The Brain

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3 Parts of the Brain
Hindbrain, Midbrain & Forebrain
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Subdivision of Hindbrain
Medulla, Cerebellum, Pons & Reticular Formation
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Medulla
Regulates heartbeat, circulation and respiration. Oldest part of the brain evolutionarily.
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Cerebellum
Fine motor control; bodily balance and muscular coordination; keeps movement smooth and balanced; also allows accurate visual tracking of a moving target.
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Pons
Controls stages of sleep (sleep cycle), e.g. rapid eye movement (REM).
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Reticular Formation (Reticular activating system)
Extends all the way from medulla to thalamus; general function seems to be to keep us alter and aroused; activated other brain areas; coma can result if damaged.
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Area in Midbrain
Substantia Nigra
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Subtantia Nigra
Connected to the striatum (in the forebrain) which allows for the smooth initiation of movement. Parkinson's disease is caused by damaged cells in the substantia nigra.
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Subdivisions of the Forebrain
Diencephalon, Cerebrum
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Subdivisions of Diencephalon
Thalamus, Hypothalamus
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Thalamus
2 Egg-shaped parts, a relay station; information from higher (cortex) and other parts of the nervous system e.g. spinal cord are integrated.
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Hypothalamums
(Controls homeostasis) Size of fingertip. Responsible for biological urges such as thirst, hunger and sexual desire. Keeps temperature constant (e.g. reddening of face), circadian rhythms and production of endorphins.
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Subdivisions of the Cerebrum
Split into two hemispheres (left and right), connected by an extensive band of nerve fibres called the corpus callosum. The cerebrum is made up of the limbic system and the cerebral cortex.
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Subdivisions of the Limbic System
Amygdala, Hippocampus, Septum
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Amygdala
Regulates fear, anger & aggression
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Hippocampus
Controls memory & emotion. Smells form a large part of the memory store, as people remember them very well and they have great emotional context. HM damaged his hippocampus and couldn't form new memories as a result.
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Septum
Pleasure centre- Epileptics with stimulation in this area will be on the verge of sexual ******.
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Subdivisions of Cerebral Cortex
Made up of 4 lobes: frontal, temporal, occipital & parietal. The cerebral cortex involves higher order thinking and is large in humans. It is convoluted so that the surface area can be larger.
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Subdivisions of the Frontal Lobe
Broca's area (producing speech) found in left hemisphere & motor cortex (found in both hemispheres)
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Lesions in the Frontal Lobe (1)
Frontal lobe was originally believed to be only for intelligent behaviour, where higher order thinking was, however, lesioning this area does not destroy IQ score.
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Lesions in the Frontal Lobe (2)
Instead, more emotional problems are formed, as well as difficulty with long-range tasks. Psychosurgery (frontal lobotomies) were popular in the 1940's and 1950's as they were used to correct people's behaviour.
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Subdivisions of the Temporal Lobe
Wernicke's area (understanding speech) found in the left hemisphere and the Primary Auditory Cortex.
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Lesions in the Temporal Lobe (1)
Damage to this area on the left side can produce "word deafness"- no problem with the person's hearing, it's just they can't understand the words people are saying- it is as if they are speaking a different, unfamiliar language.
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Lesions in the Temporal Lobe (2)
Failure to notice anomalies in pictures: e.g. a picture of a monkey in a cage with an oil painting hanging inside- they didn't see anything wrong with it.
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Lesions in the Temporal Lobe (3)
Failure to pick up subtle social signals, e.g. glancing repeatedly at watch during conversation.
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Subdivisions of the Parietal Lobe
Somatosensory cortex (both hemispheres)
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Lesions in the Parietal Lobe (1)
Can lead to contralateral neglect. Mr. P had a right parietal stroke. He completely ignored the left hand side of his body and the world, but he had no problems with his vision. High level attention- see objects but ignores them.
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Lesions in the Parietal Lobe (2)
Shaved only right side of face, only tried to put clothes on the right hand side of his body. Drawing of clock- numbers all on one side. Ice cream and football were read "cream" and "ball". Ignored tactile sensation to right side of body.
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Subdivisions of the Occipital Lobe
The Primary Visual Cortex (both hemispheres)
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Occipital Lobe- Severed Corpus Callosum (2)
Example of a split brain patient- interesting phenomena. Person shown object in left visual field (LVF), but can't name object because image is processed in right hemisphere, and left hemisphere is required to name it- as speech area is in left.
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Severed Corpus Callosum (2)
This is due to the left and right hemispheres being unable to communicate with one another, and therefore unable to share information. The patient could pick out the object with their left hand, so it showed the only issue was in language.
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Other cards in this set

Card 2

Front

Medulla, Cerebellum, Pons & Reticular Formation

Back

Subdivision of Hindbrain

Card 3

Front

Regulates heartbeat, circulation and respiration. Oldest part of the brain evolutionarily.

Back

Preview of the back of card 3

Card 4

Front

Fine motor control; bodily balance and muscular coordination; keeps movement smooth and balanced; also allows accurate visual tracking of a moving target.

Back

Preview of the back of card 4

Card 5

Front

Controls stages of sleep (sleep cycle), e.g. rapid eye movement (REM).

Back

Preview of the back of card 5
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