1. Brain
Structure

2. Pieces of the Cerebral Cortex
Major Lobes of the Brain
8 lobes total (4 on each side)
Lobes of the Brain
Pieces of the Cerebral Cortex

3. Frontal and Parietal Lobes
Frontal Lobes:
Behind forehead
Involved in making plans,
judgment, emotional control, abstract thought.
Parietal Lobes:
Crown of your head
Includes your sensory cortex
Used for general processing
especially mathematical & spatial reasoning

4. Temporal Lobes Behind ears, auditory functions
Processes the meaning of written & spoken language
Sound doesn’t need to be real, auditory hallucinations activate the temporal lobe
Right side enables us to recognize faces
Prosopagnosia: ability to identify features of a face, but unable to recognize the person (3:30)

5. Occipital Lobes
Back of brain, above cerebellum
Visual functions
Impulses from our eyes are sent to the visual cortex to be interpreted
If damaged, may lose ability to recognize objects visually

6. Broca’s area and Wernicke’s area
Both located in left hemisphere
Both involved with language
Located back of frontal lobe
Controls muscles involved in producing speech
If damaged, may be unable to talk (but you can still SING!)
Common in stroke patients
Foreign Accent Syndrome (4:00)
Located in temporal lobe
Affects our ability to understand both written and/or spoken language (what others say)

7. Motor Cortex Contralateral control
Back of the frontal lobe
Contralateral control
More intricate body movements get a larger section of the motor cortex
If damaged
Lack of coordination
Paralysis

8. Sensory Cortex (somatosensory cortex)
Parietal lobe, directly behind motor cortex
Receives incoming touch, pressure, temp, pain sensations from the rest of our body
If damaged, lose touch sensitivity
The more sensitive a body part, the more space it has on the sensory cortex
One reason why we kiss with our lips and not our toes!

9. If a body part is amputated, sensory fibers terminate
Top of cortex controls bottom of body
Bottom of cortex (near your ears), controls the top of the body
Phantom sensations:
If a body part is amputated,
sensory fibers terminate
and the adjacent areas invades
that space in the cortex.
For example, if your hand is amputated, and your face
is stimulated, you will continue to feel a sensation
in your amputated hand.

10. Limbic System Wraps around the thalamus Hypothalamus Pituitary Gland
Amygdala
Hippocampus

11. Hippocampus & Amygdala
Where new memories are processed (not permanently stored!)
Damage will cause no use of short-term memory
Clive Wearing (3:00)
Processes emotions

12. Hypothalamus (next to the thalamus)
Uses pituitary gland to help control the endocrine system
When it detects an imbalance, it triggers directions for a response
Body Temp…sweat
Thirst…drink water
Hunger…eat (or stop eating)
Fight-or-Flight…RUN!!
Sexual arousal…

13. Cerebral Cortex Wrinkled surface of brain
Ultimate control of processing
Learning causes neuron connections within the cerebral cortex to grow stronger
Where long-term memories are stored

14. Thalamus Sits on top of brainstem
Receives information from all senses, EXCEPT SMELL!
Routes information to specific regions of brain (seeing, hearing, tasting, touching)
Thalamus
Thalamus
Midbrain
Brain Stem
Pons
Medulla
Spinal Cord

15. Cerebellum
“Little Brain,” sits at the back of the brain, size of a baseball
Automatically coordinates complex movements (balance, walking, dancing, or drinking from a cup)
Processes memories for skills

16. The Brainstem Controls involuntary functions
Even the most simple creatures have this
It is an extension of your spinal cord
Controls involuntary functions
sleep, swallowing, bladder control
heart beat & breathing
Filters incoming messages
It’s why you don’t act out your dreams!

17. Brain Plasticity
The idea that the brain, when damaged, will attempt to find new ways to reroute messages.
Children’s brains are more plastic than adults.

18. Synesthesia