Braintastic! A Stiles Original Production As you might imagine, larger animals have larger brains. However, this does not mean that animals with larger brains are smarter than animals with smaller brains. For example, a larger brain is necessary to control larger muscles in larger animals and a larger brain is necessary to process more sensory information from the skin in larger animals - this has nothing to do with intelligence. Possible human ancestor lived 3 million years ago.. Female, little under 4 feet, apelike head, protruding jaw, uneven teeth, Skull held brain roughly 1/3 the size of modern day humans 1/2 million years ago…Homo erectus (man, upright) brain size doubled that of Lucy’s. HomoSapien: Wise Human Our species began about 400,000 years ago. Two possible explanations for brain size change. Accidental changes in gentic instructions and natural selection which means that only those best fitted to their environments will survive. Braintastic! A Stiles Original Production

Brain Imaging Techniques PET Scan-reflects blood flow; chemical activity. MRI-unsurpassed in anatomical detail fMRI-combines strategies CT Scan- x-ray, shows structure, not function. Angiography EEG-brain waves PET Scans images reflect blood flow as well as metabolic and chemical activity in the brain. MRI uses the detection of radio frequency signals produced by displaced radio waves in a magnetic field. It provides an anatomical view of the brain. Advantages: No X-rays or radioactive material is used. Provides detailed view of the brain in different dimensions. Safe, painless, non-invasive. No special preparation (except the removal of all metal objects) is required from the patient. Patients can eat or drink anything before the procedure. Disadvantages: Expensive to use. Cannot be used in patients with metallic devices, like pacemakers. Cannot be used with uncooperative patients because the patient must lie still. Cannot be used with patients who are claustrophobic (afraid of small places). However, new MRI systems with a more open design are now available. Functional MRI detects changes in blood flow to particular areas of the brain. It provides both an anatomical and a functional view of the brain. CT scans use a series of X-ray beams passed through the head. The images are then developed on sensitive film. This method creates cross-sectional images of the brain and shows the structure of the brain, but not its function. Angiography Angiography involves a series of X-rays after dye is injected into the blood. This method provides an image of the blood vessels of the brain. Electroencephalography uses electrodes placed on the scalp to detect and measure patterns of electrical activity emanating from the brain.

Lobes and I don’t mean ear lobes Frontal lobes: reasoning, personality, emotions, and motor behaviors. Parietal lobes: perception and sensory experiences. Occipital lobes: processes visual information Temporal lobes: is involved with hearing and speaking.

Frontal Lobe The frontal lobe can be kind of confusing because it has such a wide range of functions (motor movements to cognitive process) Front part of the brain, involved in planning, organizing, problem solving, slective attention, personality and a variety of “higher cognitive functions” including behavior and emotions. The anterior (front) portion of the frontal lobe is called the prefrontal cortex. It is very important for the “higher cognitive functions” and the determination of the personality. The posterior (back) of the frontal lobe consists of the premotor and motor areas. Nerve cells that produce movement are located in the motor areas. The premotor areas serve to modify movements. The frontal lobe is divided from the parietal lobe by the central culcus. (sulcus) Phineas Gage’s Skull Frontal Lobotomy: 1936- Egas Moniz (Portugal) Removed about a 1/3 of the frontal lobe. This surgical procedure ended in the 1950’s because of mixed results and antipsychotic drugs.

Would you like to meet Phineas Gage?

The MOTOR CORTEX (Frontal Lobe) The body’s parts (muscles) are individually controlled by the MOTOR CORTEX This bizarre drawing uses sizes of body parts to show the ability to perform complex movements. (The larger the space on the “MC” the body part occupies the more complex movement it will be able to make) Besides triggering voluntary movements, the motor cortex may also be involved in remembering the order of how stimuli occur across time. The MC is a narrow strip of cortex that is located on the back edge of the frontal lobe and extends down its side. The motor cortex is involved in the initiation of all voluntary movements. Much of our knowledge about the frontal lobe comes from individuals that have suffered brain damage. Brain lesions, Brain Imaging techniques. Motor Homunculus The right motor cortex controls muscles on the left side of the brain and vice versa.

Processes sensory info. (pressure, touch, pain) The sensory cortex is a narrow strip located on the front edge of the parietal lobe. Notice the size of the lips. Body parts that occupy more space on the SC are more sensitive to external stimulation. PARIETAL LOBE: This model shows what a man's body would look like if each part grew in proportion to the area of the cortex of the brain concerned with its sensory perception. Processes sensory info. (pressure, touch, pain) The parietal cortex is mainly concerned with integration of sensory and motor information to form cognition and to construct a spatial coordinate system to represent the world around us. The Sensory Cortex processes sensory information about touch, location of limbs, pain and temperature. The right side receives info from the left side of the body and vice versa. Each body part has its own area on the SC, meaning damage to one part could result in the loss of feeling to one part but spare others. (There is more overlap of between body parts on the Motor Cortex) When you put your hand in your pocket , you can easily tell a key from a nickel from a stick of chewing gum because your parietal lobe digests info about texture, shape, and size and tells you what the object is. However, patients with damage to the back of their parietal lobes cannot recognize common objects by touch or feel. Evidence that the parietal lobes are involved in other cognitive processes comes from studies using PET scans. Researchers asked subjects to remember letters they saw on a screen by repeating them over and over in their minds. Pet scans, indicated that maximum activity during this task occurred in the parietal lobe. Research concluded that the parietal lobe is involved when we try to remember things. The parietal lobe is located directly behind the frontal lobe. The parietal lobe’s functions include processing sensory information from body parts, which included touching, locating positions of limbs, and feeling temperature and pain, and carrying out several cognitive functions, such as attending to and perceiving objects. Case studies using PET scans conclude that the parietal lobe is also involved in several cognitive functions, including recognizing objects, remembering items, and perceiving and analyzing objects in space. (chess pieces) Touch, location of limbs, spatial coordination

Temporal Lobe: involved in hearing, speaking coherently, and understanding verbal and written material. The Primary Auditory Cortex (top edge) receives electrical signals from receptors in the ears. Auditory Association Area. Further processing—makes sense out of sensations. Wernicke’s Area (left temporal lobe) is necessary for speaking in coherent sentences and for understanding speech. Primary auditory cortex Auditory Association Area The Primary Auditory Cortex (top edge) receives electrical signals from receptors in the ears and transforms these signals into meaningless sound sensations, such as vowels and consonants. For these sound sensations to become recognizable they must be sent to another area in the temporal lobe, the Auditory Association Area. Selective attention to visual or auditory input is common with damage to the temporal lobes (Milner, 1968). Left side lesions result in decreased recall of verbal and visual content, including speech perception. Right side lesions result in decreased recognition of tonal sequences and many musical abilities. Right side lesions can also effect recognition of visual content (e.g. recall of faces). The temporal lobes are involved in the primary organization of sensory input (Read, 1981). Individuals with temporal lobes lesions have difficulty placing words or pictures into categories. Language can be affected by temporal lobe damage. Left temporal lesions disturb recognition of words. Right temporal damage can cause a loss of inhibition of talking. The temporal lobes are highly associated with memory skills. Left temporal lesions result in impaired memory for verbal material. Right side lesions result in recall of non-verbal material, such as music and drawings. Seizures of the temporal lobe can have dramatic effects on an individual's personality. Temporal lobe epilepsy can cause perseverative speech, paranoia and aggressive rages (Blumer and Benson, 1975). Severe damage to the temporal lobes can also alter sexual behavior (e.g. increase in activity) (Blumer and Walker, 1975). Damage to Wernicke’s area results in aphasia, which is a difficulty in understanding spoken or written words and a difficulty in putting words into meaningful sentences.

If you have ever been hit on the back if the head and saw “Stars”, you already know that vision is located in the OCCIPITAL LOBE. Primary visual cortex Visual Association Area The individual that was asked to copy the above pictures mistakenly identified the bird as a tree trunk. Neglect Syndrome: refers to the failure of a patient to see objects or parts of the body on the side opposite the brain damage. Patients may dress only one side of their body and deny that opposite body parts are theirs (“that is not my leg”) A patient with neglect syndrome caused by right side brain damage was asked to copy a clock. The patient drew only the right side of the clock because he did not recognize things on his left side. The PVC receives electrical signals from receptors in the eyes and transforms these signals into meaningless basic visual sensations, such as lights, lines, shadows, colors, and textures. The VAA transforms basic sensations into complete, meaningful visual perceptions. In visual agnosia, the individual fails to recognize some object, person, or color, yet has the ability to see and even describe pieces of parts of some visual stimulus Neglect Syndrome

Corpus Callosum Pituitary Gland Thalamus Hypothalamus Connects hemispheres limbic system Emotional link Thalamus Relay sensory information Forebrain- The anterior and largest portion of the brain; includes the cerebral hemispheres, the limbic system, the thalamus and hypothalamus, and the corpus callosum. Thalamus-relay sensory information Hypothalamus- helps to control the body's metabolism by exerting an influence on the pituitary gland, which is involved in the regulation of the sleep and wake states. Pituitary Gland…master gland An endocrine gland situated at the base of the hypothalamus at the base of the brain. It is divided into anterior and posterior portions, each of which secretes different hormones, including adrenocorticotropic hormone and growth hormone (anterior) and oxytocin and antidiuretic hormone (posterior). Midbrain  The midbrain  sits between the forebrain  and the hindbrain  and is approximately 2 cm long. It forms a major part of the brainstem  ; the name given to the part of the brain which connects the spinal cord  Pituitary Gland Secretes hormones-growth Hypothalamus Controls body Metabolism Regulates Drives Maintenance Duties

Positioned between the hindbrain and the forebrain, the midbrain forms part of the brainstem and connects the brainstem to the forebrain. The midbrain is responsible for controlling sensory processes. Connects the brainstem to the forebrain. The midbrain is responsible for controlling sensory processes.

Survival Functions The area of the brain comprising the pons, medulla and cerebellum. The hindbrain functions collectively to co-ordinate motor activity, posture, equilibrium and sleep patterns and regulate unconscious but essential functions, such as breathing and blood circulation. The hindbrain functions collectively to co-ordinate motor activity, posture, equilibrium and sleep patterns and regulate unconscious but essential functions, such as breathing and blood circulation.

Anencephaly: Born with little or no brain tissue. Always Fatal. Survival is limited to days. The longest a baby has survived with anencephaly is 2 months. One reason babies can survive for a short while with virtually no Forebrain is because they may have parts of their hindbrain. (Pons, Medulla) Medulla controls vital reflexes. It is the functions of the forebrain that define us as human and distinguish us from other creatures. Joseph Loren, 1999 If some brain or nervous tissue is present, it is totally exposed and often damaged because the top of the skill is missing. Survival is usually limited to days. Anencephaly is always fatal because I also includes other serious physical defects, such as damage to the heart. Lacking most of a brain means that Joseph would be incapable of perceiving, thinking, speaking, planning, or making decisions. The hindbrain contains the the pons and medulla. The medulla controls vital reflexes, such as breathing, heart rate, and blood pressure, which together can maintain life for a period of time. This example of anencephaly shows that without the forbrain, a baby may be physiologically alive but show no signs of having a mind or possessing cognitive abilities associated with being human. In a real sense, it is the functions of the forebrain’s four loves that define us as human and distinguish us from all other creatures.