Brain Hemispheres, Regions/Structures of Brain, and Tools for Discovering the Brain

Scientific study of links between biological and psychological processes

biological psychology

Varying complementary views that are used for analyzing any given phenomenon

biopsychosocial approach

Levels of analysis include:

biological, psychological, and social-cultural

The brain's ability to change and adapt (especially during childhood) by forming new neural pathways or reorganizing older neural pathways

neuroplasticity

The brain directs essential survival functions such as breathing, sleeping, wakefulness, and balance/coordination. (located in brainstem)

hindbrain

The ____brain transmits auditory and visual information, controls some motor movements, and serves as connection between hindbrain and forebrain. (located at top of brainstem)

midbrain

The _brain carries out complex cognitive activities, sensory and associative functions, and voluntary motor activities. (consists of most of the brain)

forebrain

Controls heartbeat and breathing; located at base of brainstem (in the hindbrain)

medulla

Sensory control center for brain; directs all senses (except for smell!) to other sensory receiving areas in cortex, then transmits responses to cerebellum and medulla (located at top of brainstem, in forebrain)

thalamus

Helps coordinate movement and controls sleep (located near top of brainstem, in hindbrain

pons

Processes sensory input, coordinates movement and balance, enables nonverbal learning, and memory; called the "little brain" (located in hindbrain)

cerebellum

Nerve network that travels through the brainstem into the thalamus; plays role in motor control, cardiovascular control, pain modulation, arousal, and sleep/wakefulness (located between ears)

reticular formation

Oldest part and central core of brain; located at point where spinal cord enters skull; responsible for automatic survival functions like heartbeat and respiration

brainstem

Neural system that influences emotions, behavior, and motivations; includes amygdala, hypothalamus, hippocampus, thalamus, and pituitary gland; located mostly in forebrain

limbic system

Two neural clusters located in limbic system that influence emotion

amygdala

Linked to emotion and reward and helps govern the endocrine system; also plays role in maintenance activities like eating, drinking, and body temperature (located in forebrain, just below thalamus)

hypothalamus

Neural center for limbic system; helps process conscious memories for storage

hippocampus

Memories of facts and events (also called conscious memories)

explicit memories

Tissue destruction that can be caused naturally, due to surgery, or experimentally

lesion

Records brain waves through a shower-cap-like hat that's filled with electrodes covered in conductive gel

EEG

Brain-imaging technique that measures magnetic fields from the brain's natural activity

MEG

Examine the brain by taking X-ray photographs that can reveal brain damage

CT scans

Depict brain activity by showing each brain area's consumption of its chemical field (sugar glucose)

PET scans

Show different areas of brain lighting up as research participants perform different mental functions; done by putting person's head in strong magnetic field that aligns the spinning atoms of brain molecules

MRI scans

Technique for revealing blood flow, which then reveals brain activity by comparing successive MRI scans

fMRI scans (functional MRI)

Formation of new neurons

neurogenesis

Large band of neural fibers connecting the brain's two hemispheres and carrying messages between them

corpus callosum

Right hemisphere controls the _ side of the body

left

Left hemisphere controls the side of the body

right

The _ Area controls language expression (located in frontal lobe, often on left side)

Broca's

The Area controls ability to understand language (located in left of temporal lobe)

Wernicke's

The _ hemisphere makes subtle inferences, recognizes pictures, modulates speech (figures out what order to say words in), and plays a role in self-awareness

right

The hemisphere makes quick and literal inferences and controls verbal language (speaking)

left

Impairment of language, usually caused by left hemisphere damage either to Broca's Area or Wernicke's Area

aphasia

The _ lobe enables linguistic processing, muscle movement, higher-order thinking, and executive functions (like planning or judgement)

frontal

The lobe receives sensory input from sense of touch, then assembles that input to form a response

parietal

The __ lobe receives information from the visual field

occipital

The lobe receives auditory input (sense of hearing) and enables language processing

temporal

The fabric of interconnected neural cells that covers the forebrain's cerebral hemispheres; enables perception abilities, learning, and thinking; serves as control and information processing center

cerebral cortex

How many of the brain's nerve cells are in the cortex?

20-23 billion

Front section of the frontal lobe; enables judgement, planning, social interaction, and processing of new memories

prefrontal cortex

The cortex is a cerebral cortex area at the back of the frontal lobe that controls voluntary movements

motor

Parts of the cerebral cortex that aren't involved in motor or sensory functions, but still play a role in higher mental functions such as memory and speech (located in all four lobes of brain)

association areas

The ___ cortex receives information from the skin's senses and directs movement of body parts

somatosensory

True or False: Brain hemispheres are specialized.

True