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Unit II Lesson 6 From the Bottom Up: The Structures of the Brain The Brain Stem • Medulla – First large swelling at top of spinal column – Responsible for life-sustaining functions such as breathing, swallowing, and heart rate • Pons – Larger swelling above the medulla – Connects top of brain to bottom – Involved in sleep, dreaming, left–right body coordination, and arousal The Brain Stem (2) • Reticular formation (RF) – Runs through the middle of the medulla and pons – Responsible for selective attention, ignoring repetitive stimuli • Cerebellum – Controls and coordinates involuntary, rapid, fine motor movement. – Maintains posture, muscle co-ordination, balance Structures Under the Cortex • Limbic system – Brain structures located under the cortex – Involved in learning, emotion, memory, and motivation – Thalamus • Relays sensory information from the lower part of the brain to areas of cortex • Processes some sensory information – Hypothalamus • Regulates body temperature, thirst, hunger, sleeping and waking, sexual activity, emotions • Controls pituitary gland Structures Under the Cortex (2) – Hippocampus • Curved structure located within each temporal lobe • Responsible for the formation of long-term memories, storage of memory for location of objects – Amygdala • Located near the hippocampus • Responsible for fear responses and memory of fear – Cingulate Cortex • Important role in emotional and cognitive processing • Implicated in several psychological disorders such as ADHD, schizophrenia Cortex • Outermost covering of the brain • Consists of densely packed neurons • Responsible for higher thought processes and interpretation of sensory input – Corticalization • Wrinkling of the cortex • Allows the large area of cortical cells to exist in the small space inside the skull Cerebral Hemispheres • Are the two sections of the cortex on the left and right sides of the brain. – Corpus callosum • Thick band of neurons connecting right and left cerebral hemispheres. Four Lobes of the Brain Occipital lobes • Visual center of brain – Primary visual cortex • Processes visual information from the eyes – Visual association cortex • Identifies, interprets visual information Parietal lobes • Contains centers for touch, taste, and temperature sensations – Somatosensory cortex • Processes information from skin and internal body receptors for touch, temperature, body position, and possibly taste Temporal lobes • Hearing, meaningful speech • Primary auditory cortex – Processes auditory information from the ears • Auditory association cortex – Identifies, makes sense of auditory information Frontal lobes • Higher mental processes, decision making, production of fluent speech • Motor cortex – Sends motor commands to muscles Association Areas of Cortex • Are areas within each lobe of the cortex • Responsible for: – Coordination and interpretation of information – Higher mental processing • Broca’s Aphasia – Results from damage to Broca’s area – Usually in left frontal lobe – Causes affected person to be unable to speak fluently • Mispronounces words, speaks haltingly Association Areas of Cortex (2) • Wernicke’s Aphasia – Left temporal lobe damage – Speech is fluent but nonsensical • Unilateral Spatial Neglect – Result of damage to the parietal lobe association areas on one side of the cortex, usually the right side – Person ignores information from opposite side of body or visual field Split Brain Research • Robert Sperry (1968) – Demonstrated left and right hemispheres of the brain specialize in different activities and functions – Corpus callosum severed in patients to contain epileptic seizures – Messages are sent to only one side of the brain • Two hemispheres cannot coordinate information Split Brain Research (2) Understanding ADHD • Developmental disorder involving behavioral and cognitive aspects – Inattention, impulsivity, and hyperactivity • Some aspects of attention may be normal with ADHD (Nigg, 2010) • Problem areas for individuals with ADHD: – – – – Vigilance Staying on task Maintaining effort Self-control