The Brain: Regions, Structures, and Damage AP Psych

Neuroplasticity

The brain’s ability to change/adapt by developing new or alternative neural pathways from existing neurons

Severed neurons

Do NOT reconnect, can result in permanent loss of features, or movement, the brain CAN adapt

Cerebral cortex is divided into two halves called

Hemispheres

Frontal lobe

Located at front of the brain

Functions: Thinking, planning, decision-making, speaking, voluntary movement

Damage causes: Change in personality, poor planning, impulsive behavior, difficulty making decisions, problems with attention, impaired voluntary movement/speech

Parietal lobe

Located at top/back of brain

Functions: Touch, body sensations, spatial awareness

Damage causes: Difficulties perceiving touch, failure to recognize objects by touch/recognizing one’s body, phantom limb pain, hemi-spatial neglect

Occipital lobe

Located at back of brain

Function: Processes visual information

Damage causes: Hallucinating, blindness, inability to see color, motion, or orientation-synesthesia

Temporal lobe

Located at sides of brain

Functions: Hearing, memory, language

Damage causes: Difficulties in understanding speech, faces, and objects, inability to attend to sensory input, persistent talking, long-short term memory loss

Motor cortex

Located at rear of frontal lobe (in front of sensory cortex!)

Function: Controls voluntary movement

Damage causes: Speech impairment, distortions of body image, motor-learning deficits

Sensory cortex (somatosensory)

Located at the front of parietal lobe (behind motor cortex!)

Functions: Processes sensations from the body (ex: touch)

Damage causes: Same as parietal lobe

Cerebral cortex

Functions: Thinking, learning, remembering, speaking, connecting information

Association Areas = higher thinking

Outermost layer of brain made up of cell bodies of neurons called gray matter

Damage causes: Impaired perception, recognition, motor planning, and higher cognitive functions

Thalamus

Acts as a sensory relay station, it sends incoming sensory information to appropriate areas of the brain

Damage causes: Amnesia, apathy, coma, dementia, difficulty speaking, loss of alertness & activation, sleepiness, damage to Broca’s area

Hypothalamus

Helps maintain homeostasis, it helps control hunger, thirst, body temperature, hormones, emotion, and reward

Damage causes: Aggression, chronic stress, hypothermia, hypersomnia, lethargy, self-mutilation, weight gain/loss, over/under stress drive

Hippocampus

Helps process explicit conscious memories

Damage causes: Severe memory impairment and disorientation

Amygdala

Involved in emotional responses, especially fear and aggression

Damage causes: Aggression, irritability, loss of control of emotion, disruption of short-term memory, deficits in recognizing emotions (particularly fear)

Pituitary gland

Helps control the body’s endocrine system by balancing hormones, gets input and is controlled by hypothalamus

Damage causes: Disrupt in hormone production, leading to widespread health issues, including fatigue, growth problems, metabolic disturbances, and life-threatening adrenal crises

Brainstem

Function: Controls many automatic survival functions

Damage causes: Respiratory failure, cardiovascular instability, loss of consciousness, paralysis, or even death

Medulla

Function: Controls important automatic functions like heartbeat and breathing

Damage causes: Injury or disease may cause numbness, paralysis, difficulty swallowing, acid reflux, lack of movement control, overall damage can be fatal

Pons

Function: Sleep, movement, coordination

Damage causes: Impaired breathing, deafness, paralysis, sleep disturbance, loss of taste

Reticular formayion

Function: Arousal, alertness, attention

Damage causes: Fatigue, changes in sexual arousal, disrupted sleep patterns, severe damage typically results in coma/death

Cerebellum

Located at back of brainstem

Functions: Balance, coordination, voluntary movement, some learning and memory

Damage causes: Loss of coordination, tremor, inability to walk, dizziness, slurred speech

Forebrain

Function: Controls many complex functions

Includes: Cerebral cortex, limbic system, thalamus, hypothalamus

Midbrain

Function: Connects the hindbrain and forebrain

Involves: Movement, seeing, hearing

Hindbrain

Function: Survival and coordination

Includes: Medulla, pons cerebellum

Corpus Callosum

Bundle of axons located at deep midline, beneath cerebral cortex

Function: Main structure that connects brain’s hemispheres, ensuring communication

Limbic system

Network of interconnected brain structures that regulates emotion, behavior, motivation, memory, and autonomic functions

Amygdala, hippocampus, hypothalamus (AHH or HAH)

Prefrontal cortex

A specialized AREA (not lobe!!!!) at the very front of the frontal lobe, responsible for higher-order cognitive functions

Nucleus Accumbens

Plays a role in the reward centers of the brain

Located in the midbrain AND forebrain, this area is responsible for smooth voluntary body movements and posture.

Basal Ganglia

This association area in parietal lobes is related to language – specifically translating visual info (e.g. words on a page) from occipital lobe into code that is sent to Wernicke’s area where it is understood as language.

Angular Gyrus

Broca’s area

Region in left frontal lobe responsible for speech production, grammatical processing, and motor planning for articulation

Damage causes: Production of speech is non-fluent/effortful, repetition impaired but comprehension preserved, usually aware of mistakes

Wernicke’s area

Region in left temporal lobe responsible for language comprehension

Damage causes: Production of speech is fluent but meaningless, comprehension and repetition is impaired, usually unaware of mistakes

Which lobe holds the ability to recognize faces/also involved in auditory processing?

Temporal

Which lobe is responsible for being able to see written words as visual stimulations?

Occipital

Which brain structure makes sure all incoming sensory information (EXCEPT SMELL) is sent to the correct cortex for processing?

Thalamus - located in forebrain region

Structure most responsible for balance, coordinating motor movement, and processing memories?

Cerebellum - located in hindbrain

Which structure is responsible for feeding, fighting, fleeing, flirting, and Fahrenheit?

Hypothalamus - part of limbic system

Which area of the brain controls sleep and dreaming?

Pons - located in hindbrain (brainstem)

Which area controls emotions such as fear, aggression, and rage?

Amygdala - located in forebrain/limbic system

Which area receives sensory input for touch, pain, temperature, and body position?

sensory cortex - located in parietal lobe

Area responsible for impulse control

Frontal lobe

What is the term for the places on cerebral cortex that are not dedicated to either sensory or motor functions?

Association areas

Area of brain responsible for automatic survival reflexes such as coughing, sneezing, and vomiting?

Medulla

Area of brain related to arousal to stimuli?

RAS/Reticular Formation - *if damaged can result in coma or death*

Which lobe is responsible for muscle movement?

Frontal

Oldest and innermost part of the brain

Hindbrain/brainstem

Area responsible for reasoning, planning, and judgement

Prefrontal cortex

Which area holds information regarding procedural memory or “how to” memories?

Cerebellum

Inner layer of brain made up of the axons of neurons and glial cells, is called white matter, it does not include brainstem or cerebellum

Cerebrum - responsible for conscious thought, sensory processing, language, memory, and voluntary movement. Includes cerebral cortex, white matter, and subcortical structures such as the hippocampus and basal ganglia.

This area is responsible for creating new memories and is related to learning

Hippocampus - located in limbic system/forebrain

Damage to one of these areas may result in aphasia (problem with understanding or articulating speech)

Wernicke’s area or Broca’s area

Which part of the brain is involved in triggering involuntary (sympathetic nervous system) aspects of fight or flight?

Hypothalamus

This area is sometimes cut in patients with severe epilepsy to prevent epilepsy from damaging both hemispheres of the brain

Corpus callosum

This area is activated when listening/humming a tune

Primary Auditory Cortex in Temporal Lobes

This area is responsible for filtering incoming information and sending along relevant information to the thalamus

RAS/Reticular formation

Which neurotransmitters are most closely associated with mood?

Serotonin & Norepinephrine

An excess of this neurotransmitter is most closely associated with schizophrenia

Dopamine

Which neurotransmitter is closely associated with pain relief?

Endorphins

Which neurotransmitter is most closely associated with voluntary motor movement and pleasure?

Dopamine

Which neurotransmitter is most closely associated with memory and involuntary movement?

Acetylcholine

Low levels of this neurotransmitter are associated with Parkinson’s disease

Dopamine

Which neurotransmitters are closely associated with memory losses of Alzheimer’s disease when these cells die?

Acetylcholine

Which neurotransmitter is released to indicated pain?

Substance P

Agonists

Increase neural transmission - mimic natural neurotransmitters

Antagonists

Reduces neural transmission - blocks neurotransmitters

Low levels of this neurotransmitter are linked to anxiety

GABA

Which neurotransmitter in HIGH levels is associated with the mania phase of bipolar disorder?

Norepinephrine

Heroin users receive a rush of pleasure causing ______, but the drug also works as an agonist for the natural pain-relieving neurotransmitter ______

Dopamine; Endorphins

Which neurotransmitter is associated with mood is also a hormone?

Norepinephrine

These cells comprise about 50% of the brain’s total volume; provide nourishment, protection, and insulation for neurons

Glial cells

Sensory Neurons are also called

Afferent neurons

Motor neurons are also called

Efferent neurons

What is the overall charge of the interior of the resting neuron?

-70mv

What do we call the minimum amount of excitatory neurotransmitters received by the dendrites of a postsynaptic neuron that is require for the cell to fire

Threshold

What is the name for the resting pause that occurs after an action potential where the excess positively charged sodium is pumped out of the axon? During this time the neuron cannot fire.

Refractory period

The brain technique measures the electrical activity of neurons below electrodes that are placed on the scalp

EEG - function

This brain imaging technique involves taking several X-rays from many angles and combining them to create a detailed image of the brain

CT scan - structure

This brain imaging technique begins with the injection of a small harmless amount of radioactive material such as glucose into the bloodstream. This scan produces color-coded images that indicate areas of brain activity during cognitive or motor tasks

PET scan - function

This brain imaging technique uses magnetic fields, radio waves, and computer-based enhancement to create detailed 3d high resolution pictures of the brain

MRI - structure

This brain imaging technique uses magnetic fields and measures blood flow that carries oxygen to active brain tissues

fMRI - both structure and function