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Nervous SystemCentral

Nervous System

Brain

Brain Imaging

Peripheral Nervous System

Building Blocks

Genetics

EvolutionaryEndocrine

System

Neurotransmitters

SomaticAutonomic

Sympathetic Parasympathetic

Biological Psychology

Spinal Cord

Neurons

SensoryMotor

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=oPAqTP7058Q

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_fjiEOb40M

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

We are here

Nervous SystemCentral

Nervous System

Brain

Brain Imaging

Peripheral Nervous System

Building Blocks

Genetics

EvolutionaryEndocrine

System

Neurotransmitters

SomaticAutonomic

Sympathetic Parasympathetic

Biological Psychology

Spinal Cord

Neurons

SensoryMotor

The Braini. Brain Stem

Medulla, Pons, Reticular Formation, Cerebellum, and the Thalamus

ii. Limbic SystemHypothalamus, 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

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“Older” Brain StructuresThe 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

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”

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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.

The Limbic System

Limbic System (Emotion Center)Brain Structure Primary Function

Hypothalamus Food, fight/flight, Fahrenheit, sex

Amygdala Fear & Agression

Hippocampus STM to LTM

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Rats cross an electrified grid for self-stimulation when electrodes are

placed in the reward (hypothalamus) center (top picture).

Reward CenterS

anjiv Talwar, S

UN

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ownstate

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 Spatial Reasoning

Frontal Lobe Decision Making

Temporal Lobe Auditory sensory information

Motor Cortex Movement

Sensory Cortex Sensation

Wernicke’s Area 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• Contain Sensory

Cortex: receives incoming touch sensations from rest of the body.

• Most of the Parietal Lobes are made up of Association Areas.

Where would this girl feel the most pain from her sunburn?

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.

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Functions of the CortexThe 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.

Visual/Auditory Function

The functional MRI scan shows the visual cortex is

active as the subject looks at faces.

LanguageAphasia 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.