AP Psychology Exam Review
The Brain
Brain Mnemonics by Michael Britt
www.thepsychfiles.com
Figure 2.2, p. 67
Pons - regulates waking and
relaxing.
Helpful mnemonic: Put a “d” in
pons and you have “ponds”. Ponds
are relaxing to look at. Your pons is
activated when you look at a
calm, relaxing pond.
Pons
Reticular formation - nerve network in
the brainstem that plays an important
role in controlling arousal.
Helpful mnemonic:
The medulla controls heartbeat and
breathing.
Helpful mnemonic: picture an Olympic
athlete wearing gold medals around her
neck and covering her heart and lungs.
The thalamus - the brain’s sensory
switchboard. It directs messages to the
sensory areas in the cortex and
transmits replies to the cerebellum and
medulla.
Helpful mnemonic: Hal & Amos are
traffic cops….
The Hippocampus is involved in
memory.
Helpful mnemonic:
Use “hippo-compass”: picture a hippo
who is lost and can’t remember how to
get home, so he’s using a compass.
The amygdala regulates the emotions of fear and anger.
Helpful mnemonics:
If you’re familiar with
attack planes, a “MIG”
is a scary attack fighter jet.
The thalamus is the brain’s sensory
switchboard. It directs messages to the
sensory areas in the cortex and
transmits replies to the cerebellum and
medulla.
Helpful mnemonic: Hal & Amos are
traffic cops….
The cerebellum, or the “little brain”
helps coordinate voluntary movements
and balance.
Helpful mnemonic:
The hypothalamus directs eating,
drinking, body temperature, and
control of emotions, and helps govern
the endocrine system via the pituitary
gland.
Helpful mnemonic:
Picture a HYPOdermic needle spraying two
thirsty llamas with water to quench their
thirst and cool them down.
The cerebral cortex is the
intricate fabric of
interconnected neural cells that
covers the cerebral
hemispheres. It is the body’s
ultimate control and
information processing center.
Helpful mnemonic:
Imagine a Texas hat on your
head which is covering the
outermost part of your brain –
the cor"tex".
The Corpus Callosum connects
the two hemispheres.
Helpful mnemonic:
corPLUS calloSUM
The two hemispheres of the
brain communicate through
the Corpus Callosum.
Helpful mnemonic:
Picture “corpus CALL
SOMEONE”
Each brain hemisphere is divided
into four lobes that are separated
by prominent fissures. These
lobes are:
frontal lobe (forehead)
parietal lobe (top to rear head)
occipital lobe (back of head)
temporal lobe (side of head)
Helpful mnemonic:
Freud
Tore
his
Pants
Off
The Frontal Lobe is where complex
thinking occurs.
Helpful mnemonic:
Use “front door” as your
mnemonic. Put the front door on
your forehead and put Einstein
(complex thinker) behind the door.
The Temporal Lobe is
where auditory processing
occurs.
Helpful mnemonic:
Use “tempo” as your
mnemonic and picture a
metronome above your ear
(where the temporal lobe is
located)
The Parietal Lobe processes sensory information.
Helpful mnemonic:
Use a “piranha” fish as your mnemonic. The piranha
bites you on the top of the head (where the parietal
lobe is located). That’s a sensation the parietal lobe
would process!
The Occipital Lobe processes visual
information.
Helpful mnemonic:
Use the “Occ” part of the word
Occipital and imagine an octopus.
Then, picture eyeballs instead of
suckers on the tentacles.
Broca’s Area is the area of the brain responsible for
producing speech. If it is damaged, you can understand
what someone says, but their speech is disjointed.
Helpful mnemonic:
“Broca’s speech is broken” or “Broca’s banter is broken”
Wernicke’s Area is responsible for the comprehension
of speech. If you have an aphasia in this area of the
brain you are unable to understand and respond to
what people are saying to you.
Helpful mnemonic:
In other words, “Wernicke’s comprehension is crappy”.