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Brain Structure and Function

Brain Structure and Function. “If the human brain were so simple that we could understand it, we would be so simple that we couldn’t” -Emerson Pugh, The Biological Origin of Human Values (1977). The Brain. Brainstem responsible for automatic survival functions Medulla

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Brain Structure and Function

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  1. Brain Structure and Function

  2. “If the human brain were so simple that we could understand it, we would be so simple that we couldn’t” -Emerson Pugh, The Biological Origin of Human Values (1977)

  3. The Brain • Brainstem • responsible for automatic survival functions • Medulla • controls heartbeat and breathing

  4. Parts of the Brain BRAINSTEM Heart rate and breathing THALAMUS  Relays messages amygdala hippocampus pituitary CEREBELLUM  Coordination and balance

  5. The Cerebellum • helps coordinate voluntary movement and balance

  6. The Limbic System • Hypothalamus, pituitary, amygdala, and hippocampus all deal with basic drives, emotions, and memory • Hippocampus  Memory processing • Amygdala  Aggression (fight) and fear (flight) • Hypothalamus  Hunger, thirst, body temperature, pleasure; regulates pituitary gland (hormones)

  7. The Limbic System • Hypothalamus • neural structure lying below (hypo) the thalamus; directs several maintenance activities • eating • drinking • body temperature • helps govern the endocrine system via the pituitary gland • linked to emotion • (show video)

  8. The Limbic System • Amygdala • two almond-shaped neural clusters that are components of the limbic system and are linked to emotion and fear

  9. The Cerebral Cortex • Cerebral Cortex • the body’s ultimate control and information processing center

  10. The lobes of the cerebral hemispheres

  11. The lobes of the cerebral hemispheres Planning, decision making speech Sensory Vision Auditory

  12. The Cerebral Cortex • Frontal Lobes • involved in speaking and muscle movements and in making plans and judgments • the “executive” • Parietal Lobes • include the sensory cortex

  13. The Cerebral Cortex • Occipital Lobes • include the visual areas, which receive visual information from the opposite visual field • Temporal Lobes • include the auditory areas, each of which receives auditory information primarily from the opposite ear

  14. The Cerebral Cortex • Frontal (Forehead to top)  Motor Cortex • Parietal (Top to rear)  Sensory Cortex • Occipital (Back)  Visual Cortex • Temporal (Above ears)  Auditory Cortex

  15. Our Divided Brains • Corpus collosum – large bundle of neural fibers (myelinated axons, or white matter) connecting the two hemispheres

  16. Hemispheric Specialization LEFT Symbolic thinking (Language) Detail Literal meaning RIGHT Spatial perception Overall picture Context, metaphor

  17. Contra-lateral division of labor • Right hemisphere controls left side of body and visual field • Left hemisphere controls right side of body and visual field

  18. The five major senses • Vision – electromagnetic • Occipital lobe • Hearing – mechanical • Temporal lobe • Touch – mechanical • Sensory cortex • Taste – chemical • Gustatory insular cortex • Smell – chemical • Olfactory bulb • Orbitofrontal cortex • Vomeronasal organ?

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