UTS

• The human brain


  • Largest, most complex, and highly specialized organ in the body
  • Approximately 100 billion neurons
• Parts of the human brain


  • Cortex
  • Brain stem
  • Basal ganglia
  • Cerebellum
  • Cerebrum
• Specialized areas of the cerebrum


  • Occipital lobes
  • Temporal lobes
  • Parietal lobes
  • Frontal lobes
• Neuron


  The basic unit of the nervous system and a specialized cell designed to transmit information to other nerve cells, muscle, or gland cells
• How neurons communicate


  1. Dendrites receive information

  2. Information passed to cell body and axon

  3. Action potential travels along axon

  4. Action potential triggers release of neurotransmitters

  5. Neurotransmitters cross synapse to transmit message
• Action potential is an electrical signal and synapse is where the electrical signal is converted to a chemical signal
• How the brain learns


  1. Sensory information detected and transmitted by sensory neurons

  2. Information stored temporarily in short-term memory

  3. Information processed and stored in long-term memory

  4. Forgetting and degradation of memories can occur
• When two neurons regularly interact, they form a bond that allows them to transmit more easily and accurately, resulting in more complete memories and easier recall
• When two neurons rarely interact, the transmission is often incomplete, resulting in faulty memory or no memory at all
• Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and positron emission tomography (PET)


  Brain scanning techniques used to see which parts of the brain are active
• Brain areas that allow attention become most active when starting a new task, but become less active over time as the task is regularly practiced, indicating brain rewiring
• Brain areas linked with daydreaming and mind-wandering become more active as people become more familiar with a task, as neurons in those areas become more efficient and use less energy to communicate
• The cortex (the outermost layer of brain cells) is where thinking and voluntary movements begin;
• The brain stem is located between the spinal cord and the rest of the brain. Its basic function is on controlling breathing and sleep;
• The basal ganglia are cluster of structures in the center of the brain that coordinate messages between the other brain areas;
• The cerebellum is located at the base and the back of the brain that is responsible for coordination and balance;
• The cerebrum is the largest part of the brain. It is most important in the learning process, since this is where higher-order functions (e.g. memory and reasoning) takes place.
• Within the cerebrum, each specific lobe specializes a function. Occipital lobes are for sight where the brain’s visual processing system is located.
• The temporal lobes are for hearing, language, and memory.
• The parietal lobes manage the sensation of touch, handwriting, and body position.
• Lastly, the frontal lobes are responsible for motor function, reasoning abilities, problem solving and judgement. All of these are vital for learning to take place (Ford, 2011 & Hoffman, 2005).
• The Neurons A neuron or nerve cell is the basic unit of the nervous system and a specialized cell designed to transmit information to other nerve cells, muscle, or gland cells.
• Its basic parts are cell body or soma, an axon, and dendrites. The cell body or soma holds the nucleus and cytoplasm. The axon extends from the cell body and leads to many smaller branches at the ending called axon terminals. This part is also known as the sender of the message. Axons are usually covered and protected by myelin sheath which speeds up the transmission of nerve impulse along the axon.
• Dendrites are branch-like structures that extend from the cell body. It receives messages from other neurons through the
• Different types of neurons are responsible for different tasks. Sensory neurons or afferent neurons carry information from the sensory receptor cells throughout the body to the brain.
• Motor neurons or efferent neurons convey information from the brain to the muscles and glands of the body.
• Interneurons or connecting neurons are responsible for communicating information between different neurons within the central nervous system (Cherry, 2019).
• When neurons communicate, they transmit information within the neuron and from one neuron to the next. This process involves both electrical signals also known as the action potential and some chemical messengers known as neurotransmitters. In the process, the dendrites receive information from sensory receptors or other neurons which is then passed down to the cell body and towards the axon. Once the information reaches the axon, it travels along the axon in a form of an electrical signal known as an action potential.
• This action potential triggers the release of chemical messengers also called neurotransmitters which are stored in the vesicles found in the button-like swellings at the axon terminals. The action potential is then converted from electrical signal to a chemical signal. These neurotransmitters then need to cross the synapse in order to transmit the message to the next neuron, muscles, or glands of the body (Cherry 2019, Stevens, 2014, and Ford, 2011).
• How Does the Brain Learn? Ford (2011) explained that learning happens in the brain through a network of neurons. In his article, he described that from your senses, information are detected and transmitted by the sensory neurons through the synapses along the neural pathway. These are then stored temporarily in the short-term
• Once the information are processed in the STM, our brain’s neural pathways carry these memories to the structural core. This is where new memories are compared with existing memories and then stored in our long-term memory (LTM). The LTM is an immense repository of everything we have experienced in our lives from birth to present.
• Physical self


  The body, the concrete dimension, and the tangible aspect of every person that is directly observed and examined
• Physical self


  • It is a complex, marvelous container, and a finely tuned machine we use to connect with fellow beings and the environment
• William James


  Considered the body as the initial source of sensation and necessary for the origin and maintenance of personality
• William James considered the body as a constituent part for cleansing the spirit that is considered to be of supreme importance
• Erik Erikson


  The role of the bodily organ is especially important in the early developmental stages of a person's life
• Healthy children derive a sense of competence as their bodies become larger, stronger, faster, and more capable of learning complex skills
• Indian tradition


  Growth and enlightenment as the whole-body event, which is not possible until one has a pure and strong body
• Body as a biological entity


  It performs a distinct function
• Body as a social entity


  It is the most visible way of showing and expressing one's identity