Tutorial 5
1
HP2200 Biological Psychology AY24/25 Sem
HP2200 Tutorial 5: The subcortical brain
Overview of the task
In this tutorial, we will be focusing on the subcortical brain. We have touched upon various
subcortical structures throughout this course. For instance, in recent weeks we have learnt
that the amygdala is a major processing center for emotions and threatening stimuli, and the
hypothalamus is largely involved in relaying sensory signals This exercise is intended for you
to familiarize yourself with the subcortical brain anatomy.
You will need to collect 6 tubs of play-doh
 2 tubs of the same color for the left hemisphere of the cerebral cortex
 4 tubs of other colors
Instructions (please read through 1 to 6 before you discuss with your group members
how you want to do this)
1. The reference model can be accessed from the HP2200 NTUlearn course site. Click on
Tutorial materials in the sidebar, then the ‘Tutorial 5: subcortical brain’ item.
2. Note that for this 3D model, the cerebellum and the ventricles have been removed. So for
instance, if you move your cursor over where the cerebellum is supposed to be located,
you will see the ‘Right-Cerebellum-Cortex’ appear beside your cursor, even though you
don’t see the cerebellum. You can simply ignore this.
3. For the left hemisphere of the cerebral cortex, you will need to use 2 tubs of the same
color. This cerebral cortex has to be placed flat on the yellow envelope; so you do not
need to bother about the contours of the cortical surface
4. Mold the 9 subcortical regions:
 Brain stem
 Amygdala
 Hippocampus
 Thalamus (labelled as -Thalamus-Proper in the model)
 Hypothalamus (labelled as Right-Ventral-DC in the model)
 Pallidum
 Putamen
 Nucleus accumbens (labelled as Right-Accumbens-area in the model)
 Caudate
5. Just as before, please refer to the molds by the names of the cells they represent; do not
simply use generic names like the ‘yellow part’, ‘red sausage’ etc.
6. These 9 subcortical regions will have to be placed on top of the medial surface of the left
hemisphere of the cerebral cortex, such that if you look down at the yellow envelope, you
should see something like this (see next page)
Tutorial 5
1
HP2200 Biological Psychology AY24/25 Sem
7. When you are done with 1-6, write ‘Hippocampus’, ‘Thalamus’, ‘Hypothalamus’,
‘Caudate’ and ‘Putamen’ on the cocktail flags. Poke these cocktail flags, into their
respective brain regions. Only 5 of these regions will be labeled because there are not
enough cocktail flags
8. One of you will use your phone (preferably the one with the best camera) and access the
padlet for this tutorial using the following QR code
9. Click on the + sign below
10. Enter your group number as the subject and click submit
Tutorial 5
1
HP2200 Biological Psychology AY24/25 Sem
11. Click on ‘Add comment’ within the tab you have just created
12. Click on the camera button
13. Select the ‘Camera’ option and take a photo of the retina cells.
Show the photo to everyone in the group. If everyone is happy
with it, you can click on the ‘comment’ button to publish the
comment.
The group (everyone in the group) with the most beautiful and accurate subcortical brain will
get 1 bonus mark for participation. Good luck!