Chapter 2 - PSY 0010

• lateralization


  dominance of a hemisphere in specific functions

  left --- right side of body, reasoning, speaking, and reading

  right --- left side of body, spatial relationships, drawings, music, emotional expression
• corpus callosum


  bundle of nerves that connect the hempispheres

  
• hemispheres


  symmetrical left and right halves of the brain that control the side of the body opposite of their location

  
• neuroplasticity


  ability of brain to: reorganization of information; processing information

  ---functions lost due to damage can be picked up by other parts of the brain

  add new neurons

  ---especially learning and memory (ex: hippocampus)

  establish new connections between neurons
• wernicke's area (association area)


  interprets speech, written words

  wernicke's aphasia; difficulty understanding speech
• broca's area (association area)


  speech organization

  broca's aphasia; difficulty speaking, errors in grammar
• association area (cerebral cortex)


  all lobes

  thinking, language, and memory

  controls executive function: planning, judgment, and impulse control

  integrates sensory and motor info
• visual area (sensory area)


  in occipital lobe

  visual info
• auditory area (sensory area)


  in temporal lobe

  hearing
• somatosensory area (sensory area)


  in parietal lobe

  perception of touch, pain, and temperature
• sensory area (cerebral cortex)


  located in parietal, occipital, and temporal lobes three regions:

  -somatosensory area

  -auditory area

  -visual area
• motor area (cerebral cortex)


  located in frontal lobe

  controls voluntary motor movement

  specific parts control specific body locations
• three functional areas of cerebral cortex


  motor

  sensory

  association
• lobes (cerebral cortex)


  the major sections of the cerebral cortex: frontal, temporal, parietal, and occipital)
• cerebral cortex


  the new brain responsible for the most sophisticated information process in the brain, contains four lobes-divided into 3 functional areas

  
• hippocampus (limbic system)


  learning and remembering new information

  one place brain cells are reproduced
• amygdala (limbic system)


  fear and agression
• limbic system (forebrain)


  eating, aggression and pleasure

  -amygdala

  -hippocampus
• hypothalamus (forebrain)


  maintains constant internal environment (body temperature, cell nutrients)regulates eating, self protection, sex
• thalamus (forebrain)


  relays sensory info to higher parts of brain
• forebrain


  thalamus

  hypothalamus

  limbic system

  cerebral cortex

  
• reticular formation (hind brain)


  arousal and attention; regulates sleep/walk cycle
• cerebellum (hind brain)


  controls balance and problem solving (alcohol effects this part)
• pons (hind brain)


  transmits motor information (simple, left right movement); regulates sleep
• medulla (hind brain)


  controls vital functions (heart rate, breathing)
• hind brain (central core)


  medulla

  pons

  cerebellum

  reticular formation
• central core


  the old brain which control basic functions

  -forebrain

  -midbrain

  -hindbrain

  
• position emission tomography (PET) scans


  radioactive tracers are injected into the bloodstream

  active brain areas = increased blood flow and more tracers

  shows brain functions but not structure
• functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI)


  high resolution image created by a powerful magnetic field aimed at the body shows detailed brain structures and functions
• electroencephalogram (EEG)


  electrodes on the scalp record neural activity

  provides fast recordings but doesnt show brain structures or functions
• brain scanning techniques


  allows non-surgical studies of brain activity
• organization of the nervous system

  
• parasympathetic division


  part of the autonomic division of the nervous system that acts to rest the body after action; stores energy, slows our heart and breathing rates, lowers blood pressure, and promotes digestion
• sympathetic division


  part of the autonomic division of the nervous system that acts to prepare the body for action (fight or flight)
• autonomic division


  controls vital organs (heart, lungs, glands, etc) (involuntary)
• somatic division


  controls voluntary movements
• peripheral nervous system


  the part of the nervous system that includes the autonomic and somatic subdivisions; it branches out from the spinal cord and brain and reaches the extremities of the body
• motor efferent neurons


  carries info from the brain to the perimeter of the body
• sensory afferent neurons


  carries info from the perimeter of the body to CNS
• reflex


  an automatic involuntary response to an incoming stimulus