A brief intro to your brain

Common misconceptions

• Parts of the hemispheres

• Left hemisphere used more = more mathematical

• Right hemisphere more artistic; more out there

• However, we use both at all times

  • Misconceptions come from some kind of truth

• Correct idea: the behaviour is associated more with some area of the regions than others

• Misconception: Only use one percent of your brain

  • No kernel of truth

  • Correct idea: use all of your brain

  • However, where did this come from is the question

  • 65% believe about this misconception

• Misconception: believed that if there is a lump or something; then there is a certain area that is used more to be a particular type of person with a particular kind of skill

David Eagleman analogy

• where is love, memory, or etc produced in the brain

• The brain is a city

• Where is the economy located? and: there is no certain particular spot

  • Many different places that interact

The brainstem

• what is its function

• Reticulur formation: cells are firing fast vs cells are firing slow

• controls life sustaining functions of the autonomic nervous system

  • e.g. breathing, digestion, heartbeat, balance, movement

• Reticular formation: managment of arousal

  • Alertness, sleep

  • General arousal, sleep-wake state

  • Firing fast: awake

  • Firing slow: deep sleep or unconscious

Cerebellum

• where is it located

• What is the latin translation

• What is its main role

• What affects this part of the brain

• base of the brain stem

• latin for little brain

• Helps for coordinated movement and balance, and possible higher cognitive processing

  • e.g. riding a bike

• A particular part of the brain that is affected by alcohol

• about 10% of overall brain volume

  • but holds 50% of brain’s neurons

• Pointing out it is also responsible for higher order brain activities

The diencephalon

• what parts does it consists

• Consists of the thalamus, hypothalamus, and cerebellum

Hypothalamus

• very small part of the brain

• Very powerful, the brain’s master regulatory structure

• Regulates hormone secretion

• Connected nervous to the endocrine system

• maintain homeostasis

  • Main temperature: if too cold or too hot; then must take some action to maintain action

• The four F’s: basic drives

  • fighting

  • fleeing

  • Feeding

  • Fornicating

Thalamus

• main job

• What doesn’t it do

• Unique case study: craniopagus twins

• Case study: Patient Geore

• referred to the relay station

  • Handles all incoming sensory info except smell

    • e..g touch, sense, see, all info goes to the thalamus first

Case study

• Craniopagus twins

  • Share the head, main region they share is the thalamus

  • Therefore: both experience the same thing; if one have a sensory experience, the other can receive that even if they didn’t experience

  • E.g. one covered eyes, other sees something, the one whose eyes are covered can be able to know what the other girl is seeing

• Patient George

  • How the brain reacts to music compared to normal people

  • View music very differently

The Basal Ganglia

• What is it responsible for

• What does the nucleus accumbens do?

• Controls the production of movement and perpetual movement

  • Responsible for coordinating the movement; what should the next movement and what should not be the next movement

• Behaviour reinforced, reward for behaviour, home of dopamine receptors at a particular part of basal ganglia

• e.g. throwing a baseball, what is the appropriate pressure when holding an egg for a particular activity

• Nucleus accumbens

  • Reward and pleasure circuitry

  • Related to inclusion

The Limbic System

• very new system; researchers still not sure what parts are involved, tooo simple

• associated with emotion

• The limbic system

  • Amygdala

  • Hippocampus - more assictaed with memory than emotion

  • Parahippocampal gyrus

  • Septal nuclei

  • cingulate cortex

  • Fornic

  • Mammillary body

  • Hypothalamus

Hippocampus

• role

• case study: Patient HM

• research study: cab driver in 2000s

• role: vital of the formation and storage of long-term memory

Patient HM

• Hippocampi removed, resulted in memory-loss, after a certain time stamp he couldn’t form any long term memories

• Helped scientists understand a lot of the hippocampus

Black cab driver

• must pass test about the knowledge

• takes 12 attempts to pass the text; includes 25000 different streets and landmarks (need to know everything memorized)

• Researchers see if spatial memorization, would it lead to physical differences of the hippocampus

  • Say big difference in the posterior hippocampus, role is spatial memory

• Therefore higher cognitive = physical changes in the brain -→ contributing to the nature vs nurture

The Cingulate Cortex

• what is it/where is it located

• Anterior vs posterior cortex roles

• the tissue on the inner surface of each cerebral hemisphere

• Anterior

  • Controls the autonomic nervous system

• Posterior

  • Controls in memory and visual processing

Amygdala

• it’s main role

  • Other small role that is similar to it

• case study of individuals in 9/11

• Role is processing fear and agression

  • help activate flight or fight

  • Mainly the amygdala will recieve info and produce emotional and motivation output sent to the cerebral cortex

• Essential for our ability to associate things with emotional responses

• Linking emotion and memory (emotion linked to memory)

• Case study: individuals in 9/11

  • Close people vs very far people

  • Brought them into MRI scanner on sept 11

  • Found that been very close, the recalled memory, stronger amygdala memory

Cerebral Cortex

• Where is it located, what parts does it consist of

• the corpus callosum

• The outer layer of the brain covering the cerebral hemispheres

• The hemisphere has four lobes

Corpus callosum

• large bridge of axons/nerve fibers that connects the hemispheres and allows information to flow between them

Parts of the cerebral cortex (do not need to describe their roles, but only describe where they are located in the brain)

• four lobes

1. Occipital lobe

• located at the very back of the brain

2. Temporal Lobe

• Front to side

3. Parietal Lobe (located at the top back; right behind the frontol lobe)

4. Frontal Lobes

• Front to top of head

Frontal lobe

• roles; primary

• Prefrontal cortex and it’s role

  • Orbitofrontal cortex roles + what happens when it gets damaged?

• Executive function meaning

• Primary motor cortex and for complex conginitive thinking

• Prefrontal cortex (located on the forehead)

  • exectutive, higher order cognitive function (planning, long term, so on)

• Orbitofrontal cortex: located in the prefrontal cortex right behind the eyes

  • Involved in emotional lives

  • Damages = not controlling impulses and the possible negative outcomes of decisions

• Executive functions

  • The range of cognitive function and how you can regulate yourself in terms of behaviour

Occipital Lobe

• role

• What role does it not do

  • Where is the occipital lobe connected to in order for that role to be done

• responsible for visual processing

• However, not for analyzing the image

  • Connected to the temporal lobe which can then interpretate what you see

The temporal lobe

• role

• primary auditory cortex: the processing of incoming sounds

• Also for higher visual processings

The Parietal Lobe

• roles

• What happens if this lobe is damaged

• primary semantic cortex

• Damaged will result in feelings of neglect because of the lack of spatial and visual awareness

Case study Phineas Gage

• tamping iron that shot through his brain during railway workings

• Lost one his eyes

• 1848 - where metal rod goes through his frontal cortex

• Image on the right is the assumption of where the damages are

• Results

  • Survived before doctors knew to wash his hands - so he is very lucky

  • Recovered a lot of his functionings that he lost from his injury (including physical aspect and personality and social recovery)

  • His personality changed a lot, including how to interact with other people

  • **anything about his wife is not true because he didn’t marry

  • Results in the social recovery hypothesis

• Death: he died due to a seizure

Practice: label and describe functions