AP Psych UNIT 1

cerebral cortex

outer/top layer of the brain, the tissue is folded and is referred to as fissures.

Lobes

areas of the cerebral cortex

corupus callosum

Bundle of nerve fibers that connects the two hemispheres of the cerebral cortex. messages from one side of the brain to the other

Frontal lobes

located in the front and top of the brain. Abstract though and emotional control. Contains Motor Cortex and Brocas Area

Motor Cortex

recieves information from various lobes and utilizes this information to carry out body/muschle movements

Brocas Area

Controls speech production and language comprehension. Left hemisphere

parietal lobes

contains the centers for processing tactile sensory signals such as touch, pressure, and pain from the rest of the body

somatosensory cortex

receives incoming touch sensations from the rest of the body

occipital lobes

located in the back of out head. handles visual input from eyes

visual association cortex

recognizes lines, angles, shapes, shadows

brainstem

most primitive part of the brain. base of the brain connected to the spinal cord

medulla oblongata

located at the top of the spinal cord. controls heart rate, breathing, and blood pressure —> on auto pilot

pons

the larger swelling above the medulla. controls breathing, facial expressions and sleep cycle

the reticular formation

network of nerves that carry messages between parts of the brain stem. regulate the intensity of the pain, helps people focus on useful sensory input but filtering out unnecessary

thalamus

sensory “relay station” of the brain, passing info to the cerebral cortex. receives information from all the senses except smell

cerebellum “Little Brain”

helps control posture, balance, fluid movement, and the coordination of fine voluntary movement

limbic system

located beneath the cerebral cortex. emotional control, reward center, includes hupothalamus, pituitary gland, amygdala, hippocampus and thalamus

hypothalamus

controls hunger, thirst, emotions, body temperature regulation, sexual arousal and circadian rhythems

Hippocampus

involved in memory processing

amygdala

“fear center”, vital for basic emotions and survival responses, temporal lobe. Fight or flight response

Lateralization

There is some evidence that each brain hemisphere has its own distinct functions. Language is processed in the left hemisphere, attention on the right

temporal lobe

play a role in managing your emotions, processing information from your senses, storing and retrieving memories, and understanding language.

Wernicke’s Aphasia

characterized by impaired language comprehension

Brocas aphasia

when small linking words, conjunctions, such as and, or, and but, and the use of prepositions are lost.