Bigger Concepts (1/6)

Hemisphere Specificity

left primarily responsible for language comprehension and creation, labeling

right primarily responsible for spatial processing

Hemisphere Specificity

Broca's Findings

patient has stroke.

damages left frontal lobe.

has language deficit (could only say tan).

Broca's area responsible for

language production

Hemisphere Specificity

Wernike's Findings

patient has stroke.

damages left temporal lobe.

has difficulty comprehending speech.

says stuff that doesn't make any sense.

Wernicke's area responsible for

language comprehension.

Hemisphere Specificity

Information Processing

visual center of left side of the brain sees right visual field (operates with right side of each eye)

and vice versa. 

Hemisphere Specificity

Hemispatial Neglect

damage to right parietal lobe.

patients can see but cannot pay attention to the left side of the visual field.

this changes based on distance the object is from the viewer

Bigger Concepts (2/6)

NEUROACTIVITY

neuron sits at resting potential.

triggered by stimulation or by chemical processes.

inside negatively charged.

charge builds until it reaches the action potential.

valves in dendrites are opened.

positive ions rush in.

action potential travels down the axon.

positive ions pumped out of the neuron.

resting potential achieved.

neurotransmitters released into synapse.

neurotransmitters come to rest in receptor sites. 

valves are opened, positive ions rush into next neuron.

neurotransmitters return to respective neuron.

Neuroactivity

AGONISTS

stimulate or facilitate actions of neurotransmitters

sometimes drugs will pretend to be a neurotransmitter or keep it from being reabsorbed

has an excitatory effect.

Neuroactivity 

ANTAGONISTS

inhibit or block actions of neurotransmitters.

has an inhibitory effect.

Bigger Concepts (3 and 4/6)

Imaging Techniques and

Methodology

extracranial brain stimulation

TMS

electrical recording

EEG

static imaging

CT or CAT, MRI

functional imaging

PET, fMRI

Imaging Techniques and Methodology

TMS

transcranial magnetic stimulation

wire coil delivers magnetic pulse.

induces pysiological current (neurons fire)

Imaging Techniques and Methodology

EEG

Electroencephalogram

recording of electrical activity in the cortex

Imaging Techniques and Methodology

CAT

Imaging Techniques and Methodology

MRI

magnetic resonance imaging

creates 3-D magnetic spatial fields

Imaging Techniques and Methodology

PET

radioactive tracer detection

scans for ¹⁵O

in bloodstream

Imaging Techniques and Methodology

fMRI

functional magnetic resonance imaging

detects changes in magnetic field 

Bigger Concepts (5/6)

Placticity

the reorganization of brain areas

after damage or change in environment

(monkey with sewn together fingers)

because of greater usage

(taxi driver with more memory devoted to maps)

phrenology

Placticity 

Phrenology

Franz Joseph Gall

different regions of brain responsible for different things

greater the ability, the larger the corresponding brain region

larger bumps on skull corresponding to personal capabilities

brain is not a single, undifferentiated system.

Anatomical Differences

HINDBRAIN

Anatomical Differences

MIDBRAIN

superior and inferior culliculi

reticular formation

Anatomical Differences

FOREBRAIN

Anatomical Differences

Structural Differences

gray matter= cell bodies 

(cerebral cortex)

white matter= axons

(inside brain)

Anatomical Differences

Frontal Lobe

planning and execution of movement/behavior

higher-order cognition

Anatomical Differences

Parietal Lobe

somatosensory perception

attention

spatial processing

Anatomical Differences

Temporal Lobe

memory

auditory processing

object recognition

Anatomical Differences

Occipital Lobe

Anatomical Differences

Motor and Somatosensory Projection Areas

motor areas in charge of motion and motor neurons

somatosensory areas in charge of feeling and sensory neurons

somatosensory homunculus=

representation of the human body in proportion to the areas of the brain