What is a naturally or experimentally caused destruction of the brain?
Lesion
What is an amplified recording of the waves of electrical activity sweeping across the brain's surface?
EEG (electroencephalogram); waves measured by the electrodes placed on the scalp
What is a visual display of brain activity that detects where a radioactive form of glucose goes while the brain performs a give task?
PET (positron emission tomography); scans "hot spots" of the brain
What is a technique that uses magnetic fields and radio waves to produce computer generated images of soft tissue?
MRI (magnetic resonance imaging); shows brain anatomy
What is a technique that reveals blood flow in the brain but still shows the brain function/structure?
fMRI (functional MRI)
What is the brain's oldest and innermost region?
The brainstem
What is located at the base of the brainstem and controls heartbeat & breathing?
The medulla
What sits above the medulla and helps coordinate movements/control sleep?
Pons
What plays an important role in controlling arousal and involves the nerve network running through the brain stem & thalamus?
Reticular information
What is the area at the top of the brainstem that directs sensory messages to the cortex and transmits replies to the cerebellum/medulla?
Thalamus
What aids in judgement of time, sound, texture, discrimination, emotional control and stores information of awareness?
Cerebellum "little brain"; enables nonverbal learning and skill memory
What sits between the brain's older parts and its cerebral hemispheres?
The Limbic system
What are the neural centers of the Limbic system?
hippocampus, amygdala, and hypothalamus
What consists of two lima-bean sized neural clusters in the limbic system that is linked to emotion?
Amygdala
What is the neural structure lying below the thalamus and that directs several maintenance activities? Linked to emotion/reward
Hypothalamus; helps govern endocrine system via the pituitary gland
What is the center for emotions, memory and drives?
Hippocampus
How is the body wired?
Nerves from the left side of the brain are mostly linked to the right side of the body and vice versa
How many hemispheres does the brain have? How many lobes does each hemisphere have?
2 & 4
What is the thin layer of of interconnected neurons covering the cerebral hemispheres?
Cerebral cortex (aka the body's ultimate control and info processing center)
What portion of the brain lies right behind the forehead and involves speaking/muscle movement and making plans/judgements?
Frontal Lobe
What portion of the brain lies at the top of the head and toward the rear and receives sensory input for touch/body position?
Parietal Lobe
What portion of the brain lies at the back of the head and receives information from visual field?
Occipital Lobe
What portion of the brain lies roughly above the ears and includes areas that receive information from the ears?
Temporal Lobe
Who discovered this at the rear of the frontal lobes and can cause body part movement?
Fritsch & Hitzig; motor cortex
What are the sensory function of the cortex?
somatosensory cortex, visual cortex, auditory cortex
What is the area at the front of the parietal lobes that registers and processes body touch and movement sensations?
Somatosensory cortex
What areas of the cortex are not involved in primary motor or sensory function but involved in higher mental functions such as learning, remembering, thinking and speaking?
Association areas
Which cortex involves occipital lobes, at rear of the cortex, and the brain receives input from your eyes?
Visual cortex
Which cortex involves the temporal lobes, located above the ears, and receives info from the ears?
Auditory cortex
What happens when one hemisphere is damaged early in life?
The other hemisphere will assume many functions by reorganizing or building new pathways; the brain sometimes mends itself by forming neurons through neurogenesis
What does constraint-induced therapy do?
-aims to rewire the brain & improve dexterity of brain-damged people
-blind/deaf people make unused brain read available for other uses
-similar reassignment occurs
What is split brain hemisphere?
Isolating hemispheres by cutting fibers connecting them (mainly those of the corpus callosum)
