Da Brain & Behavior: Ways to Study the Brain, Parts of the Brain, Split Brains 1

How We Observe the Brain Phrenology – Created by Franz Gall (1796) – Bumps on head determine personality Dramatic Brain Injury – Phineas Gage Case Study (1848) – watch?v=mnAehjF7p3E watch?v=mnAehjF7p3E 2

How We Observe the Brain Electroencephalogram (EEG) An amplified recording of the electrical waves sweeping across the brain’s surface, measured by electrodes placed on the scalp. PET (positron emission tomography) Scan is a visual display of brain activity that detects a radioactive form of glucose while the brain performs a given task. MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) uses magnetic fields and radio waves to produce computer-generated images that distinguish among different types of brain tissue. Images show ventricular enlargement in a schizophrenic patient. 3

How We Observe the Brain 4 EEG PET Scan MRI f-MRI

The Old Brain (Brainstem) Medulla – Heartbeat and Breathing – Pons “bridge” – Coordinates Movement and Sleep Reticular Formation – Net of Nerves Inside the Brainstem – Controls Arousal & Alertness – Example: When you name is called Locus Coeruleus – Center of Reticular Formation – Alertness and Panic Thalamus – Signal Switchboard – Relays information to your pleasure areas – Relays senses (not smell) information to cortex areas Ex: Information from eyes to visual cortex

The Cerebellum “little brain” MAIN FUNCTION: – Coordinates balance & movement (ex. Walking, playing guitar hero) OTHER FUNCTIONS: – Judges time – Stores muscle memory – Discriminates sounds and texture

The Limbic System (Emotional) Amygdala – Aggression and Fear Hypothalamus – Hunger, Thirst, Sex, & Body Temp. – reward center & dopamine pathways Hippocampus – Memory 7

The Cerebral Cortex Frontal Lobes – Thoughts & Decision Making – Contains Motor Cortex – Contains Prefrontal Cortex In charge of logic, step-by-step decision making, morals, and emotional control Parietal Lobes – Sensation/Touch – Contains Sensory Cortex Occipital Lobes – Vision Processing – Contains Visual Cortex Temporal Lobes – Hearing & Memory – Contains auditory cortex 8

The Cerebral Cortex 9

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Association Areas Association areas deal with high level thinking such as directions and location 11

Language & The Brain Aphasia is an impairment of a language area in the brain, usually caused by left hemisphere damage. Broca’s area helps us use muscle movements for speaking and pronunciation (Aphasia here is indicated by speaking slowly with missing words) Wernicke’s area interrupts understanding of words. (aphasia of this area is indicated by garbled sentences or use of words that don’t make sense) 12 Example Aphasia: What do you do with a cigarette? Broca Aphasia: Uh…(long pause)…cigarette…uh…smoke it. Wernicke Aphasia: This is a segment of pegment, soap a cigarette.

The Brain and Language

Brain Plasticity The ability for the brain to modify itself after damage Amputation leads to phantom sensations People can generate new brain cells (Neurogenesis)

The Two Hemispheres  Our brain is divided into two hemispheres.  The left hemisphere processes reading, writing, speaking, mathematics, and comprehension skills. In the 1960s, it was termed as the dominant brain. Right Brain – Creativity – Facial Expressions 17

Which face is happier?

The Two Hemispheres 19 No Such Thing as Left-Brain or Right-Brain Dominance. You are NOT primarily left or right brained!

Split Brain Experiment (Sperry & Gazzagnia) With the corpus callosum severed, objects (apple) presented in the right visual field can be named. Objects (pencil) in the left visual field cannot. We cut the corpus callosum for seizures.

Split Brain Experiment (Sperry) 21

Split Brain Experiment (Sperry) Try drawing one shape with your left hand and one with your right hand, simultaneously. 22

Dual Processing: Who is really in control? Consciousness takes place in two forms: – High Road: Conscious ideas that we think about and readily recall – Low Road: Unconscious feelings, ides and experiences that influence our behavior and thought. About 1/3 of a second before you think of raising your hand, your brain has already started to process the movement

Are you right-handed or left-handed?

Left Right

90% population- right-handed –dominant. 10% population- left-handed or "left hand dominant." Few people use each hand equally; they are "ambidextrous."

Function: Controls Facial Neurons Controls Speech Production Understanding Language Location: Broca's area is located in the left frontal lobe, around the opercular and triangular sections of the inferior frontal gyrus.inferior frontal gyrus

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