AP Psych 1.4 vocab

Brain Stem

Controls basic functions like breathing, heartbeat and sleep.

Medulla

Controls automatic functions.

Reticular Activating System (RAS)

Controls alertness and attention.

Reward Center

Pleasure, motivation, reinforcement. Limbic system.

Thalamus

Relays sensory info to the brain.

Hypothalamus

Hunger, thirst, body temperature, hormones.

Pituitary Gland

Growth and hormone release.

Hippocampus

Helps form and store new memories.

Amygdala

Processes emotions. Mainly fear.

Cerebral cortex

Thinking, sensing, movement, complex functions

Left hemisphere

Controls the right side of the body. Helps with spatial and visual tasks.

Right hemisphere

Controls left side of the body. Helps with spatial and visual tasks.

Frontal lobes

Planning, decision-making, personality, voluntary movements.

Executive functions

Metal skills used for planning, decision-making, problem-solving, self-control. Mainly controlled by frontal lobes.

Prefrontal cortex

Planning, decision-making, attention, self-control. In frontal lobes.

Aphasia

Disorder that affects speaking, understanding, reading, and writing.

Motor cortex

Voluntary movements. In frontal lobes.

Broca’s area

Speech. Left frontal lobe.

Parietal lobes

Process touch and body sensations.

Somatosensory cortex

Process touch, pain, temperature, body sensations. Parietal lobes.

Occipital lobes

Process visual information.

Temporal lobes

Process hearing, language, and memory.

Wernicke’s area

Helps understand language.

Linguistic processing

Understanding and using language.

Association cortex

Combines information to help with thinking, memory, and understanding. In cerebral cortex.

Split-brain procedure

Surgery that cuts corpus callosum to reduce severe seizures. Separates communication between the 2 hemispheres.

Corpus callosum

Communication bridge between the 2 hemispheres.

Epilepsy

Brain disorders that causes repeated seizures due to abnormal brain activity.

Contralateral Hemispheric Organization

Each brain hemisphere controls the opposite side of the body.

Hemispheric specialization

Each brain hemisphere is better at certain functions.

Brain plasticity

Brain’s ability to change and adapt by forming new connections.

Brain imaging/scans

Techniques used to view the brain’s structure or activity.

Electroencephalogram (EEG)

Uses electrodes placed in the scalp to record the brain’s electrical activity.

Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI)

Shows brain activity by measuring changes in blood flow.

Lesioning

Destroying or damaging a small area of the brain to study its function.