Unit 1A Psychology

Cerebral Cortex/Cerebrum

Outer or top layer, tissue is wrinkled and is referred to as fissures. Named after its color, its composed of grey matter which is densely packed with neurons. This portion is in control of housing long term memories and decision making.

White Matter

Acts as the brain wiring that transmits signals between different brain regions which is made of myelinated axons.

Hemispheres

The brain has two of these on each side, the left controls the right side of the body. Lateralization

Lobes

Areas of the cerebral cortex. There is four of these in each hemisphere. Any area dealing with our senses or muscle movement is called Association Area (AA).

Corpus Callosum

Bundle of nerve fibers that connect two hemispheres of the cerebral cortex. Messages move from side to side of the hemispheres.

Lateralization

There is some evidence that each brain hemispheres has its own distinct function. The left side is language.

Frontal Lobes

Located in the front and top of the brain. This is where abstract thought like reason, ability to plan, linguistic processing, emotional control and personality. Contains Motor cortex and Broca’s area.

Prefrontal Cortex

Located in the front portion of the Frontal Lobes. It enables judgement, social interactions, personality and emotional regulation.

Motor Cortex

Located in the frontal lobe (AA). This area receives information from various lobes and utilizes this information to carry out body and muscle movements.

Broca’s Area

this controls speech production and language comprehension (left side). This area has an aphasia that causes an inability to speak frequently, they use few word that are broken up like younger kids. Though they know what they want, it often makes the person frustrated.

Parietal Lobe

Contains the centers from processing tactile sensory signals like touch, pressure, and pain. Made up of (AA).

Somatosensory Cortex

Located in the Parietal lobe (AA). This cortex receives incoming sensations like pressure, touch, pain, and temperature from the rest of the body.

Occipital Lobe

Located in the back of the head is made up of (AA). It handles visual input from your eyes. Its lateralized by it gets information from the left part of each eye in the right visual field.

Visual Association Cortex/Area

The parts that recognize lines, angles, shapes, and shadows.

Temporal Lobe

Processes sound sensed by our ears and houses long term memory (not lateralized).

Wernicke’s Area

Located mostly in the temporal lobe. Interprets written and spoken speech (left hemisphere). Has a type of aphasia that causes a person to not understand spoken or written language but can still speak.

Brain Stem

The most primitive part of the brain, which is the base of the brain connected to the spinal cord. It contains the mid-brain, pons, medulla oblongata.

Medulla Oblongata

Located at the top of the spinal cord. It controls heart rate, breathing, blood pressure, and swallowing.

Pons

The larger swelling above the medulla. Controls things like breathing, facial expressions, and the sleep cycle. If there is damage to this area, it can cause locked in syndrome.

Midbrain

Located at the top of the brain stem. It controls digestion, eye movement, and swallowing.

Reticular Activating System

A network of nerves (NOT tissue) that carry messages between parts of the brain stem. It regulates the intensity of pain, arousal, alertness, and eye movement. Helps people focus on useful sensory input but filters out unneeded things. Damage to this area causes comas.

Thalamas

Located on top of the brain stem. Sensory “relay station” of the brain, passing information to the cerebral cortex. Receives information from all senses except smell.

Cerebellum “Little Brain”

Helps control posture, balance, fluid movement, and coordination of fine voluntary movements.

Limbic System

Located beneath the cerebral cortex. Its the emotional control center of the brain. It houses the reward system (dopamine). It includes thalamus, hypothalamus, pituitary gland, hippocampus, and amygdala.

Hypothalamus

Controls hunger, thirst, body temperature, circadian rhythm. The four F’s ( Fighting, Fleeing, Feeding, Fucking). If this area is damaged it impacts signals for hunger.

Amygdala “Fear Center”

Vital for basic emotions and survival responses. Is the reason for fight or flight response and fear or aggression.

Glial Cells

The brain is made up of these cells; support and nourish neurons; create myelin sheath. Einstein had more than normal of these in his brain.

Neuroscience

Conduct research on the brain and nervous system. They study brains through case studies like Phineas Gage.

Phineas Gage Accident

Tamping iron went through the left frontal lobe and he stayed alive. This case study help to reveal that personality is held in the prefrontal cortex.

Prefrontal Lobotomy

Operation that removes parts of the brain to control behavior like bipolar .

Brain Autopsy

Examination of brain tissue after death, is currently the only definitive way to diagnose certain neurodegenerative disorder.

Hemispherectomy

Brain surgery that removes one of the halves of the brain to control seizures.

Lesioning Studies

Humans with brain lesions (damage) are often the subjects of research with a goal of understanding the function in the part of the brain, like Phineas Gage.

Brain Scanning

Is not used to treat disorders rather they provide information about the structure of the brain.

Electroencephalogram (EEG)

A measurement of electrical activity of the brain by recording from electrodes placed on the scalp. Its used to diagnoses damage and disorders.

Computer Tomography (CT or CAT Scan)

X-ray photos from different angles and used to create a 3D representation of living tissue without surgery. It can identify abnormalities like a muscle or bone disorder, tumor, or blood clot. Reveals vivid horizontal slices of the brain and is the least expensive option.

Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI Scan)

Using radio waves and magnetic fields of the body to produce 3D detailed images of the brain’s damage. Is it more precise than other scans but more expensive. The machine uses energy to construct and image.

Functional MRI (fMRI)

Measures the brain activity, detects the changes in blood oxygenation and flow that occurs in response to neural activity. More activity = more oxygen. This Scan shows brain structure and function.

Positron Emission Tomography (PET scan)

A visual display of activity that detects where a radioactive form of glucose goes while the brain preforms a given tasks on living cells.

Brain Plasticity

Constantly change both structure and function of many cells in the brain in response to experience and trauma.

Split Brain

Hemispheres can’t communicate due to a lack of corpus callosum, each side of the brain acts by itself. Important Neuroscientists include Roger Sperry and Michael Gazzaniga. This procedure is done for epilepsy.

Nervous System

The body’s fast communication system between the brain and nerve cells or neurons.

Nerve Cell or Neurons

Specialized cells that send a neuron impulse.

Spinal Cord

A two way information processing system connecting the CNS and PNS.

Central Nervous System (CNS)

Coordinates action of the brain and spinal cord.

Sensory Neurons

Carry’s information from nerves and tissue inward to the CNS.

Motor Neurons

Carry’s information outward to body’s muscles and glands (PNS)

Interneurons

Neurons within the brain and spinal cord that communicates internally. Middleman neurons between sensory and neurons.

Peripheral Nervous System (PNS)

Relays messages from the CNS to the rest of the body.This includes the somatic and autonomic systems.

Somatic Nervous System

Controls voluntary movements of muscles and is a nervous system.

Autonomic Nervous System

Controls automatic, involuntary functions of the body. Auto pilot. Divided into sympathetic and parasympathetic.

Spinal Reflex Arc

A signal is sent from a sensory organ to the spinal cord, which processes the information instead of passing it all the way to the brain. Shows how CNS and PNS work together. Sensory, motor, and interneurons all work together in this reflex.

Sympathetic Nervous System

Emergency response system; fight, flight, or freeze. Scared or excited. Automatically accelerates your heartbeat, blood pressure, sweat, sugar levels, slows your digestion, and dilates purples.

Parasympathetic

Function to calm a person after a stressful event. Everything slows and returns to normal.

Endocrine System

A collection of glands that slowly secrete hormones into your blood. Slow to take effect, long lasting.

Hormones

Produced in the Endocrine system and are secreted into blood. Slow to take effect but is long lasting.

Pituitary Gland

Master gland; located in the brain, controlled by hypothalamus. Regulates stress, growth, and reproduction. It sends stress messages to adrenal glands.

Thyroid Gland

Located in the lower neck, regulates metabolism, growth, and appetite.

Pineal Gland

Lacated in the back of the brain, secretes a hormone called melatonin which regulates sleep.

Adrenal Gland

Two glands on the top of each kidney involved in stress response. Releases epinephrine and norepinephrine (adrenaline) and cortisol (primary stress hormone). Increases heart rate, blood flow, and blood sugar, creates energy. Dilates airways, used with allergic reactions.

Oxytocin

Powerful hormone that regulates social interaction, sexual reproduction, and bonding.