Psychology chp 4 test

• Nervous system


  Sends and receives messages through the spinal cord
• Meninges


  • Three transparent skin-like membranes that protect the brain and keep it in place
• Things that protect the brain

  • Cerebrospinal fluid
  • Meninges
  • Skull
  • Blood-brain barrier
• The brain has no sensory receptors of its own
• Grey matter


  Nerve cell bodies, makes up the outer cerebral cortex
• White matter


  Nerve fibers that connect distant brain areas, mostly found beneath the cortex
• There are about 86 billion individual nerve cells called neurons in the brain, which form neural pathways
• Brain vs Heart debate

  Whether the brain or heart is the source of thoughts, feelings, and behavior
• Mind-body problem


  Whether the mind and body are separate entities or one and the same
• Mind-brain problem


  The relationship between brain activity and conscious experience
• Phrenology


  Proposed localization of brain function, with characteristics and mental abilities controlled by different parts of the brain
• Brain ablation


  Intentional destruction or removal of part of the brain
• Brain lesioning


  Intentional disruption or damage to the normal structure or function of part of the brain
• Pierre Flourens experimented with damaging or removing small areas of brain tissue in animals to observe effects on behavior, but his research was criticized as not being precise and lacking detailed reports
• Karl Lashley used brain lesioning and ablation to search for the location of learning and memory in the brain, but failed to produce amnesia and concluded that learning and memory were distributed throughout the brain
• Karl Lashley's principles of brain function

  • Mass action: large areas of the brain function in complex functions, and loss of function depends on amount of cortex destroyed
  • Equipotentiality: any healthy part of the cortex can take over the function of an injured part
• Electrical stimulation of the brain (ESB)


  Using an electrode to stimulate or detect electrical activity in the brain, which may initiate or inhibit a response
• Gustaz and Edward found five sites that when stimulated triggered distinctive movements on the opposite side of the body, demonstrating the opposite side function of limb movement in the motor cortex
• Wilder Penfield used ESB to map the cerebral cortex with patients as research participants, to precisely identify abnormal and normal tissue before epilepsy surgery, though this technique is no longer used as it is potentially harmful
• Split brain surgery


  Cutting the corpus callosum to reduce the incidence and severity of epileptic seizures
• Sperry and Gazzina's split brain experiments showed that visual information sent to the right hemisphere could not be verbally reported, as speech is controlled by the left hemisphere
• Structural neuroimaging


  Techniques that produce scans or images showing the brain's structure and anatomy
• Functional neuroimaging


  Techniques that provide views of some aspect of brain function by showing images of the brain at work
• Computerized tomography (CT)


  Scan that uses x-rays to create a cross-sectional image of the brain, useful for identifying abnormalities and injuries
• Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)


  Scan that uses magnetic fields to generate a detailed computer image of the brain's anatomy
• Positron emission tomography (PET)


  Scan that produces color images showing brain structure, activity, and function by tracking a radioactive tracer
• Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI)

  Scan that detects and records brain activity by measuring oxygen consumption across the brain
• The brain is an intricate network of cells that plays a vital role in processing information and directing responses
• Parts of the hindbrain


  • Medulla
  • Pons
  • Cerebellum
• Medulla


  Smallest part of the brain, continuation of the spinal cord, controls vital bodily functions
• Pons


  Small bundle of neural tissue involved in sleep, dreaming, waking, breathing, and muscle movement, also relays messages between brain areas
• Cerebellum


  Located at the base of the brain, coordinates fine muscle movements and regulates posture and balance
• Midbrain


  Collection of structures involved with movement, visual processing, auditory processing, sleep, and waking
• Reticular formation


  Network of neurons that helps screen incoming information, alerts higher brain centers, and maintains consciousness
• Parts of the forebrain

  • Hypothalamus
  • Thalamus
  • Cerebrum
• Hypothalamus


  Vital role in maintaining homeostasis, regulates the release of hormones
• Thalamus


  Filters and passes on sensory information to relevant areas of the brain for processing
• Cerebrum


  Largest and most prominent part of the brain, responsible for complex cognitive processes like thinking, learning, memory, and emotions
• Cerebral cortex


  Outer surface of the cerebrum, involved with complex mental abilities like perception, learning, memory, and voluntary movement
• Cerebral cortex areas


  • Sensory areas
  • Motor areas
  • Association areas