Chapter 3 AP PSYCH

Broca’s Area

speech production (left frontal lobe) | Damage = broken, halted speech.

Wernicke’s Area

language comprehension | Damage = fluent but meaningless speech

Corpus Callosum

— connects hemispheres | Cut → split-brain behavior.

Lateralization

each hemisphere’s specialized function | Left = language, right = spatial skills.

Cerebral Cortex

outer layer; higher thought & control | Makes human thinking complex.

Frontal Lobe

decision-making, movement, speaking | Prefrontal damage → impulsive actions

Parietal Lobe

touch & spatial awareness | Feeling your phone vibrate.

Occipital Lobe

vision processing | Recognizes faces and objects.

Temporal Lobe

hearing, memory, and language | Hearing a song lyric and remembering it.

Visual Cortex

processes vision | Detects shapes and colors.

Auditory Cortex

processes hearing | Identifies someone’s voices

Association Areas

integrate info; thinking & planning | Helps you plan an essay.

Neuron

nerve cell that transmits information through electrical and chemical signals | Neurons in your motor cortex tell your hand to write your name.

Dendrites

branchlike parts of a neuron that receive messages | Dendrites absorb signals from sensory neurons when you touch something hot.

Action Potential

brief electrical charge that travels down an axon | Firing that lets you quickly pull away from pain.

Synapse

junction between neurons where neurotransmitters cross | The gap your neurons use to “talk.”

Neurotransmitters

chemical messengers that cross synapses | Serotonin helps regulate your mood

Thyroid Gland —

egulates metabolism | Underactive = fatigue.

Medulla

controls heartbeat & breathing | If damaged, can be fatal.

Pons

sleep, dreaming, and movement coordination | Helps control REM sleep.

Hippocampus

forms new memories | Damage = can’t make new memories.

Hypothalamus

controls hunger, thirst, body temp, sex drive | Tells you when you’re hungry or too hot.

Thalamus

sensory relay center (except smell) | Directs info to correct brain regions.

Parietal Lobe —

touch & spatial awareness | Feeling your phone vibrate

Occipital Lobe

vision processing | Recognizes faces and objects.

Temporal Lobe

hearing, memory, and language | Hearing a song lyric and remembering it.

Frontal Lobe

decision-making, movement, speaking | Prefrontal damage → impulsive actions.

Cerebral Cortex

outer layer; higher thought & control | Makes human thinking complex.

MRI

magnetic imaging that shows soft-tissue structure | Finds detailed brain damage

Lesion

destruction of brain tissue to study function | Helps find which areas affect language.

Limbic System

between older brain and cerebral hemispheres; emotions, drives, memories | Includes hippocampus, amygdala, hypothalamus.

Auditory Cortex

processes sound | Hearing someone’s tone of voice.

Endocrine System

glands secrete hormones into blood | Slower but longer-lasting than nerves.