The brain is one of the most complex organ in our bodies. To learn about the brain scientists use electrical stimulation. Electrical stimulation consists of using electrical probes to determine functions of the brain. Clinical observation of patients have also helped scientists learn more about the brain. Case studies of different patients such as Phineas Gage have helped to learn about the different functions of the brain and how they work together to perform complex activities. (Barron’s AP Psychology 6th Edition)
Different maps are taken of the brain in order to determine if there are any problems with the brain. An electroencephalogram (EEG) is used an amplified read out of the brain waves. A magnetic resonance imaging scan (MRI) gives
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a detailed picture of the brain’s soft tissues. It also shows the structure of the brain. A function magnetic resonance imaging scan or function MRI (fMRI) shows the function of parts of the brain as well as the brain’s structure. It also has the ability to show when a person is lying. Scientists also use a neuroimaging technique called a positron emission tomography scan (PET scan) to view the brain. (Barron’s AP Psychology 6th Edition) The PET scan shows each brain area’s consumption of chemical fuel which is glucose. There is a scale for the PET scan to determine activity in the brain when performing a certain action. The colors range from purple to red, purple represents no activity while red represents very high activity. The PET scan can be used to determine if a patient has Alzheimer’s disease. (Psychology Eighth Edition in modules, David Myers) The three sections of the brain are the midbrain, forebrain, and hindbrain. In the hindbrain is the brainstem. This is the oldest and innermost region of the brain. This is located on the spinal cord and then enters the skull. On the brainstem is the medulla and the pons. The brainstem swells slightly to form the medulla. The medulla controls heartbeat and breathing while the pons coordinates movement. The pons also keeps your attention and keeps you awake and alert. (The Brain, Gale Resources Science In Context) The midbrain consists of the reticular formation, thalamus, and cerebellum.
The reticular formation is also in the hindbrain and is a network of neurons that runs from the spinal cord to the thalamus. This is where the sensory input travels through and this controls awareness. It gets your attention while the pons keeps your attention. The thalamus is similar to a train station or a telephone switchboard. It receives information from all of the sense except smell. It sends this information to the brain regions that deal with that respective sense. The thalamus also receives higher brain replies and directs this replies to the medulla and cerebellum. The cerebellum extends out from the brain stem. It is located in the back of your head. Cerebellum is Latin for little brain and the cerebellum looks like a miniature brain. It is the size of a boy’s baseball and coordinates voluntary movement. The cerebellum also enables one type of nonverbal learning and memory. It also judges time, modulate emotions, and discriminates sounds and textures. (The Brain, Gale Resources Science In …show more content…
Context) The forebrain consists of the limbic system. The limbic system consists of the hippocampus, hypothalamus, pituitary gland, and the amygdala. The amygdala is the size of a lima bean. It influences anger, fear, and aggression. If you electrify this area with an electrical probe, the person will become enraged and experience uncontrollable anger. If you lesion this area, or cut it, the person will become gentle and docile. (Barron’s AP Psychology 6th Edition) The hypothalamus is below the thalamus (hypo means below). It influences hunger, thirst, body temperature, and lebto. It also monitors blood chemistry and controls the reward centers or pleasure centers in our brain. If you lesion the top of the hypothalamus or electrically probe the bottom of the hypothalamus, the person will continually eat because they will always fill hungry. They will gain hundreds and hundreds of pounds. If you electrically probe the top of the hypothalamus or lesion the bottom of the hypothalamus, the person will stop eating because they will always fell full. They will quickly lose weight. Scientists believe that alcoholism, drug abuse, and binge eating my come from a reward center deficiency syndrome. This is the idea that people have a genetically disposed deficiency in their reward center that leads people to crave items such as drugs, alcohol, or anything else that could hurt them. The pituitary gland is the master endocrine gland. The hippocampus processes memory so that it can be moved to the long term memory. If this is removed or injured, you cannot process or create new memories. A memory is formulated in the short term memory and stays there for 3-5 seconds. It then goes to the hippocampus and is in the working memory. By studying the information, applying it to life, etc. it moves back up to the top of your head but this time to the long term memory. It stays there for five minutes up to 24 hours. (Psychology Eighth Edition in Modules, David Myers) The corpus callosum is between right and left hemisphere of the brain. It carries information between the two hemispheres. (Barron’s AP Psychology 6th Edition) This is sometimes cut to stop seizures in patients. This patients are called split-brain patients since both hemispheres of their brains can no longer communicate with each other. The cerebral cortex is a covering of interconnected neural cells which form a thin layer surface on the cerebral hemispheres.
It contains 20-23 billion nerve cells. (The Brain, Gale Resources Science In Context) These cells are glial cells and guide the neural connections. They also provide nutrients and insulate myelin. The more folds or wrinkles in the cerebral cortex, the greater its surface area. This is the body’s information processing center and is divided into four lobes. Those lobes are the frontal, parietal, temporal, and occipital lobes. The frontal lobe controls judgment, planning, personality, and inhibitions. This is where the motor cortex is located. The motor cortex is arched shaped and the more precise or the bigger the movement is the more cortical space is needed in the arch (ex: moving your leg requires more cortical space than moving your finger). This allows the left hemisphere of the brain to control the right side of your body and the right hemisphere of the brain to control the left side of your body. The parietal lobe controls touch and smell. This is where the sensory cortex is located. The sensory cortex is arched shaped and parallel to and behind the motor cortex. It receives incoming messages from the skin and the movement of your body parts. The larger the area devoted to the part of the body, the more intense the sensation (ex: you would feel more pain on your face than your finger). The temporal lobe controls hearing and the occipital lobe
controls vision. (Psychology: Eighth Edition in Modules, David Myers) The remaining ¾ of your brain that is not being used is called association areas. These areas integrate information and associates different sensory inputs with stored memories. There are association areas in each of the four lobes and each have different functions. (Barron’s AP Psychology 6th Edition In Modules) The association areas in the frontal lobes control judgment, planning, processing new memories, personality, and inhibitions. The association areas in the parietal lobe controls mathematical and spatial reasoning and recognizing faces. This area could be damaged and a person could have propagnosia which is the inability to recognize faces. The association area in the temporal lobe controls hearing and the association area in the occipital lobe controls vision. Aphasia is the impaired use of language. Broca’s area is located in the frontal lobe and is an association area. It controls language expression and the muscles in your tongue and throat. If this area is damaged, the person experiences impaired language. The person’s language is usually slurred or it can be worse. This area directs the muscles movements that are involved in speech. The person is able to think about what they want to say, but is unable to move their mouths to make the words due to a muscle problem in the throat. Another area in the temporal lobe has a similar effect on speech. ("Aphasia." The Gale Encyclopedia of Science. Ed. K. Lee Lerner and Brenda Wilmoth Lerner) This area is called Wernicke’s area which controls the understanding of language. If this is damage, the person speaks clearly but the words are meaningless. An example of this would be “salt earth wind chair”. The brain’s different parts work together to perform complex functions. Most of these functions happen without our awareness. (Psychology Eighth Edition In Modules, David Myers) Without our brain, we would not be able to do a multitude of activities.
Other testing procedures that are commonly employed, in order to gain a better visual image of the excitatory activity in the brain are the PET scan and the MRI. According to Kalat (2004), these methods are non-invasive, meaning that they don’t require the insertion of objects into the brain, yet they yield results that allow researchers to record brain activity. The PET scan (positron emission tomography) involves the researcher injecting a radioactive chemical into the patient’s body, which is then absorbed mainly by the brain’s most active cells. With the use of radioactive detectors, placed around the patient’s head, a map is produced that shows which areas of the brain are most active.
The brain has many different parts to it which help one function through daily life; parts such as the cerebrum which controls voluntary movement and regulates functions such as thinking, speaking and the ability to recall information. The cerebellum controls the balance and coordination and finally the brain stem, which consists of the medulla oblongata and the spinal cord which controls all involuntary functions such as breathing, heart rate and blood pressure. The brain stem is also able to carry out these actions even when someone is asleep. To fully understand how crucial the brain is to survival one must understand the functions of the brain stem.
What does the brain control in general? The brain is the control center for all body functions. The brain controls the physical movements, the five senses, and heart rate. Also, the brain controls all of our thinking functions, and how we react to things, and emotions. The brain gives us the ability to speak, imagine new things, and to problem solve. The brain controls the digestion of food, and the amount of stress you feel. The brain receives messages from all five senses. And the messages travel from nerve cells all over the body to the brain.
Brain scans -These tests can identify strokes, tumors, and other problems that can cause dementia. Scans also identify changes in the 19 brain’s structure and function. The most common scans are computed tomographic (CT) scans and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). CT scans use X-rays to produce images of the brain and other organs. MRI scans use a computer, magnetic fields, and radio waves to produce detailed images of body structures, including tissues, organs, bones, and nerves. Other types of scans let doctors watch the brain as it functions. Two of these tests are single photon-emission computed tomography, which can be used to measure blood flow to the brain, and positron emission tomography (PET), which uses radioactive isotopes to provide
As previously stated, neuroimaging science and study began in the early 1900s. The “great granddaddy” of functional brain viewing is electroencephalography, or EEG, and was invented by a German researcher by the name of Hans Berger. This exceptional neurologist discovered that the electrical activity of the brain is detectable outside the head. Following Berger’s steps, a group of scientists came up with ...
(Scientists have discovered that there are a large number of internal brain structures, which work together with the input and output brain structures to form fleeting images in the mind. Using these images, we learn to interpret input signals, process them, and formulate output responses in a deliberate, conscious, way.)
The recent advances in non-invasive brain imaging, increased computational power, and advances in signal processing methods have heightened the research in this area. As we make progress in interpreting noninvasive brain signals in time we will begin to explore applications that go beyond treatment. But for now these noninvasive methods of estimating brain activity is still something to be cautious about since it only measures the brain’s blood, oxygen consumption, glucose utilization, and more. These measurements may not be accurate enough to figure out one person’s problem. The problem again might be internal and measuring only the obvious would not aid in figuring it all out.
The dorsal portion of the diencephalon comprises three major parts: the epithalamus, the dorsal thalamus (known as the motor thalamus), and the ventral thalamus. The epithalamus consists of the pineal body, the habenular nuclei, the stria medullaris, and the associated paraventricular nuclei. All of these nuclei play key roles in limbic functions. The dorsal and ventral thalamus comprises many nuclear groups that receive inputs from several brain structures and transmits afferent signals to specific areas of the cerebral cortex, except for the RTN which projects only to other thalamic nuclei and brainstem {Jones, 2002, Thalamic organization and function after Cajal;Jones, 2007, The Thalamus}. In general, most thalamic nuclei can be classified
The biological perspective looks at how the environment and physical causes influences behavior. In the biological perspective, neuroscience plays a crucial role in explaining how the brain and the nervous system influence behaviors. Neuroscientist describes how the brain process thoughts, emotions, feelings, and how the physical body is driven by these mental processes. This branch of psychology, engages in a variety of research such as the study of genetics, brain cells, and the function of the brain across a period of time. This is done using positron emission tomography (PET). This technique is used with radio active glucose to indicate areas of activity in the brain. Another technique that is done to conduct brain research is functional magnetic resonance imaging (IMR). It uses powerful magnets and radio equipment that provides comprehensive pictures of soft tissues of the brain.
is a part of human brain connects the cerebrum with the spinal cord .it has many functions such as : it control autonomic functions of the peripheral nervous system that happen if the human wake up or sleepy ,control several important functions of the body through sending signals and messages from brain to the human body this functions like alertness ,blood pressure ,breathing ,digestion, swallowing , coughing, vomiting and heart rate.
It contains the primary motor cortex and the prefrontal cortex, which extend from the central sulcus to the anterior of the brain. The posterior part of the frontal lobe is the precentral gyrus which is specialized in the control of fine movements. The very most anterior portion of the frontal lobe is the prefrontal cortex. The neurons in this area have up to sixteen times as many dendritic spines as neurons in the occipital lobe or primary visual cortex. As a result, the prefrontal cortex is able to integrate a great deal of information (Kalat, 2004).
The area at the front of the brain is the largest. Most of it is known as the cerebrum. It controls all of the movements that you have to think about, thought and memory.
(Johannes Muller, 2014). The doctrine of specific nerve energies was his most important contribution to the study of physiology of behavior. He observed that all nerves carry the same basic message, but we discern the messaged of different nerves not the same. Because of his doctrine of specific nerve, experiments were performed directly on the brain of animals, which was done by Pierre Flourens a French physiologist. This was knows as experimental ablation. There after he claimed to have found the part of the brain which was responsible for breathing, controlling heart rate, purposeful movements and auditory reflexes. Soon after this experimental ablation was applied to a human brain. This observation led to show that a portion of the cerebral cortex on the front part of the left side of the brain performs the functions that are necessary for speech. This remains important to the understanding of the brain. (Physiology of Behavior,
The Cerebrum is the largest part of the brain , it controls certain fucntions such as perception, imagination , thought ,judgement and decision making . The surface of the Cerebrum (Cerebral cortex) is comprises of six thin layers of neurons , that rest ontop of a large surface of white matter pathways . The cortex is extemerly twisted and coiled to the point that if it is spread out, it might actually take up as much as 2.5 Square feet, and it comprises of 10 billion neurons and about 50 trillion synapses.The furthest part is the frontal lobe and is very important because its responsibility consists of voluntary movement and planning is thought to be the most significant lob for personality and intelligence .Behind the frontal Lobe is the parietal lobe, which includes the somatosensory area which happens to be just be...
electrical activity of human brain recorded from the scalp or the surface of the human