3.2

• Brain


  The organ of the central nervous system of mammals where vital functions are coordinated
• Cerebellum


  Controls balance, co-ordination of movement and muscular activity
• Cerebral cortex


  The outer layer of the brain
• Cerebrum


  The large folded part of the brain that controls conscious responses, memory, thought and intelligence
• Corpus callosum


  A broad band of nerve fibres joining the two hemispheres of the brain
• Electroencephalogram (EEG)


  A test used to evaluate the electrical activity in the brain
• Functional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)


  A technique that maps activity in the brain. Patients are given different sensory stimuli or asked to perform various tasks
• Hypothalamus


  Regulating centre for temperature and water balance within the body
• Localisation


  Located or fixed in a particular place
• Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)


  A computer that can scan the human body using magnetic fields and radio waves, used in medicine
• Medulla


  Controls unconscious activities such as heart rate and breathing rate
• Neurone


  Nerve cells. They carry an electrical message or impulse when stimulated
• Position emission tomography (PET)


  An imaging test that allows doctors to see how your brain is functioning
• The brain


  • Made up of billions of interconnected neurones and has four main regions that carry out different functions: 1. Cerebrum and cerebral cortex, 2. Cerebellum, 3. Medulla, 4. Hypothalamus
• Cerebral cortex


  • The centre of conscious thought. It also recalls memories and alters behaviour in the light of experience
• Cerebrum


  • There is localisation of brain functions in the cerebral cortex. It contains sensory areas, motor areas and association areas involved in language processing, personality, imagination and intelligence
• Investigating the brain


  1. Brain damage: Scientists stimulate different parts of the brain with a weak electrical current and ask patients to describe what they experience

  2. EEG's can be created and studied, to observe the electrical activity in the brain

  3. An MRI scan builds up a three-dimensional picture of the anatomy of the brain

  4. A FMRI can be used to identify which parts of the brain are active when patients carry out various tasks

  5. PET brain scans: The scan captures images of the activity of the brain as radioactive "tracers" have been absorbed into the bloodstream. These tracers are attached to compounds like glucose (sugar)
• Cerebrum


  • The cerebrum has two distinct hemispheres - the left hemisphere and right hemisphere. Information from one side of the body is processed in the opposite side of the cerebrum. The left cerebral hemisphere deals with information from the right visual field and controls the right side of the body and vice versa. Transfer of information between the cerebral hemispheres occurs through the corpus callosum
• Double scale graph


  A graph with two different scales, one on the left and one on the right, to display two different sets of data
• Important to take time to read the graph and scales correctly, and to read the question properly to ensure the answer is in the correct format