The Brain

Flashcards about The Brain

Where does what makes you, you reside?

In our brains.

What does the mind consist of?

The mind is a combination of body plus brain.

What did early researchers use to build a rough brain map?

Damages to the brain and resulting symptoms.

What is an EEG?

A read-out of electrical brain activity.

What does a PET scan show?

The brain's "hot-spots" of action by measuring its consumption of sugar glucose, the brain's fuel.

What does a CT or CAT scan use to provide a 3D picture of the brain?

X-rays

What does an MRI provide a picture of?

The brain's soft tissue.

What does an fMRI measure?

Blood-flow to and within the brain, showing brain activity.

What is the brainstem?

The oldest brain region.

What does the medulla control?

Heartbeat and breathing.

What is the function of the pons?

Helps to coordinate movements.

What is the function of the reticular formation?

Relays incoming stimuli to other areas of the brain and regulates autonomic functions, such as arousal.

What is the thalamus?

The hub that sends incoming sensory impulses (except for smell) to the higher brain areas.

What does the cerebellum coordinate?

Movement, manages emotions, and figures out sounds and textures.

What is the function of the hippocampus?

Processes memory.

What does the amygdala manage?

Anger and fear.

What is the function of the hypothalamus?

Important in hunger, thirst, body temperature, and sexual behavior.

How are nerve cells supported?

By nine times as many glial cells, which feed and insulate the nerve cells.

What are the four lobes of the cerebral cortex?

Frontal, parietal, occipital, and temporal lobes.

What does the motor cortex handle?

Our movements and motions by sending impulses from the brain to the body.

What does the sensory cortex receive?

Input from the senses to the brain.

What does the occipital lobe process?

Vision.

Where are sounds processed?

In the auditory cortex in the temporal lobe.

What is the function of association areas in the cerebral cortex?

They piece parts together and make sense of things.

What does the frontal lobe handle?

Judgment, planning, and new memories, and impacts personality

What does the parietal lobe handle?

Math and spatial reasoning.

What does the right side of the temporal lobe seem to perform?

Facial recognition.

What is plasticity in the brain?

Its ability to change itself after being damaged.

What is neurogenesis?

The process of growing new brain cells.

What does the left brain handle?

Rational, logical thought, speech and words.

What does the right brain handle?

Images, emotions, intuition, and drawing inferences.

What functions are dominated by the left hemisphere?

Sedative to the right arm and speech. Also sign language.

What functions are dominated by the right hemisphere?

Sedative to the left arm. Also handles our sense of self.