Brain Anatomy L.O. To look at the main areas of the brain and describe their function.

Some good websites ce/health-and-human-body/human- body/brain-article/ ce/health-and-human-body/human- body/brain-article/ interactive interactive

Find out the function of the following brain parts: – Hippocampus – Corpus callosum – Ventricles – Amygdala – Hypothalamus – Thalamus – Hemispheres – Striatum – Cerebellum – Cortex – Cerebrum

Parts of the brain and spinal cord

Brain Lateralisation L.O. Describe the role of brain lateralisation in gender development

Questions please! Can you think of a questions to these answers? – Visual Area of the brain – Sex hormones – Temporal Lobe – Gyri – Cerebellum – Parietal Lobe – Corpous Callosum

DEFINITION Brain is divided into left and right hemisphere Left – language; right – visuo-spatial Male brain thought to be more lateralised – males access right side Female brain thought to be less lateralised Females still thought to be left hemisphere

Right hemisphere Visuo-spatial tasks Map reading Imagination Wholeness MALE DOMINATED

Left hemisphere Language processing Verbal fluency Comprising lists Sequencing FEMALE DOMINATED

Corpus callosum Thought to be larger in women Better fluency in speech and thought Better communication between hemispheres Superior ability in body language

Further thoughts The brain develops from biology and environment Male – female transsexuals: better at verbal fluency, worse at mental rotation than controls with men

Summary - women Thought to be less lateralised Thought to be left sided typically Superior verbal fluency Larger corpus callosum Larger sensory communication

Summary - men More lateralised Impaired performance in lateralised brain damage Superior mental rotation tasks Superior map reading

Language For the vast majority right-handed people, the language function is found in the left hemisphere. However, the reverse is not true for left-handers. Language is exclusive to the right hemisphere in less than 20% of left-handers and is bi-lateral (i.e. found in both halves of the cortex) in another 20%. In the majority of left- handers, however language functions are found on the left as in right-handers.

Homework Describe how genes, hormones and brain lateralisation affect gender development (4).

Brain Lateralisation What is meant by the term brain lateralisation? What are the 2 parts of the brain known as? What connects the 2 parts of the brain? It is claimed that the left and right sides of the brain are concerned with different things – what are these? What evidence is there for brain lateralisation? You will need evidence from studies here e.g. Pfeiffer