Welcome!!Welcome!!

Warm-Up

On the sheet provided, label the Neuron correctly… then explain the three types of Neurons on the

bottom of the paper

Sensory, Motor, Inter

The Brain

The Brain• The most important

structure in our bodies

• Controls most of human thought and emotion.

• From pain to pleasure it all comes from the brain.

The BrainMade up of millions of densely

packed neurons and actually it feels no pain.

Pain actually stops once something reaches the actual brain.

It was once commonly believed that if you damage brain cells (through

drinking, smoking, hitting your head, or just holding your breath for a REALLY long time) they would never grow back And you would be in big trouble...

There is some research now that points to the contrary.

• So, if you have some brain damage, do not worry...

– Some of our brain functions are flexible and if one part goes out, others will try to compensate and continue to function.

• This is called Brain Brain PlasticityPlasticity

Brain Plasticity• The idea that the brain, The idea that the brain,

when damaged, will when damaged, will attempt to fix itselfattempt to fix itself

• It does this by rerouting connections to avoid damaged areas

• Think of it this way…you are on the way for a romantic date when you find the highway flooded…– Would you give up?? – No, you would use Mapquest to

get new directions

• This is essentially what our brains try to do when damaged.

Brain Plasticity• Unfortunately, as we age the ability of brain

plasticity working decreases.

– Children’s brains are more plastic than adults.

• The lesson here is…???– if you are going to damage your brain, do it at a

very young age.

AccidentsEvery so often someone gets

smacked in the head REALLY hard and from that injury we learn about the brain.

The Phineas Gage The Phineas Gage StoryStory

• Personality and behavior changed after damage to his Frontal CortexFrontal Cortex

What did this tell us?What did this tell us?– different parts of the brain

control different aspects of who we are.

Lesions/Ablations• Removal or destruction

of some part of the damaged brain.– Sometimes done

intentionally • Frontal Lobotomy

– Often used for mentally unstable patients

An ablation of a rat’s brain

Warm-Up

• Explain what each part of the brain does and where it is located in a sentence on a sheet of paper:– Medulla Oblongata– Pons– Cerebellum– Thalamus

Ok, that was a piece of cake, now on to Ok, that was a piece of cake, now on to the heart of this unit:the heart of this unit:

Brain Anatomy and FunctionBrain Anatomy and Function

Brain Structures

The brain can be broken down into

three areas:

1. Hindbrain2. Midbrain3. Forebrain

Hindbrain• Lowest part of the brain, on top of our spinal cord

• Controls most of our basic biological functions.• i.e. heartbeat, breathing, ect.

The brain in purple makes up the hindbrain.

Medulla OblongataLocated just above the

spinal cord

Involved in control of

•blood pressure•heart rate•breathing.

If you get hurt in the MO you

should just pack it in

PonsLocated just above the

medulla

• Relays information to other parts of the brain from the hindbrain

CerebellumLocated at the bottom

rear of the brain

• Looks like a mini version of the brain - “little brain”

• Controls balance, coordination, and fine muscle movement

Cerebellum

MidbrainLocated in the middle of our brain

and is the pathway that connect the hb and fb

• Most important structure in Midbrain

is the Reticular FormationReticular Formation– controls arousalcontrols arousal (no not that

type of arousal)

If Destroyed

If stimulated

Wide awake

coma

ForebrainLargest part of the brain

– The most important part of the brain for this class

– What makes us human.

Made up of 3 parts– Thalamus– Limbic System – Cerebral Cortex.

Thalamus• The operator / switchboard

of the brain (relay station)

• Any sensory information that comes into our bodies (sight, hearing, touch and taste) goes to the Thalamus first from the spinal cord – Every sense except smell

• It then sends them to other It then sends them to other parts of the brain to get parts of the brain to get processedprocessed

The Limbic System

Sometimes called the emotional control center of our brain

Contains Four Contains Four PartsParts

Hypothalamus

Maybe the most important and powerful structure in the brain

– Only the size of a pea

Controls and regulates vital Controls and regulates vital body functionsbody functions

• Body temperature• Sexual Arousal• Hunger• Thirst• Endocrine System

Often referred to Often referred to as the as the

“pleasure “pleasure center”center”

Rat with an Implanted Electrode in the pleasure center of Hypothalamus

Hippocampus• Involved in the

processing and storage of memories.

– Not stored here, but it helps put them in the right places

AmygdalaAmygdala• Handles emotional

response to fear and aggression

• Also involved in handling basic emotions like anger and jealousy

Pituitary GlandPituitary Gland• “Master Gland”• Responsible for the production and

distribution of hormones

The Cerebral Cortex• The most important part of

the brain – “makes us human”

• Made up of densely packed neurons often called “gray matter”

• It is big and full of wrinkles called fissures.

• If I took out your cerebral cortex and ironed it, it would be as big as a large pizza (but would not taste as good)

The Cerebral Cortex is divided into two hemispheres

In general =Left HemisphereLeft Hemisphere: language abilitieslanguage abilities –speaking, reading,

writing logical analysislogical analysis - mathRight HemisphereRight Hemisphere: understanding spatial relationshipsunderstanding spatial relationships

– puzzles, reading maps = recognizing faces and recognizing faces and interpreting facial expressions and perceiving and interpreting facial expressions and perceiving and expressing emotionexpressing emotion = likes art and music

Lateralization:•Division of functions

between sides of the brain

•right controls leftand vice versa

•Often one side is better at certain tasks than

The other side

Smiling or Frowning???

Looking at the nose…

Between the two hemispheres is a band of nerve fibers called the

Corpus Callosum

Divides the 2 hemispheres.

Corpus CallosumCorpus Callosum Helps the two sides Helps the two sides

communicate with each othercommunicate with each other Sometimes this has to be removed Sometimes this has to be removed

(usually seen in people with (usually seen in people with epilepsy)epilepsy)

Sometimes a whole side of the Sometimes a whole side of the brain has to be removedbrain has to be removed

•hemispherectomyhemispherectomy They are then called They are then called Split Brain Split Brain

PatientsPatients They actually have two separate They actually have two separate

brains in their heads, and one brain brains in their heads, and one brain has no idea what the other is doinghas no idea what the other is doing

However, through plasticity most However, through plasticity most sbp will find ways to get their sbp will find ways to get their hemispheres to communicatehemispheres to communicate

Areas of the Cerebral Cortex

The Brain’s Thinking, Calculating, The Brain’s Thinking, Calculating, Organizing, and Creative CenterOrganizing, and Creative Center

The Cerebral Cortex is made up of four Lobes.

REMEMBER!! We actually have 8 lobes!!

Frontal LobeFrontal Lobe

Top part of our brain behind our eyes

• Higher mental Higher mental functionsfunctions – thinking, planning, problem

solving, decision making, and accessing memories

• Motor CortexMotor Cortex– sends signals to our body

controlling voluntary muscle movements

– Damage this area and you may not be able to move certain parts of your body

Parietal Lobe• Located in back of the

frontal lobes on the top of our head

• Contains Sensory CortexSensory Cortex– Process information relating

to sensations of touch, pressure, temp. and pain

– Damage this area and it may result in an inability to integrate sensations

Motor and Sensory Cortexes

Homunculus

Occipital LobeOccipital Lobe• Located in the very

back of our brain

• Deals with vision.

• Contains Visual Visual CortexCortex– interprets messages

from our eyes into images we can understand.

• Get hit here and you may “see stars”

Temporal LobeTemporal Lobe• Located just above our ears on

both sides of our head

• Contains the Auditory CortexAuditory Cortex• Process sound sensed by our ears• NOT LATERALIZEDNOT LATERALIZED – What??

Brain Activity when Hearing, Seeing, and Speaking Words

Two Other Areas To KnowBroca’s AreaBroca’s Area

Responsible for transferring thoughts into audible

spoken words • Damage to Broca’s Area is called

Broca’s Aphasia: unable to make movements to talk.

Wernike's AreaWernike's Area:– Responsible for transforming

spoken words into thoughts• Wernike's AphasiaWernike's Aphasia: unable to

understand speech

Association Areas• Any area NOT associated with receiving sensory

information or coordinating muscle movements.– But has some higher level purpose

• We are not so concerned with association areas– But it does make up most of the cerebral cortex

Specialization and Integration in Language

How do we read and How do we read and recite??recite??