head injuries
eg. direct impact injuries, stroke, anoxia
concussion
where a person experiences loss of consciousness for a period of time
concussion may lead to
temporary or permanent brain damage, retrograde amnesia or anterograde amnesia
aphasia
impairment of language, usually caused by left hemisphere damage either to Broca's area (impairing speaking) or to Wernicke's area (impairing understanding).
broca's aphasia
condition resulting from damage to Broca's area, causing the affected person to be unable to speak fluently, to mispronounce words, and to speak slowly & little speech produced
wernicke's aphasia
condition resulting from damage to Wernicke's area, causing the affected person to be unable to understand or produce meaningful language - speech is fluent but does not make sense, words are articulated but nonsensical
spatial neglect
condition produced by damage to the back right parietal lobe causing a person to systematically ignore stimuli on the left side
split-brain studies
patients undergo invasive surgery to sever the corpus callosum, preventing communication between the two hemispheres. the left hemisphere is able to read, identify, and name items, while the right can read and identify but not name items
parkinson's disease
neurodegenerative disorder characterised by the degeneration of dopamine producing neurons in the basal ganglia (located within the substantia nigra) leading to a dopamine deficiency
symptoms of parkinson's disease
motor symptoms include slowness of movement, rigidity, involuntary tremours. non-motor symptoms include pain, depression, dementia and difficulty sleeping.
forebrain
the largest and most complicated region of the brain, including the thalamus, hypothalamus, limbic system, and cerebrum.
midbrain
region between the hindbrain and the forebrain; coordinates movement, sleep, and arousal
hindbrain
area of the brain that mainly supports bodily functions, and is the link between the spinal cord and the brain
frontal lobes contain
the primary motor cortex, broca's area (left hemisphere), prefrontal cortex, orbitofrontal cortex
primary motor cortex
the back section of the frontal lobe responsible for voluntary movement/iinitiating movement; functions in contralateral organisation
broca's area
responsible for language expression and speech production, coordinates the movement of the lips, tongue and vocal cords for the articulation of words
prefrontal cortex
located behind the forehead & above the eyes, involved in making plans and predicting outcomes as well as working memory and our ability to focus our thoughts
orbitofrontal cortex
situated just behind the eye sockets, is an important structure involved in decision-making where thinking processes take into account the effects of emotion
the frontal lobes are responsible for
language, planning, judgement, attention, decision-making, motor functions/voluntary movement, higher-order thinking and problem solving, short-term memory, personality and social behaviour, speech production
damage to the frontal lobes may result in
changes in personality, inability to problem solve, issues with short-term memory, inability to plan ahead, difficulty making decisions and forming judgement, issues with motor function & voluntary movement, issues with speech production/language expression
the temporal lobes contain
primary auditory cortex, wernicke's area, hippocampus,
primary auditory cortex
upper region of each lobe, responsible for receiving auditory information
wernicke's area
left temporal lobe, responsible for language comprehension/ interpreting the meaning of speech and written words
hippocampus
part of the limbic system, involved in learning and memory
the temporal lobes are responsible for
processing auditory information & performing the complex auditory analysis necessary for understanding speech, language and music
damage to the temporal lobes
someone with a damaged primary auditry cortex may experience some form of deafness, & someone with damae to the right auditory association cortex is unable to recognise the pattern of sounds that do not have words. damage to wernicke's area may result in wernicke's aphasia, or trouble comprehending language
the occipital lobes contain
the primary visual cortex
primary visual cortex
receives information directly from the visual system, responsible for processing and interpreting visual stimuli - info from the left side of each retina is processed in the right occipital lobe and vice versa
the occipital lobes are responsible for
visual perception, processing colour, form and motion.
damage to the occipital lobes
a person with a completely damaged primary visual cortex but no eye damage would not be blind but would not be able to process any visual stimuli. if just part of the occipital lobe is damaged, the person would have a gap in their visual field where there would be specific visual stimuli not processed. if the association area is damaged, the person may not be able to recognise things by sight (visual agnosia)
the parietal lobes contain
the primary somatosensory cortex, somatosensory association area
primary somatosensory cortex
front of each lobe, receives sensations such as touch, pressure, temperature and pain
the parietal lobes are responsible for
processing somatosensory information from the body + the left lobe has a role in reading, writing & arithmetic, and the right lobe enables a person to perceive 3D shapes
damage to the parietal lobes
due to contralateral organisation, damage to to the right primary somatosensory cortex would result in an inability to process sensory information on the left side of the body & relevant parts may be numb or tingly
the cerebellum
a structure in the hindbrain involved in controlling coordination and balance
damage to the cerebellum
can cause loss of coordination and motor movement, the inability to judge distance, movement tremours, loss of balance
the medulla
controls heartbeat and breathing, & digestion
damage to the medulla
would result in difficulty breathing, irregular heartbeat
pons
receives information sent from visual areas to control eye and body actions
damage to the pons
may result in double vision and partial paralysis of the body
the reticular formation
a nerve network in the brainstem that plays an important role in controlling arousal, belongs to both the midbrain and hindbrain
the hypothalamus
has a vital role in the control of basic survival actions; sleep, regulation of body temp, expression of emotions, and the 4 f's (feeding, fighting, fleeing and fornication)
the thalamus
the 'communications centre' of the brain, receives information from sensory organs (except nose)
amygdala
a limbic system structure involved in memory and emotion, particularly fear and aggression.
the brainstem
the oldest part of the brain, responsible for automatic survival functions.