AP Psychology The Brain

Brain Stem/Hindbrain

==Pons== - involved in sleeping, waking, and dreaming (involved in facial expressions)
==Medulla==- Responsible for certain automatic functions such as breathing and heart rate
==Reticular activating system (RAS)== - Arouses cortex and screens incoming information
We have no control/conscious over these

Cerebellum

Means little brain
Regulated movement and balance
Involved in remembering simple skills and acquired reflexes
Plays a part in human development
Analyzing sensory information
Solving problems
Understanding words

The Cerebral Cortex

It is what makes us human, higher thinking
Made up of dense pack neurons we call “gray matter”
==Glial cells== - support brain cells
Wrinkles are called ==fissures==
==Frontal lobe== is the higher level thinking last lobe to fully develop, motor skills, decision making
==Parietal lobe== is primarily sensory
==Occipital lobe== is the vision back of the brain
==Temporal lobe== primary function is speech comprehension and speech creation
==Auditory cortex== - part of temporal lobe

The Cerebrum

Largest brain structure
Two cerebral hemispheres are connected by the ==corpus callosum==
In charge of most sensory, motor, and cognitive processes
Surrounded by ==cerebral cortex==, a collection of several thin layer of cells (gray matter)

Thalamus

Switchboard operator of the brain
Receives sensory signals from the spinal cord and sends them to the other parts of the forebrain
Every sense except smell

Hypothalamus

Perhaps the most important structure in the brain
Controls and regulates :
- Body temperature
- Sexual arousal
- Hunger
- Thirst
- Endocrine System
- The autonomic nervous system
It is slow but powerful

Pituitary gland

Small endocrine gland which releases hormones and regulates other endocrine glands
Master gland within endocrine system

The amygdala

Responsible for
- Arousal
- Regulation of emotion
- Initial emotional response to sensory information
- Plays important role in
- Mediating anxiety and depression
- Emotional memory
- Involved in volatile emotions like anger

Hippocampus

Involved in the processing and storage of memories
Responsible for storage of new information n memory

Accidents

==Phineas Gage Story==

Railroad worker who was a well liked person. One day rails explosion happened and he had some steel go through his cheek and out his head. He somehow survived but doctors didn't remove the nail because he could die. When he went back to work his personality changed because of brain damage/frontal lobes were damaged