cerebral cortex, primary/secondary assoc. areas, R and L hemispheres, corpus callosum

function of the primary sensory area

detecting specific stimuli: visual, auditory or somatic, and transmits the information directly to the brain from the peripheral sensory organs

function of the secondary sensory area

make sense out of the signals in the primary areas — unimodal

• interpreting color, the shape of lines, etc

function of the association areas

receiving and analyzing signals simultaneously from multiple regions (motor and sensory cortices and subcortical structures)

what is crucial to know about the secondary and association area

the secondary area can form part of an association area

Define contralateral control and know which of the afferent neuron crosses the

midline (decussates)

contralateral means the “other side” or opposite side (ipsilateral means same side) which happens because of the primary, secondary, and tertiary neuron. primary neuron senses the sensory stimulus (touch/propioception), the secondary neuron decussates/crosses, then synapses with the third order neuron at the thalamus

where would the second order neuron cross if information was getting sent down to the body? what about if the information is getting sent to the brain

to the brain: spinal cord; to the body: medulla

what happens after the second order neuron synapses with the third order neuron at the thalamus

the third order neuron takes the information to the appropriate part of the cortex

what is the cerebral cortex

the integrating center for sensory information

Left hemisphere vs right hemisphere: language

left hemisphere: language production and comprehension (grammar, vocab, phonology)

right hemisphere: prosody, emnotional tone, pragmatic context

Left hemisphere vs right hemisphere: analytical/logical processing

left hemisphere: step-wise reasoning; symbolic math, rule based processing

right hemisphere: holistic/gestalt reasoning, pattern integration

Left hemisphere vs right hemisphere: reading and writing

left hemipshere: phonolgical decoding, syntax, semantic integration

right hemisphere: metaphor, global meaning, contextual interference

Left hemisphere vs right hemisphere: motor control

left hemisphere: controls right side

right hemisphere: controls left side

Left hemisphere vs right hemisphere: memory

left hemisphere: verbal memory (word lists and categories)

right hemisphere: nonverbal/spatial memory

Left hemisphere vs right hemisphere: spatial processing

left hemisphere: sequential spatial strategies

right hemisphere: visuospatial processing (faces, bodies, scenes)

Left hemisphere vs right hemisphere: emotion and prosody

left hemisphere: categorical labeling

right hemisphere: emotion perception through prosody and rhythm

Left hemisphere vs right hemisphere: face and body perception

left: less lateralized

right: right lateralized for faces and bodies

Left hemisphere vs right hemisphere: attention

left: narrow, detailed focused

right: broad spatial attention, global awareness

Left hemisphere vs right hemisphere: narrative and discourse processing

left: science level decoding, literal meaning

right: crucial for narrative: coherence across sentences, inference, context

IMPORTANT: what are the language functions of the right hemisphere

although the left brain is the language center, the right brain can

• understand the meaning of a word

• comprehend vocabulary at 13yr old level

• comprehend sentence structure at 5 yr old level

• give context to language

• governs emotional expression

• follows a narrative

• crucial for visuospatial information

xplain how visual fields are processed by the cerebral hemispheres

Left hemisphere processes the right visual field, and the right hemisphere processes the left visual field

binocular vision

where the visual fields overlap

cerebral lateralization

left brain-right brain dominance

how are the hemispheres connected

the corpus callosum