Accidents
Lesions
and
Functio
nal MRI
CAT
EEG MRI
PET
Phineas Gage Story
 Personality changed after
the accident.
What does this tell us?
 Phineas’s frontal cortex
(higher thinking) was
severed from the part of
the brain in charge of
emotions.
 Removal or
destruction of
some part of the
brain.
 Frontal Lobotomy
EEG
 Detects brain
waves through
their electrical
output.
 Used mainly in
sleep research.
 CAT Scan
 CAT(3 Words)
3D X-Ray of the brain.
 Good for tumor
locating, but tells us
nothing about
function.
 MRI
 More detailed picture of
brain using a magnetic
field to knock electrons
off axis.
 Takes many still pictures
and turns images into a
movie like production.
 PET Scan
 Measures how much of a
brain is using
chemical the
(usually glucose consumption).
 Combination of PET and MRI
1. Hindbrain
2. Midbrain
3. Forebrain
Cerebral Cortex
(part or
forebrain)
 Located just above
the spinal cord.
Involved in control of
 blood pressure
 heart rate
 breathing.
 Controls our
balance and fine
movement skills
 Coordinates simple
movements with
sensory information.
 Most important
structure in Midbrain
is the Reticular
Formation: controls
arousal and ability to
focus our attention.
 What makes us human.
 Largest part of the brain.
 Made up of the Thalamus, Limbic
System and Cerebral Cortex.
 Receives sensory
signals from the
spinal cord and
sends them to
other parts of the
forebrain.
Brain Structures:
Forebrain
The Limbic System
Emotions, our most
basic reactions, are
generated in the
Limbic system along
with the many
appetites and urges
that help us behave
in such a way to
survive.
For instance, the
Amygdala, is the
place where fear is
registered and
generated.
 Maybe most
important structure
in the brain.
Controls and regulates
 Body temperature
 Sexual Arousal
 Hunger
 Thirst
 Endocrine System
Involved in the
processing and storage
of memories.
 More involved in
volatile emotions like
anger.
 Made up of densely
packed neurons we
call “gray matter”
 Glial Cells: support
brain cells.
 Wrinkles are called
fissures.
 If you lay brain out
it would be as big as
a large Pizza 2000
pizza.
The Cerebral Cortex is made up
of four Lobes.
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h=528
 Abstract thought
and emotional
control.
 Process sound
sensed by our
ears.
WernickDecodes speech
Broca-Commands
speech
 Contain Sensory
Cortex: receives
incoming touch
sensations from
rest of the body.
 Deals with vision.
 Contains Visual
Cortex: interprets
messages from our
eyes into images we
can understand.
logic
sequential
tasks.
spatial
creative
tasks.
Connects the
2
hemispheres.
Patients with
severe epilepsy will
have a procedure
done that removes
their corpus
callosum.
 The idea that the
brain, when
damaged, will
attempt to find
news ways to
reroute messages.
 Children’s brains
are more plastic
than adults.