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BIG BRAIN PROJECTWell, I was thinking about the exam I was going to write over the nervous,

muscular and skeletal system and I asked myself: "Would I, the enlightened Mr.Walker, want to take this exam?" And it occurred to me that although I lovedexams, even I wouldn't want to take this one given the huge amount of material Iwould have to memorize and then forget. So what to do? Be mean? Give the exam

anyway? That certainly has some appeal. But no, I really want you to know some ofthis forever. So in its place, I give you the Big Brain Project.

Basically, what you will do is build 2 tri-fold posters filled with diagrams of thenervous and muscular systems and write a little about each section of the system.The idea is to try to show how the brain is organized and how it communicates withitself through tracts of nerves that connect one part of the brain with another. Youwill also show how it communicates with the rest of the body through the spinalcord and the peripheral nervous system. You will explain the role of the autonomicnervous system (ANS) and how the sympathetic and parasympathetic systemscontrol your visceral organs. You will also choose one of the five senses anddiagram that on the poster as well. You will describe your brain on drugs. Finally,

you will chose one brain or muscular disease from a list and write a few paragraphsdescribing it and current treatments. Here are the specific instructions:

I. The Brain:A. Using the cut-out brain diagram, identify and give the major function of

each of these parts of the cerebral cortex (cerebrum)1. Occipital lobe2. Parietal lobe3. Frontal lobe4. Temporal lobe5. Corpus callosum6. Include your homunculus and describe what it represents and which

lobe it is located in.B. Using the cut-out brain diagram, identify and give the major function the

cerebellum.C. Using the cut-out brain diagram, identify and give the major function of

each of these parts of the limbic system. Choose one of the areas andexplain where in the body it gets input from and where in thebrain or body it sends responses.1. Thalamus2. Hypothalamus3. Amygdala4. Hippocampus

D. Using the cut-out brain diagram, identify and give the major function ofeach of these parts of the brain stem:1. Midbrain2. Pons3. Medulla

II. The Spinal CordA. Cross-sectional View:

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1. Include 1 diagram of a cross-section of the spinal cord showing graymatter, white matter and what the difference is between them in termsof what they contain and what they do. Show how neurons move in andout of the cord.

2. Use a second cross-sectional diagram to show a typical reflex arc. Thisdiagram should showa) how sensory neuron detects an unpleasant in the environment and

transmits this information from the sense organ to the cord;b) how the impulse travels through the reflex arc both up to the brain

and back to the muscles through a motor neuron;c) show how the motor neuron interacts with skeletal muscle to initiate

movement by showing the synapse and how the sliding filamentmodel causes the muscle to contract. Note well: this is the onlysection of the poster devoted to muscles. One diagramshould show a detailed diagram of the neuromuscularjunction; a second diagram should show the sliding filamentmodel and a third should be used to show the structure of askeletal muscle and how the muscle attaches to bones and

inserts across joints.

B. The whole cord view1. Include a diagram showing all the vertebrate of the cord with both

sympathetic and parasympathetic neurons moving in and out.2. Explain the relationship of the vertebrate number and the parts of the

body that feed into and out of it. Explain which organs and muscles areeffected when people sever their cords at these locations: C4; T2; L4

3. Briefly discuss the difference between the role that the sympathetic andparasympathetic nerves play on the organs they innervate.

III. The Vagus Nerve1. The Vagus nerve is the longest nerve in the body. It is a cranial nerve

(it originates from the brain not the spinal column) and travels down thethroat and esophagus to innervate virtually every visceral organ (thelungs, heart, diaphragm, esophagus, stomach, pancreas, liver, small andlarge intestines). It contains both sympathetic and parasympatheticfibers. You should have:a. A diagram showing the path of the Vagus nerve from its origin in the

brain through the body;b. A brief description of the affects each type of autonomic nervous

system neuron has on each organ it innervates.

IV. A Sense Organ1. Choose any of the 5 senses: Hearing, Touch, Taste, Smell, or Sight.2. Attach a detailed diagram of the organ that shows:

a. The general, overall anatomy of the structure including muscles, nerves,hairs, receptors, etc. and a description of how the organ produces anervous signal and how that signal is transmitted to the brain and wherein the brain the signal is sent. (You can use your cut-out brain diagramfor this.)

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b. Determine what the functional unit of the sense organ is and draw adetailed view of the same organ. Describe how this functional unitdetects a signal from the environment and how it transmits the signal tothe brain. Be sure to include the area of the brain that receives thesignal.

3. If you chose the eye, for example, you would have3 diagrams:a. A diagram of the whole eye showing the parts of the eye (pupil, lens,

cornea, sclera, retina, optic nerve, etc). This diagram would have adescription of how light enters the eye through the pupil, focused by thelens and stimulates the retina. Then you would show how the opticnerve transmits the message through the optic chiasm and into thebrain.

b. A second diagram would show a close up of the retina showing rod andcone cells and how they get stimulated by light, the difference betweenthe type of light they perceive and how they transmit signals to theoptic nerve.

c. Then you would show what part of the brain receives this informationand where this information is sent within the brain to initiate a response.

(Where the information would be sent if the eye saw a salivating bearrunning at it or something.)

V. DiseaseA. Choose a disease from the following list

1. Alzheimer's2. Parkinson's3. Huntington's4. Polio5. ACC (Agenesis of the Corpus Callosum) (Babies born without a corpus

callosum)B. Write a report, complete with pictures showing damage to the affected

tissues and organ, that describes the disease in the following way:1. A description of what the disease does to the affected organs and

tissues (cause of the disease plus how the organ and tissue degeneratesas a result);

2. The effect of this disruption on the tissues and organs3. The effect of this disruption on the whole body4. Treatments or cures.

VI. This is Your Brain on DrugsA. Choose one of the following drugs and find out

1. which portion of the brain is affected;2. how your senses are altered by the drug3. the chemical cause of addiction;

a. if your drug is NOT addictive, why isn't it?B. Choose from this list of drugs:

1. Alcohol2. Nicotine3. Marijuana4. Ecstasy

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5. Crystal Methamphetamine (speed)6. Heroin7. Cocaine

Ok, that seems like a lot. But it beats memorizing all of this stuff.I'm going to make a rough poster so you get the idea of organization.You have 3 weeks from today.

Ok, you and your lab partner can turn in 1 between you.Boy, am I a sap.