompassing distinct forms such as sleep and wakefulness.

Circadian Rhythm

The roughly $24$-hour biological sleep/wake cycle that can be disrupted by real-world factors like jet lag or shift work.

Initial Stage 1 NREM Sleep

The beginning stage of non-rapid eye movement sleep during which hypnagogic sensations occur.

REM Sleep (Paradoxical Sleep)

A sleep stage considered paradoxical because high internal EEG activity similar to wakefulness is paired with profound body relaxation and muscle paralysis.

REM Rebound

The phenomenon characterized by an increase in REM frequency following a period of sleep deprivation.

Memory Consolidation Theory

A theory of sleep stating that sleep functions to help organize and consolidate memories.

Restoration Theory

A theory of sleep proposing that sleep restores depleted physiological resources.

Insomnia

A sleep disorder characterized by persistent difficulty falling or staying asleep.

Narcolepsy

A sleep disorder characterized by uncontrollable sleep attacks during waking hours.

REM Sleep Behavior Disorder

A sleep disorder characterized by the physical acting out of dreams due to a lack of normal muscle paralysis during REM sleep.

Sleep Apnea

A sleep disorder characterized by temporary cessations of breathing during sleep leading to repeated awakenings.

Somnambulism

A sleep disorder characterized by sleepwalking during deep NREM sleep.