cerebral cortex
made up of densely packed neurons we call "gray matter"; wrinkles are called fissures; if you lay brain out it would be as big as a pizza; made up of four lobes; the intricate fabric of interconnected neural cells that covers the cerebral hemisphere; the
glial cells
support brain cells in the cerebral cortex; support, nourish, and protect neurons
frontal lobe
abstract thought and emotional control - personality; contains motor cortex; contains Broca's area; association areas here control judgment, planning, and memory; involved in speaking and muscle movements; portion of the cerebral cortex lying just behind
motor cortex
sends signals to our body controlling muscle movements; in the frontal lobe; left hemisphere section controls the body's right side; controls VOLUNTARY muscle movements
Broca's area
responsible for controlling muscles that produce speech; in the frontal lobe, usually in the left hemisphere; damage leads to aphasia which renders you unable to make movements necessary to talk; controls language expression
parietal lobe
contains sensory cortex; mostly made up of association areas; association areas here control math and spatial reasoning; the portion of the cerebral cortex lying at the top of the head and toward the rear
sensory cortex
receives incoming touch sensations from the rest of the body in the parietal lobe; left hemisphere section receives input from the body's right side; registers and processes body sensations
association areas
any area in the cerebral cortex not associated with receiving sensory information or coordinating muscle movements; involved in higher mental functions, such as learning, remembering, thinking, and speaking
temporal lobe
association areas here control the recognition of faces; process sound sensed by our ears; interpreted in auditory cortex; not lateralized (uses both sides of the brain at the same time); contains Wernicke's area; the portion of the cerebral cortex lying
occipital lobe
association areas here control the recognition of shapes and colors; deals with vision; contains visual cortex, which interprets messages from our eyes into images we can understand; the portion of the cerebral cortex lying at the back of the head
Wernicke's area
interprets written and spoken speech; damage leads to aphasia which makes you unable to understand language because the syntax and grammar are jumbled; controls language reception - involved in language comprehension an expression; located in left tempora
brainstem
the oldest part and central core of the brain, beginning where the spinal cord swells as it enters the skull; responsible for automatic survival functions; includes the medulla, and the reticular formation
medulla
base of the brainstem; controls heartbeat and breathing as well as blood pressure
reticular formation
a nerve network in the brainstem; plays an important role in controlling arousal
cerebellum
little brain"; attached to the rear of the brainstem; helps coordinate voluntary movement, balance, and fine muscle movements
pituitary gland
part of the endocrine system; "master gland"; under the influence of the hypothalamus; regulates growth and controls other glands
thalamus
the brain's sensory switchboard; located on top of the brainstem; directs messages to the sensory receiving areas in the cortex and transmits replies to the cerebellum and medulla; controls every sense except smell; receives sensory signals from the spina
hypothalamus
lies below thalamus; directs several maintenance activities (eating, drinking, body temperature, sexual arousal); helps govern the endocrine system via the pituitary gland; linked to emotion; maybe most important structure in the brain; sometimes termed a
hippocampus
involved in the processing of memories; enables the formation of new long-term memories
limbic system
a doughnut-shaped system of neural structures at the border of the brainstem and cerebral hemispheres; associated with emotions such as fear and aggression; associated with drives such as those for food and sex; includes hippocampus, amygdala, and hypotha
corpus callosum
the large band of neural fibers connecting the two brain hemispheres and carrying messages between them; divides the two hemispheres
sensory neurons
afferent neurons; take information from the senses to the brain (or CNS)
motor neurons
efferent neurons; take information from brain to the rest of the body (organs, glands, and muscles)
interneurons
central nervous system neurons that internally communicate and intervene between the sensory inputs and motor outputs; take messages from sensory neurons to other parts of the brain or to motor neurons; located entirely in your brain and spinal cord; "mid
central nervous system
CNS; brain and spinal cord; receives and interprets signals from peripheral nervous system (sends out signals too); way to remember - CENTRAL nervous system is located in the CENTER of the body
peripheral nervous system
PNS; the sensory and motor neurons that connect the central nervous system to the rest of the body; all nerves that are not encased in bone; everything but the brain and spinal cord; is divided into to categories - somatic and autonomic; way to remember -
somatic nervous system
division of the peripheral nervous system; controls voluntary muscle movement; uses motor neurons; also called the skeletal nervous system
autonomic nervous system
division of the peripheral nervous system; controls the automatic functions of the body; divided into two categories - sympathtic and parasympathetic;way to remember - autonomic sounds like automatic; controls the glands and the muscles of the internal or
sympathetic nervous system
division of the autonomic nervous system; fight or flight response; automatically accelerates heart rate, breathig, dilates pupils, slows down digestion; way to remember - Sympathetic = Stress
parasympathetic nervous system
division of the autonomic nervous system; automatically slows the body down after a stressful event; heart rate and breathing slow down, pupils constrict, and digestion speeds up; way to remember - Parasympathetic = Peaceful
endocrine system
a system of glands that secrete hormones into the bloodstream; similar to nervous system, except that hormones work a lost slower than neurotransmitters and the effects are longer-lasting; major glands - adrenal and pituitary; the body's "slow" chemical c
adrenal glands
secrete hormones epinephrine (adrenaline) and norepinephrine (nonadrenaline) which help the body in times of stress;a pair of endocrine glands just above the kidney
hormones
chemical messengers that are released in the endocrine system; slower counterparts of neurotransmitters; produced in one tissue and affect another
PET scan
positron emission tomography; measures how much of a chemical the brain is using (usually glucose consumption); shows function; a visual display of brain activity that detects where a radioactive form of glucose goes while the brain performs a given task
MRI
magnetic resonance imaging; a technique that uses magnetic fields ad radio waves to produce computer-generated images that distinguish among different types of soft tissue; takes many still pictures and turns images into a movie like production; shows str
fMRI
functional MRI; shows function
EEG
detects brain waves through their electrical output; used mainly in sleep research; an amplified recording of the waves of electrical activity that sweep across the brain's surface; measured by electrodes placed on the scalp
lesion
removal or destruction of some part of the brain; tissue destruction; can be natural or experimentally caused
aphasia
impairment of language, usually caused by left hemisphere damage either to Broca's area (impairing speaking) or to Wernicke's area (impairing understanding)
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; brain reorganization and modification after damage
neural networks
neurons that learn to work together as a team; neurons in the brain connect with one another to form networks; the brain learns by modifying certain connections in response to feedback; interconnected neural cells
left-handedness
may be the result of genes or prenatal tendencies; some left-handed people interpret speech differently (with their right hemisphere or both simultaneously); fewer left-handed people over time - shorter lifespan? gradual change to right-handedness?; more
right hemisphere
controls spatial and creative tasks
left hemisphere
controls logic and sequential tasks
biological psychology
a branch of psychology concerned with the links between biology and behavior
neuron
a nerve cell; the basic builing block of the nervous system
nervous system
the body's speedy, electrochemical communication system, consisting of all the nerve cells of the peripheral and central nervous systems
nerves
neural "cables: containing many axons; these bundled axons, which are part of the peripheral nervous system, connect the central nervous system with muscles, glands, and sense organs
reflex
a simple, automatic, inborn response to a sensory stimulus, such as the knee-jerk response
CT scan
computed topography; a series of x-ray photographs taken from different angles and combined by computer into a composite representation of a slice through the body; also called CAT scan
amygdala
two almond-shaped neural clusters that are components of the limbic system and are linked to emotion
split brain
a condition in which the two hemisperes of the brain are isolated by cutting the connecting fibers (mainly those of the corpus collosum) between them