Modules 11-14 Notes:

• Lesion is tissue degeneration that is naturally or experimentally caused destruction of the brain tissue.

  • Neuroscientists can stimulate various parts of the brain electrically, magnetically, or chemically.

  • Cutting into the brain and looking for change.

• An EEG is an amplified recording of the waves of electrical activity sweeping across the brain’s surface.

  • Measured by electrodes placed on the skull.

• An MEG is a brain imaging technique that measures magnetic fields from the brain’s natural electrical activity.

• CT scans are a series of X-ray photographs taken from different angles and combined by computer into a composite representation of a slice of the brain’s structure.

  • Also known as a CAT scan

• PET scans are visual displays of brain activity that detect when a radioactive form of glucose goes while the brain performs a given task.

• MRI is a technique that uses magnetic fields and radio waves to produce computer-generated images of soft tissue.

  • Scans show brain anatomy

• fMRI (functional MRI) is a technique for revealing blood flow and, therefore, brain activity by comparing successive MRI scans.

  • Show brain functions as well as its structure.

• The brainstem is the oldest part and central core of the brain, beginning where the spinal cord swells as it enters the skull.

  • Is responsible for several autonomic functions

  • The medulla is the base of the brainstem that controls heartbeat and breathing.

  • The thalamus is the brain’s sensory control center that is located at the top of the brainstem.

  • The pons connect upper and lower parts of the brain together and transmit messages.

    • Involved in facial expressions, sleeping, and dreaming.

    • Reticular formation coordinates simple movements with sensory information.

      • Contains the reticular formation: arousal and ability to focus attention.

  • Directs messages to the sensory receiving areas in the cortex and transmits replies to the cerebellum and medulla.

• Reticular formation is a nerve network that travels through the brainstem into the thalamus and plays an important role in controlling arousal.

• The cerebellum is at the rear of the brainstem, which processes sensory input, coordinating movement output and balance, and enables nonverbal learning and memory.

• The limbic system is located below the cerebral hemispheres and is associated with emotions and drives.

  • Includes the amygdala, hypothalamus, and hippocampus.

    • Amygdala: vital for basic emotions; controls anger, emotions and fear

    • Hypothalamus: reward center

    • Hippocampus: involved in memory processing 

  • Emotional control center of the brain.

• The amygdala are two lima-bean-sized neural clusters located in the limbic system that are linked to fear and emotions.

  • Damaged amygdalas make people have a lessened sense of fear, which affects the ability to protect themselves from danger.

• The hypothalamus is a pea-sized neural structure lying below the thalamus that directs several maintenance activities.

  • These activities include eating, drinking, body temperature, hunger, thirst, sexual arousal (libido), and the endocrine system.

  • Helps govern the endocrine system via the pituitary gland.

  • Reward center

    • The brain understands that certain actions lead to rewards and the fulfillment of wants.

• Brainstem (essential functions →limbic system (emotional system) →Cerebral Cortex (higher/”human” brain functions)

  • Cerebellum can be considered the 4th part

• The hippocampus is a neural center located in the limbic system and helps to process for storage explicit (conscious) memories of facts and events.

• The cerebral cortex is divided into eight lobes, for in each hemisphere:

  • Frontal: the portion of the cerebral cortex lying just behind the forehead; involved in speaking, muscle movements, making plans and judgements, behavioral control, and personality.

  • Parietal: the portion of the cerebral cortex lying at the top of the head and towards the rear; receives sensory input for touch and body position; deals with perception, making sense of the world, arithmetic, and spelling.

  • Occipital: the portion of the cerebral cortex lying at the back of the head; includes areas that receive information from the visual fields; visual

  • Temporal: the portion of the cerebral cortex lying roughly above the ears; includes the auditory areas, each receiving information primarily from the opposite ear; memory, understanding, language.

• Any area not dealing with our senses or muscle movements are called association areas, which are areas of the cerebral cortex that are not involved in primary motor or sensory functions, rather, they are involved in higher mental functions such as learning, remembering, thinking, etc.

• A person with poor prefrontal cortex functioning can be predisposed to violence in terms of the following conceptual levels:

  • Emotional level: loss of control over the limbic system; therefore, raw emotions like anger and rage can boil over. 

  • Behavioral level: risk-taking, irresponsibility, rule-breaking

  • Personality level: impulsivity, loss of self-control, inhibition

  • Social level: immaturity, poor social skills/judgment/behavior; poorer ability to formulate non aggressive solution to fractious social encounter.

  • Cognitive level: loss of intellectual flexibility, poor problem-solving skills.

• The motor cortex is an area at the rear of the frontal lobe that controls voluntary movements.

• The sensory cortex deals with sensations.

• Somatosensory cortex: an area at the front of the parietal lobes that registers and processes touch and movement sensations.

• Neuroplasticity is the brain’s ability to change, especially during childhood, by reorganizing after damage or by building new pathways based on experience.

• Neurogenesis can be defined at the brain’s ability to generate new neurons.

• Certain parts of the body receive more attention from the motor and sensory cortexes.

• The two hemispheres of the brain have the following characteristics:

  • Left brain: analytic, science, logic, math

  • Right brain: holistic thought, intuitive, creativity, art, and music.

• Contralateral controlled: one side of the brain controls the other side of the body.

• Each hemisphere of the brain has specific functions but still communicates with each other.

• The Corpus Callosum attaches the two hemispheres of the cerebral cortex.

  • When removed, you have a split-brain patient.

• Consciousness is our subjective awareness of ourselves and our environment.

• Dual processing: the principle that information is often simultaneously processed on separate conscious and unconscious tracks.

• Blingsight: a condition in which a person can respond to a visual stimulus without consciously experiencing it.

• Parallel Processing: processing many aspects of a problem simultaneously; generally used to process well-learned information or to solve easy problems. Deals with learned concepts.

  • The unconscious parallel processing is faster than the conscious sequential processing, but both are essential.

  • Enables the mind to take care of routine business.

• Sequential processing: processing one aspect of a problem at a time; generally used to process new information or to solve difficult problems.

  • Is best for solving new problems, which requires our focused attention on one thing at a time.

  • What most people call multitasking (like studying while checking social media) is actually serial tasking, where one jumps from one task to the other, which is highly inefficient.