Brain Structure

Question 1

What is the cerebral cortex?

Answer 1

• Largest brain structure
  Greatest number of neurons and synapses
  Last structure to stop growing
  Sensitive for longer time to environmental influences

Have different lobes and substructures

Question 2

Prefrontal cortex

Answer 2

• Part of frontal lobe
• Body movement, consciousness, use of memory
• Attention, inhibition of impulses, reasoning etc

Question 3

Cerebellum

Answer 3

Balance and body movement

Question 4

Reticular formation

Answer 4

Alertness and consciousness

Question 5

Hippocampus

Answer 5

Memory and spatial awareness

Question 6

Amygdala

Answer 6

Processing emotions, facial expressions and memory with emotions

• Damages can lead to problem behaviours
  Not learning safety signals
  Lack of fear

Question 7

Corpus callusom

Answer 7

Communication between hemispheres
- The more complex the task, the more communication is needed

Question 8

What does cerebellum and cerbral cortex do together?

Answer 8

• Create thinking
• Damages leads to deficits in
  Memory
  Planning
  Language

Question 9

Lateralization

Answer 9

The hemispheres are specialized
- One part seem better at handling different types of information compared to the other
- Happens at birth
- Early experiences influence the organization of cerebral cortex

Question 10

What does the left hemisphere specialize in?

Answer 10

• Sensory information and control of right side of body
• Verbal abilities
• Positive emotions
• Sequential, analytic processing

Question 11

What does the right hemisphere specialize in?

Answer 11

• Sensory input and control of left side of body
• Spatial abilities, judging distances
• Negative emotion
• Holistic, integrative processing

Question 12

What does brain plasticity do for learning?

Answer 12

• The more plasticity, higher capacities for learning
• Brain more plastic during early years
• Many areas are yet to be specialized and not committed

Question 13

What happens if parts of cortex is damaged?

Answer 13

• Other regions can take over and perform the same task, especially in infants and children
• Not the same for lateralization

Question 14

How can you optimize learning/plasticity?

Answer 14

• Physical activity is a potential help
• Physical activity is connected with
  Improved alertness, attention and motivation
  Prepares and encourage cells to bind with each other
  Spurs development of new nerve cells in the hippocampus

Question 15

What can early deprivation in brain development lead to?

Answer 15

• Permanent brain damages and loss of functions
• There are sensitive periods

Question 16

Brain development - Experience-expectant brain growth

Answer 16

Ordinary experiences “expected” by the brain to grow normally
- Certain stimuli the brain needs to develop
Exploring
Moving
Talking
- Happens naturally

Question 17

Brain development - Experience-dependent growth

Answer 17

Additional brain growth as a result of specific learning experiences
- Individual differences

Question 18

How does the brain develop in Adolescence

Answer 18

• Connectivity between distant regions of cerebral context expand
• Improved cognitive skills - gradually
• Prefrontal cortex effective in managing information

Question 19

Oxytocin

Answer 19

A substance
- Increase responsiveness to emotional and social stimuli

Question 20

Whats a typical dilemma for adolescence during brain development?

Answer 20

• React more strongly to stressful events and experience pleasurable stimuli more intensely
• A big imbalance