UNIT 2:The brain stem, cortex, cerebral hemispheres

Questions and Answers

Regulating life-sustaining functions

Regulating selective attention

Computed Tomography (CT)

Facilitating left-right body coordination Signup and view all the answers

To destroy brain cells at the tip of the wire Signup and view all the answers

Cerebellum Signup and view all the answers

Relaying sensory information to the cortex Signup and view all the answers

To record brain wave patterns Signup and view all the answers

To cause neurons to react as if they had received a message Signup and view all the answers

Positron Emission Tomography (PET) Signup and view all the answers

Study Notes

Deep lesioning: a procedure that inserts a thin, insulated wire into the brain to destroy brain cells at the tip of the wire using an electrical current.
Electrical Stimulation of the Brain (ESB): a milder electrical current that causes neurons to react as if they had received a message.

Electroencephalograph (EEG): a machine that records brain wave patterns produced by electrical activity on the brain's surface.
Computed Tomography (CT): a brain-imaging method using computer-controlled X-rays of the brain.
Positron Emission Tomography (PET): a brain-imaging method that injects radioactive sugar into the subject, creating a color-coded image of brain activity, with lighter colors indicating more activity.

Medulla: the lowest part of the brain, responsible for life-sustaining functions like breathing, swallowing, and heart rate.
Pons: a structure above the medulla, connecting the top and bottom of the brain, involved in sleep, dreaming, left-right body coordination, and arousal.
Reticular Formation (RF): an area of neurons in the medulla and pons responsible for selective attention.

Cerebellum: a part of the lower brain, controlling and coordinating involuntary, rapid, fine motor movements.
Limbic System: a group of brain structures involved in learning, emotion, memory, and motivation.

Thalamus: relays sensory information from the lower brain to the cortex, processing some sensory information before sending it to its proper area.
Olfactory Bulbs: two projections under the front of the brain, receiving information from nasal receptors.
Hypothalamus: a structure below the thalamus, responsible for motivational behavior like sleep, hunger, thirst, and sex, and controlling the pituitary gland.
Hippocampus: a curved structure in each temporal lobe, forming long-term memories and storing memory for object locations.
Amygdala: a structure near the hippocampus, responsible for fear responses and fear memory.