Evolutionary
Endocrine
System
Building
Blocks
Biological
Psychology
Genetics
Neurons
Nervous
System
Central
Nervous
System
Peripheral
Nervous
System
Motor
Brain
Brain
Imaging
Spinal
Cord
Autonomic
Sensory
Somatic
We are
here
Sympathetic
Neurotransmitters
Parasympathetic
The Brain
Facts about the brain
• Weight= 2.87-3.1 pounds
• Men’s brains are slightly larger than
women’s brains (HOWEVER size does Not
equal intelligence level! )
Ways we Study the Brain
•
•
•
•
•
•
Accidents/Injuries
Lesions/Stimulation
CAT Scan
PET Scan
MRI
Functional MRI
Accidents/Injuries
Phineas Gage
• Personality changed
after the accident.
What this this tell us?
• That different parts
of the brain control
different aspects of
who we are.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oPA
qTP7058Q
Lesions
• Removal or destruction
of some part of the
brain.
• Destroyed part of the
temporal lobe in Rhesus
monkeys, and they
became less aggressive
and less fearful.
(Destroyed the area that
controlled aggression.
Stimulation
• Electrodes may be used to set off the firing
of neurons
• EX: If you apply a current to the temporal
lobe of the brain during surgery, you might
hear a familiar song so clearly you think the
song is playing in the operating room!
– Also used to relieve intolerable pain of cancer
patients and to control violent behavior in
otherwise uncontrollable patients.
https://www.youtube
.com/watch?v=M_fji
EOb40M
Electroencephalogram
• EEG
• Detects brain
waves through the
electricity of
neural
communication.
• Used frequently in
sleep research.
Computerized Axial Tomography
• CAT Scan
• 3D X-Ray of the
brain.
• Good for tumor
locating, or finding
brain deterioration
but tells us nothing
about function.
Magnetic Resonance Imaging
• MRI
• More detailed
picture of brain
using magnetic
field to knock
electrons off axis.
• Takes many still
pictures and turns
images into a movie
like production.
Positron Emission tomography
(PET Scan)
• Used to see which brain areas are being
activated while performing tasks
– The scan changes when one is talking v. when
one is looking at a piece of art.
• Involves injecting a slightly radioactive
solution into the blood and then measuring
the amount of radiation absorbed by blood
cells.
– Active neurons absorb more radioactive
solution than non-active ones.
Functional MRI
• Combination of PET and MRI
Evolutionary
Endocrine
System
Building
Blocks
Biological
Psychology
Genetics
Neurons
Nervous
System
Central
Nervous
System
We are
here
Peripheral
Nervous
System
Motor
Brain
Brain
Imaging
Spinal
Cord
Autonomic
Sympathetic
Neurotransmitters
Sensory
Somatic
Parasympathetic
The Brain
i. Brain Stem
Medulla, Pons, Reticular Formation, Cerebellum, and
the Thalamus
ii. Limbic System
Hypothalamus, Amygdala, and the Hippocampus
iii. Cerebral Cortex (Left and Right Hemispheres and
the corpus callosum) Occipital Lobe, Parietal Lobe,
Temporal Lobe, and the Frontal Lobe, Primary Motor
Cortex and Primary Sensory Cortex, Wernicke's Area
and Broca's Area
“Older” Brain Structures
The Brainstem is the oldest part of the brain,
beginning where the spinal cord swells and enters
the skull. It is responsible for automatic survival
functions.
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Brain Stem
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The Brain Stem/Hindbrain
(Automatic Functions)
Brain Structure
Primary Function
Secondary Function
Medulla
Respiration, blood
pressure, heart rate
Vomiting
Pons
Puts you to sleep
Reticular Formation
Attention, regulates
awareness
Cerebellum
Balance&coordination;
implicit memory
Thalamus
Directs sensory
information to the rest
of the brain (except
smell)
Hindbrain: Cerebellum
Means “little brain”
The Limbic System
The Limbic System is a
doughnut-shaped
system of neural
structures at the border
of the brainstem and
cerebrum, associated
with emotions such as
fear, aggression and
drives for food and sex.
It includes the
hippocampus, amygdala,
and hypothalamus.
30
Limbic System (Emotion Center)
Brain Structure
Primary Function
Hypothalamus
Food, fight/flight, Fahrenheit, sex
Amygdala
Fear & Agression
Hippocampus
STM to LTM
Reward Center
Rats cross an electrified grid for selfstimulation when electrodes are placed in
the reward (hypothalamus) center (top
picture).
Sanjiv Talwar, SUNY Downstate
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Cerebral Cortex
/Forebrain
The intricate fabric of interconnected neural cells
that covers the cerebral hemispheres. It is the body’s
ultimate control and information processing center.
The Cerebral Cortex
• 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 2
large Pizzas.
Cerebral Cortex
Brain Structure
Primary Function
Occipital Lobe
Visual Processing
Parietal Lobe
Frontal Lobe
Spatial Reasoning
Decision Making
Temporal Lobe
Motor Cortex
Auditory sensory
information
Movement
Sensory Cortex
Wernicke’s Area
Sensation
Understanding Speech
Broca’s Area
Producing Speech
Structure of the Cortex
Each brain hemisphere
is divided into four
lobes that are separated
by prominent fissures.
These lobes are the
frontal lobe (forehead),
parietal lobe (top to rear
head), occipital lobe
(back head) and
temporal lobe (side of
head).
Frontal Lobes
• Abstract thought (planning)
and emotional control (think
Gage).
• Contains Motor Cortex:
sends signals to our body
controlling muscle
movements.
• Contains Broca’s Area:
responsible for controlling
muscles that produce
speech.
• Damage to Broca’s Area is
called Broca’s Aphasia:
unable to make movements
to talk.
Parietal Lobes
Where would this
girl feel the most
pain from her
sunburn?
• Contain Sensory
Cortex: receives
incoming touch
sensations from
rest of the body.
• Most of the
Parietal Lobes are
made up of
Association Areas.
Temporal Lobes
• Process sound sensed
by our ears.
• Interpreted in
Auditory Cortex.
• Contains Wernike's
Area: interprets
written and spoken
speech.
• Wernike's Aphasia:
unable to understand
language: the syntax
and grammar jumbled.
Occipital Lobes
• Deals with vision.
• Contains Visual
Cortex: interprets
messages from our
eyes into images we
can understand.
Functions of the Cortex
The Motor Cortex is the area at the rear of the frontal
lobes that control voluntary movements. The Sensory
Cortex (parietal cortex) receives information from skin
surface and sense organs.
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Visual/Auditory Function
The functional MRI scan
shows the visual cortex
is active as the subject
looks at faces.
Language
Aphasia is an impairment of language, usually caused by
left hemisphere damage either to Broca’s area (impaired
speaking) or to Wernicke’s area (impaired understanding).
Association Areas
• Any area not associated with receiving sensory information
or coordinating muscle movements. More intelligent
animals have increased “uncommitted” or association areas
of the cortex.
Brain Activity when Hearing, Seeing,
and Speaking Words
Decreasing Left-handers
Brain Plasticity
• The idea that the
brain, when
damaged, will
attempt to find
news ways to
reroute
messages.
• Children’s brains
are more plastic
than adults.