Download Spotlight on Terminology and Language – ESL Pointers

Spotlight on Terminology and Language – ESL Pointers
The Brain
Page 77 “Despite its physical appearance, however, it ranks as the greatest natural marvel that we know
and has a beauty and sophistication all its own.”
To marvel is to wonder or be in awe of something.
Page 77 “The brain is responsible for our loftiest thoughts – and our most primitive urges. It is the
overseer of the intricate workings of the human body.”
To have lofty thoughts is to have great and superior thoughts. Lofty is often characterized by an elevation
in character or speech.
The overseer is the person responsible for supervising the working of something.
Page 77 “The sheer quantity of nerve cells in the brain is enough to daunt even the most ambitious
computer engineer.”
The term “sheer quantity” is used to imply that there is a large amount of something.
Daunt refers to discouragement. The number of nerve cells in the brain is such a great number that it is
daunting and intimidates many researchers.
Page 77 “However, it is not the number of cells that is the most astounding thing about the brain but its
ability to allow the human intellect to flourish as it guides our behavior and thoughts.”
When something is astounding it is amazing or surprising. Flourish means to thrive. Human intellect
flourishes and increases.
Page 77 “Although we’ll discuss specific areas of the brain in relation to specific behaviors, this approach
is an oversimplification.”
An oversimplification is a generalization or statement that is too simple and does not take into account
more complex aspects of the issue.
Page 77 “Our behavior, emotions, thoughts, hopes, and dreams are produced by a variety of neurons
throughout the nervous system working in concert.”
Things that are working in concert with each other are working together.
Page 77 “Today, however, brain-scanning techniques provide a window into the living brain.”
The brain scanning images allow researchers to see the brain and observe its activity; thus, they are said
to “provide a window” into the brain.
Page 77 “Using these techniques, investigators can take a “snapshot” of the internal workings of the
brain without having to cut open a person’s skull.”
A snapshot is a photograph or a still picture.
Page 78 “By locating radiation within the brain, a computer can determine which are the more active
regions, providing a striking picture of the brain at work.”
A striking picture is one that is attractive or unusual.
Page 78 “For example, fMRI scans can show the operation of individual bundles of nerves by tracing the
flow of blood, opening the way for improved diagnosis of ailments ranging from chronic back pain to
nervous system disorders such as strokes, multiple sclerosis, and Alzheimers.”
An aliment is an illness or disease. Multiple sclerosis, and Alzheimers disease are all illnesses, or
ailments.
Page 78 “The procedure is sometimes called a “virtual lesion” because it produces effects analogous to
what would occur if areas of the brain were physically cut.”
The term “virtual” means artificial. In neuropsychology the term “lesion” is used to refer to any damage
to the brain. Thus, when a procedure produces the same effect as actual brain damage with out physically
damaging the brain, the procedure is referred to as a virtual lesion.
Page 79 “Advances in our understanding of the brain are also paving the way for the development of new
methods for harnessing the brain’s neural signals.”
When someone or something “paves the way” for someone or something else they are creating a path
that will make it easier for later discoveries.
Harnessing means to control and direct. What is some research you would like to see conducted to
harness some of the functions of the brain?
Page 79 “We consider some of these intriguing findings in the Applying Psychology in the 21st Century
box.
Intriguing findings are those that are interesting or exciting.
Page 79 “Just as his attention begins to wander, an alarm sounds, reminding him that he needs to focus
more carefully.
When your attention wanders you are daydreaming and not paying attention to the environment around
you.
Page 79 “Most now require that scans be carried out in large, body-encompassing equipment.”
Encompassing means surrounding or encircling. Machines that are body-encompassing require that that
the person’s entire body be inside the machine.
Page 79 “For example, using EEG scanning techniques that react to the pattern of brain waves originating
in the brain, one patient who suffered from paralysis learned to boost and curtail certain types of brain
waves.”
Boost means to increase or improve.
Curtail means to limit or restrict.
Page 79 “Although the method is slow and tedious—the patient can produce only about two characters
per minute—it holds great promise (Birbaumer et al., 1999; Mitchener, 2001; Hinterberger, Birbaumer,
& Flor, 2005).
When a treatment holds great promise it is showing signs that it will be useful.
Page 79 “Employers might use brain scans to weed out job applicants who are dishonest.”
When we weed out something we discard them, or remove them from consideration.
Page 80 “A portion of the brain known as the central core is quite similar to that found in all vertebrates
(species with backbones).”
Core is the innermost or most important part.
Page 80 “ If we were to move up the spinal cord from the base of the skull to locate the structures of the
central core of the brain, the first part we would come to would be the hindbrain, which contains the
medulla, pons, and cerebellum.”
The cerebellum is the brain structure responsible for coordination and regulation of complex voluntary
muscular movement. The cerebellum is the brain region most involved in producing smooth,
coordinated skeletal muscle activity.
Page 80 “Without the help of the cerebellum we would be unable to walk a straight line without
staggering and lurching forward, for it is the job of the cerebellum to control bodily balance
When people stagger and lurch they walk unsteadily. They may stumble, sway and wobble.
Page 80 “In fact, drinking too much alcohol seems to depress the activity of the cerebellum, leading to the
unsteady gait and movement characteristic of drunkenness.”
Gait is a particular way of walking, or running, on moving on foot. Gait controls the speed at which we
walk and run.
Page 80 “Like an ever-vigilant guard, the reticular formation is made up of groups of nerve cells that can
activate other parts of the brain immediately to produce general bodily arousal.”
Vigilant is to be on the alert, or watchful. Can you describe some situations in your life when you have
felt the need to be especially vigilant?
Page 81 “Hidden within the forebrain, the thalamus acts primarily as a relay station for information
about the senses.
A relay station is a place that collects incoming information and redirects it.
Page 81 “In an eerie view of the future, some science fiction writers have suggested that people someday
will routinely have electrodes implanted in their brains.”
An eerie view suggests a supernatural view that would be strange and mysterious.
Page 81 “Although far-fetched—and ultimately improbable—such a futuristic fantasy is based on fact.”
Far-fetched ideas are ideas that are extremely unbelievable and unlikely.
Page 81 “Injury to the limbic system can produce striking changes in behavior.”
In this case the term striking means obvious or extremely noticeable.
Page 81 “Such injuries can turn animals that are usually docile and tame into belligerent savages.”
Animals that are docile and tame are quiet and submissive. Belligerent individuals are aggressive and
argumentative.
Page 82 “Those unique features of the human brain – indeed, the very capabilities that allow you to come
up with such a question in the first pace – are embodied in the ability to think, evaluate, and make
complex judgments.”
To embody is to gather and organize – to incorporate a number of things - into an organized whole
Page 82 “The principal location of these abilities, along with many others, is the cerebral cortex.”
The cerebral cortex is the outer gray matter region of the cerebral hemispheres. The cerebral cortex
accounts for the most sophisticated information processing in the brain.
Page 82 “It consists of a mass of deeply folded, rippled, convoluted tissue.”
A ripple is a wrinkle.
Convoluted means complex and complicated.
Tissue that is rippled and convoluted is complexly wrinkled and folded upon itself.
Page 82 “Although we will discuss these areas as though they were separate and independent, keep in
mind that this is an oversimplification.”
When something is over simplified the explanation is made too simple and does not take into account the
complexity of the issue.
Page 82 “Every portion of the motor area corresponds to a specific locale within the body.”
A locale is a location.
Page 84 “For instance, the somatosensory area encompasses specific locations associated with the ability
to perceive touch and pressure in a particular area of the body”
To encompass something is to include it.
Page 84 “It also appears that particular locations within the auditory area respond to specific pitches
(deCharms, Blake, & Merzenich, 1998; Klinke et al., 1999; Hudspeth, 2000).
Pitch is a quality of sound. This will be discussed further in chapter 5.
Page 84 “The visual area provides another example of how areas of the brain are intimately related to
specific areas of the body: specific structures in the eye are related to a particular part of the cortex—
with, as you might guess, more area of the brain given to the most sensitive portions of the retina (Wurtz
& Kandel, 2000)”
The retina is the light sensitive lining found at the back of the eye.
Page 84 “Twenty-five-year-old Phineas sone day in 1848 when an accidental explosion punched a 3-footlong spike, about an inch in diameter, completely through his skull.”
A spike is a sharp skewer shaped like a nail.
Page 84 “In fact, he was able to walk up a long flight of stairs before receiving any medical attention.”
A flight of stairs is a section of a staircase.
Page 84 “Mentally, however, there was a difference: Once a careful and hard-working person, Phineas
now became enamored with wild schemes and was flighty and often irresponsible.”
To be enamored with something means to be in love with something.
Schemes are plans or ideas; wild schemes are plans or ideas that are crazy or foolish.
A flighty individual is someone whose behavior is erratic and inconsistent.
Page 84 “As one of his physicians put it, “Previous to his injury, though untrained in the schools, he
possessed a well-balanced mind, and was looked upon by those who knew him as a shrewd, smart
businessman, very energetic and persistent in executing all his plans of operation.”
A shrewd person is someone who is smart and insightful.
Page 84 “In some cases, the injury
stemmed from natural causes, such as a tumor or a stroke, either of which would block certain blood
vessels in the cerebral cortex.”
Stems from means causes. When we say that a disease stems from natural causes we are saying that it
was not caused by an artificial substance.
Page 84-85 “In other cases, accidental causes were the culprits, as was true of Gage.”
A culprit is the reason, or the cause of a problem.
Page 85 “In Broca’s aphasia (caused by damage to the part of the brain first identified by a French
physician, Paul Broca, in 1861), speech becomes halting, laborious, and often ungrammatical.”
When something is halting it contains many stops and starts.
When something is laborious it requires a lot of effort.
Page 85 “The speaker is unable to find the right words in a kind of tip-of-the-tongue phenomenon that
we all experience from time to time.
The tip-of-the-tongue phenomenon occurs when you think you know something, but are not quite able
to remember it.
Page 85 “People with aphasia, though, grope for words almost constantly, eventually blurting out a kind
of “verbal telegram.””
When we grope for something we are fumbling, or searching with hesitation
When someone blurts out they suddenly say something out loud without thinking and without taking into
account that someone else may be speaking.
Page 85 “Nothing could be done to prevent profound retardation.”
Retardation is a term used to refer to a slowing of though processes.
Page 86 “The future also holds promise for people who suffer from the tremors and loss of motor control
produced by Parkinson’s disease, although the research is mired in controversy.
Mired means to be stuck in a difficult situation.
Page 86 “They seem to be on the right track.”
When someone is “on the right track” they are heading in the right direction.
Page 86 “The issue has been politicized, and the question of whether and how stem cell research should
be regulated is not clear (Rosen, 2005).”
To politicize something is to make it a political issue.
Page 86 “Although for many years conventional wisdom held that no new brain cells are created after
childhood, new research finds otherwise.”
Conventional means standard. Conventional wisdom refers to ideas that are standard, or typical beliefs.
Page 87 “For example, even before infants under the age of 1 year have developed real language skills,
their babbling involves left hemisphere specialization (Holowka & Petitto, 2002).
Babbling are sounds like “ba ba ba,” or “da da da” made by infants before they learn formal language,
Page 87 “However, it is important to keep in mind that the differences in specialization between the
hemispheres are not great and that the degree and nature of lateralization vary from one person to
another.”
Lateralization refers to the idea that different behavior may be controlled by different sides of the brain.
Page 88 “Researchers have also unearthed evidence that there may be subtle differences in brain
lateralization patterns between males and females.”
When we unearth something we have uncovered or discovered something.
Page 88 “In contrast, women display less lateralization, with language abilities apt to be more evenly
divided between the two -hemispheres (Gur et al., 1982; Shaywitz, Shaywitz, Pugh, Constable, et al.,
1995; Kulynych, Vladar, Jones, & Weinberger, 1994).
To display something is to show it.
Apt means likely to. Women’s language skill are more likely to be equally divided between the two
hemispheres of the brain.
Page 88 “Such differences in brain lateralization may account, in part, for the superiority often displayed
by females on certain measures of verbal skills, such as the onset and fluency of speech, and the fact that
far more boys than girls have reading problems in elementary school (Kitterle, 1991).”
The onset of something is its start.
Page 88 “In turn, this greater early experience may foster the growth of certain parts of the brain.”
To foster something is to encourage it.
Page 88 “The culture in which people are raised also may give rise to differences in brain lateralization.
To give rise to something is to create it.
Page 90 “In one experimental procedure, blindfolded patients touched an object with their right hand and
were asked to name it.”
When we blindfold someone we cover their eyes with a cloth so that they cannot see.
Page 90 “Tammy DeMichael was cruising along the New York State Thruway with her fiancé when he
fell asleep at the wheel. The car slammed into the guardrail and flipped, leaving DeMichael with what
the doctors called a “splattered C-6, 7”—a broken neck and crushed spinal cord.”
When we cruise along we are traveling at a steady, relaxed rate of speed.
A guardrail is a rail or barrier along the side of a road to prevent cars from driving off the road.
Page 91 “Later, when she felt a headache starting, she could relax the relevant muscles and abort the
pain.”
Abort means to stop.
Page 91 “In DeMichael’s case, biofeedback was effective because not all of the nervous system’s
connections between the brain and her legs were severed.”
When something is severed it is cut off.