The brain

  • Bumps on the skull tell us nothing about the brain’s underlying function. 

  • Different parts of the brain do control different aspects of behavior.

  • Biological psychologists use advanced technologies to study the links between biological (genetic, neural, hormonal) and psychological processes.

  • The biopsychosocial approach integrates these three levels of analysis — the biological, psychological, and social-cultural

  • Your brain is constantly changing, building new pathways as it adjusts to little mishaps and new experiences. This change is called neuroplasticity.

  • Scientists can selectively lesion (destroy) tiny clusters of normal or defective brain cells, observing any effect on brain function.

  • EEG (electroencephalogram) is an amplified readout of such waves. Electrodes placed on the scalp measure electrical activity in neurons.

  • MEG (magnetoencephalography) measures magnetic fields produced by the brain’s electrical activity. A head coil records magnetic fields generated by the brain’s electrical currents.

  • CT (computed tomography) scan examines the brain by taking X-ray photographs that can reveal brain damage. X-rays of the head generate images that may locate brain damage.

  • PET (positron emission tomography) depicts brain activity by 371 showing each brain area’s consumption of its chemical fuel, the sugar glucose. Tracks where in the brain a temporarily radioactive form of glucose goes while the person is given it and performs a task.

  • MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) brain scans: the person’s head is put in a strong magnetic field, which aligns the spinning atoms in brain molecules. When the atoms return to their normal spin, they emit signals that provide a detailed picture of soft tissues, including the brain. MRI scans have revealed a larger-than-average neural area in the left hemisphere of musicians who display perfect pitch

  • ventricles — fluid-filled brain areas

  • A special application of MRI — fMRI (functional MRI) — can reveal the brain’s functioning as well as its structure. The fMRI machine detects blood rushing to the back of the brain, which processes visual information. Measures blood flow to brain regions by comparing continuous MRI scans.

  • Functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) shines infrared light on blood molecules to identify brain activity. The fNIRS equipment can fit in a large backpack, enabling researchers to study the biology of mind in difficult-to-reach populations

  • Neuromarketing, neuroleadership, neurolaw, and neuropolitics are often neurohype.

  • All human experience is brain-based

  • Severed brain and spinal cord neurons, unlike cut skin, usually do not regenerate.

  • Some brain functions seem preassigned to specific areas.

  • The younger the child, the greater the chance that the remaining hemisphere can take over the functions of the one that was surgically removed.

  • Neurogenesis — producing new neurons

  • Left-hemisphere accidents, strokes, and tumors can impair reading, writing, speaking, arithmetic reasoning, and understanding

  • Right-hemisphere damage has less visibly dramatic effects.

  • The corpus callosum is the wide band of axon fibers connecting the two hemispheres and carrying messages between them

  • Information received by either hemisphere is quickly transmitted to the other across the corpus callosum. In a person with a severed corpus callosum, this information sharing does not take place.

  • Split-brain surgery leaves people “with two separate minds.” With a split brain, both hemispheres can comprehend and follow an instruction to copy — simultaneously — different figures with the left and right hands

  • A split-brain patient’s mind resembles a river that has branched into separate streams, each unaware of its influence on the other

  • The left hemisphere is skilled at making quick, literal interpretations of language

  • When the “two minds” are at odds, the left hemisphere does mental gymnastics to rationalize reactions it does not understand. 

  • The conscious left hemisphere resembles an “interpreter” that instantly constructs explanations. The brain, he concluded, often runs on autopilot; it acts first and then explains itself.

  • When a person performs a perceptual task, a brain scan often reveals increased activity (brain waves, blood flow, and glucose consumption) in the right hemisphere.

  • the person speaks or does a math calculation, activity usually increases in the left hemisphere.

  • The left hemisphere controls speech

  • The right hemisphere excels at making inferences, helps us modulate our speech to make meaning clear, and helps us orchestrate our self-awareness.