Chapter 3 pt 2

Question 1

contralateral control

Answer 1

hemispheres control movement and perception of the OPPOSITE side of the body

ex: far left of vision is controlled by right hemisphere, far right is controlled by left hemisphere, and middle is controlled by both

Question 2

hemineglect (hemispatial neglect)

Answer 2

deficit in attention and awareness in one side of the visual field (usually left visual field)

ex: patient draws center of line towards the right of actual center, or if asked to copy photo starts from the right

Question 3

Lateralization (property of the brain’s hemispheres)

Answer 3

left hemisphere usually handles logic, right usually creativity

“more lateralized”=more specialized in this hemisphere

ex: Paul Broca’s patient LaBorge lost his speech but could still understand i.e. some functions are lateralized

Question 4

Corpus Callosum

Answer 4

band of nerve fibers connecting the two hemispheres

allows two sides to communicate, combines specialized functions

Question 5

Forebrain

Answer 5

Most complex/higher level functions, thinking, planning, emotion

1. Cerebral cortex- outer layer
2. Subcortical structures (under cortex)- deep control layers
3. Corpus Callossum- bridge connecting left and right

Question 6

Hippocampus (in subcortical structures)

Answer 6

Critical for creating new memories and integrating them into knowledge so they can be stored

Question 7

Neuroplasticity

Answer 7

the brain’s ability to change, modify, adapt both structure and function throughout life in response to experience

Question 8

place cells

Answer 8

dorsal hippocampus:
place cells fire when you are in a SPECIFIC location in an environment (mental GPS markers)– will have precise fire fields

ventral hippocampus:
fire if you are in GENERAL area of something, less precise, larger firing fields

Question 9

Subcortical structure: the amygdala

Answer 9

plays central role in emotional processes, particularly formation of emotional memories

PTSD patients will have enlarged amygdala, psychopaths will have smaller amygdala

Question 10

4 Brain Lobes

Answer 10

1. Frontal Lobe
   -decision making, judgment, abstract thought, voluntary movement (lobe most severly damaged in Phineas Gage’s case)
2. Parietal Lobe
   -processes touch, large role in sensory integration, processing numerical information
3. Occipital Lobe (processing color, depth, motion)
4. Temporal Lobe

Question 11

Central sulcus

Answer 11

fold/groove in brain that separates frontal lobe and parietal lobe

in front: motor cortex (voluntary movement) part of frontal
in back: somatosensory cortex (touch, temp, pain..some higher order abilities like numbers) part of paretial

Question 12

Awake brain mapping

Answer 12

Patient awake during brain surgery, surgeons test for movement, language, etc.
purpose: remove damaged tissue without harming important functions

Question 13

what 2 features do topographical map of somatosensory cortex show

Answer 13

1. shows that adjacent parts of the body are represented by adjacent parts of the cortex
2. not proportional to size: more cortex is devoted to areas of body with greater sensitivity, not just parts that are larger

Question 14

Occipital lobe

Answer 14

process visual info

Question 15

Temporal lobe

Answer 15

hearing, processing language, other auditory stimuli

Question 16

Structural neuroimaging methods

Answer 16

Shows brain’s structure what brain LOOKS like
1. CT Scan
-mutiple x ray photos, then stitched together by computer programs

2. MRI
   -scanner produces magnetic field and radio waves that cause alignment and misalignment of brain molecules
   -these changes in alignment are picked up to create images (different molecules in diff areas of brain will all release signals to show which area they’re in)
   ^^tgis shoes brain anatomy, damage, differences in brain regions

Question 17

Functional brain imaging

Answer 17

Shows brain in action what brain is DOING
provides info about activity of brain while ppl perform cognitive or motor tasks

logic:
-active brain areas demand more energy for neurons to work
-nrg in those areas is provided from increased blow flow
-functional imaging measures these changes in blood flow

PET-SCAN:
-radioactive substance injected, scanner detects traces of radiation

fMRI:
detects difference between levels of oxygenated and deoxygenated hemoglobin (protein in red blood cells)
oxygenated hemoglobin is greater in more active areas of brain