Psych Unit 1 AOS 2- Brain Functions

What’s the brain vs heart debate?

The debate over where mental processes and mental perceptions located, the heart, or the brain.

The heart hypothesis=

States that all mental processes are located in the heart

The brain hypothesis=

States that all mental processes are located in the brain.

What is the Mind-Body problem?

The question of whether our bodies and minds are two seperate entities or whether they’re one and the same.

Who proposed that the mind and the body interact through the pineal gland (a small structure deep in the brain)? And, when did this happen

René Descartes in the 17th century

What is phrenology?

The study of the relationship or connections between the surface features of the skull and a persons characteristics. Big bumps on the head would represent characteristics, and could be used to find criminals (no credebility .)

Who first proposed the idea of phrenology?

German Franz Gall in the 19th century. By the 1850’s it had lost credibility.

What are first brain experiments?

Ablation and electrical stimulation. Both thought that the brain was ‘holistic’- that the brain cortex worked as a whole rather than having specific specialised functions as phrenology proposed.

What is electric stimulation?

A technique that involved electrically stimulating different parts of the brain and recording the response. This is how the motor cortex was discovered.

What is brain ablation?

Brain ablation is when people remove or destroy parts of the brain, and then note the behaviour that occurred afterwards. Pierre Flourens and Karl Lashley were two psychologists that used ablation to study the brains of animals.

What are split brain experiments?

Cutting the corpus callosum which is the band of nerves that connect the two hemispheres of the brain. This was first done by Roger Sperry to treat epilepsy. They can name pictures of objects in their right visual field, but unable to name pictures of objects in the left visual field. They can grab the correct object that was pictured with their left hand (which is controlled by her right hemisphere.)

What are all the neuroimaging techniques?

CT,MRI,PET, and FMRI.

Whats a CT (or CAT) scan?

Computerised Tomography scan that involves using x-ray equipment to scan the brain from different angles. This can generate a horizontal cross-section of the brain as if it has been cut through (looking from the top down.)

What’s an MRI?

Involved magnetic fields vibrating atoms in the brain and generating a computer image of the brain. MRI scans are clearer and more detailed than CT scans.

What’s a PET scan?

Positron Emission Tomography provides colour images that show brain structure, function, and activity (unlike CT and MRI scans, with only show structure). PET scans are used to record activity levels in the brain while participants perform a specific task, and therefor pinpoint the different function of the brain structures.

What’s a FMRI scan?

A Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging measures brain activity by measuring oxygen consumption in different parts of the brain. Active brain areas have more highly oxygenated blood than inactive areas. FMRI are better than PET scan images.

What is hemispheric specialisation?

Each half of the brain are symetrical + identical. (Almost) They’re directed by the corpus callosum.

What’s the hind brain’s function?

It’s located in the back of the brain, around the brain stem. It includes the cerebellum and medulla, among other structures.

What’s the cerebellum?

Located at the base of the brain (attached to the brain stem). Although only quite small, it contains 80% of the brain’s neurons. Its responsible for fine muscle movements, (e.g playing the piano), and balance.

What’s the medulla?

The lowest part of the brain stem. It connects the spinal chord to the brain.The medullacontrols essential functions of the body such as breathing, heart rate, swallowing, and salivating. These are all essential to survival , and therefore, damage to the medulla can be fatal.

What are the effects of a damaged frontal lobe?

Damage to the frontal lobe can result in changes to personality, difficulty with movement and coordination, and impaired judgment and decision-making.

What is the function of the right side of the brain?

The right side of the brain is associated with creativity, intuition, and spatial abilities.

What is the function of the left side of the brain?

The left side of the brain helps with logic, language, and math. It is good at detailed tasks and works with the right side of the brain through the corpus callosum.

What is the cerebral cortex?

The cerebral cortex is the brain's outer layer responsible for high-level functions like thinking and sensing, divided into four lobes.

What’s the difference between the cerebral cortex and the corpus callosum?

The cerebral cortex is the brain's outer layer responsible for high-level functions like thinking and sensing, divided into four lobes. The corpus callosum is a bridge of nerves connecting the left and right sides of the brain, allowing them to communicate.

What is Wernicke's aphasia?

A language disorder resulting in impaired comprehension and the production of nonsensical speech.

What is broca’s aphasia?

A speech disorder causing difficulty in producing speech while comprehension remains intact.

What is aphasia?

A language disorder affecting speech production and comprehension.

Where’s the midbrain?

The midbrain is the central part of the brain located between the forebrain and hindbrain, playing a key role in vision, hearing, motor control, sleep/wake, arousal, and temperature regulation.

What’s the cerebellum?

Coordinates fine muscle movements, regulates posture and balance, is involved in learning and memory, and is located at the base of the brain (attached to the brain stem.) It contains 80% of the brain’s neurons.

What’s brain lesioning?

Disrupting or damaging the normal structure of part of the brain.

What’s a cerebral hemisphere?

Each half of the brain, responsible for distinct functions and controlling opposite sides of the body.

What’s the forebrain?

The forebrain is the largest brain region, responsible for complex functions, including thought, emotion, and sensory processing.

What’s the function of the pons?

The pons links the cerebellum to the rest of the brain, helps regulate sleep and arousal, and assists in controlling facial expressions.

What’s synaptogenesis?

The formation of synapses between neurons, crucial for brain development and neural connectivity.

What’s adaptive plasticity?

The brain's ability to reorganize itself and form new neural connections in response to learning, experience, or injury.

What is neuroplasticity?

The brain's capacity to reorganize and form new neural connections in response to learning, experience, or injury.

What is brain ablation?

Brain ablation involves removing or destroying parts of the brain to observe resulting behavioral changes.

WHat’s synaptic pruning?

Elimination of weak of unused synapses. E.g. forgetting what you did when you were three years old.

What’s the function of the hypothalamus

Hypothalamus has a vital role in maintaining the body’s internal environment (i.e homeostasis)

What’s the role of the midbrain? (reticular formation)

It’s a collection of structures involved with movement, processing of visual, auditory, and tactile sensory info, sleep, and arousal + the middle of the brain. Reticular formation is in it.

What is the forebrain’s function?

It regulates complex cognitive processes such as thinking, learning, memory, and perception, as well as various aspects of emotion and personality.

What’s the role of the hindbrain?

It has one structure, and has areas involved in controls many motor function autonomous functions, and sleep and arousal. Also, low level structures including pons, medulla, and cerebellum.

What is the meninges?

Three layers of membranes known as meninges protect the brain and spinal cord. The delicate inner layer is the pia mater. The middle layer is the arachnoid, a web-like structure filled with fluid that cushions the brain. The tough outer layer is called the dura mater.

Whats located in the frontal lobe

the prefrontal cortex, the primary motor cortex and Broca’s area

What’s located in the Parietal lobe?

The primary somatosensory cortex.

What’s located in the occipital lobe?

The primary visual cortex

What’s located in the Temporal Lobe?

The primary auditory cortex and Wernicke’s area.

Experience expectant=

Has to happen at a certain time

Experience dependant=

Can happen at any time

What type of change is a generation of new networks?

Forming new neural connections after injury to make up for the loss of old connections. E.g a nueron that’s lost a connection will reach out for a new connection with a different neuron.

What’s the reassignment of function

When nuerons connect to other undamaged nuerons.

Ventricles=

A fluid-filled cavity in the heart or brain- if it’s in the brain then it’s filled with cerebrospinal fluid

Electrical stimulation of the brain is=

Brain stimulation therapies can play an important role in treating mental disorders. These therapies work by activating or inhibiting the brain with electricity. The electricity can be given directly through electrodes implanted in the brain or indirectly through electrodes placed on the scalp.

Hemispheric Lateralisation=

Lateralisation is the fact that the two halves of the brain are functionally different and that each hemisphere has functional specialisations, e.g. the left is dominant for language, and the right excels at visual motor tasks.

What did Sperry and Gazzaniga find with their split-brain experiment results

Their findings showed that the two halves of the brain have numerous functions and specialized skills. They concluded that each hemisphere really has its own functions. Sperry and Gazzaniga discovered that split-brain patients can only respond to stimuli in the right visual field with their right hand and vice versa. the Left Hemisphere is more analytical and verbal tasks, whereas the Right hemisphere is more adapt in spatial task and music.

What were the split brain experiment results?

split-brain individuals are unable to compare items held in each hand, even though they are aware that both hands are holding something. Likewise, visual information presented to one hemisphere is not available to the other disconnected hemisphere for perceptual analysis.

Structural Neuroimaging=

produce a scan showing brain structure, and structural experiments, which are sensitive to biophysical properties of local brain tissue, and functional experiments, which are sensitive to temporally changing neural activity. Structural imaging, which is used to quantify brain structure.

Functional Neuroimaging=

Allows mapping of the physiology of the brain by measurement of blood flow, metabolism, and receptor-ligand binding. Used to study brain function, often using fMRI and other techniques such as PET and MEG (see below).

Reticular activating system=

A set of connected nuclei in the brains of vertebrates that is responsible for regulating wakefulness and sleep-wake transitions.

Reticular Formation

The reticular formation consists of more than 100 small neural networks with varied functions including motor control, cardiovascular control, pain modulation, sleep, and habituation. Bilateral damage to the reticular formation of the midbrain may lead to coma or death

How may an ESB (Electrical stimulation of the brain) be used ethically?

• Used for therapeutic reasons:

  • help with motor symptoms of Parkinson’s disease.

  • depression in severe cases