Psychology Revision: Brain Anatomy and Function

Brain Areas and Functions

• Hindbrain structures and functions:
  • Pons: involved in controlling sleep and arousal
  • Medulla: regulates involuntary functions like breathing and heart rate
  • Cerebellum: coordinates muscle movements and balance
• Midbrain structures and functions:
  • Reticular formation: plays a role in arousal and attention
• Forebrain structures and functions:
  • Hypothalamus: regulates body temperature, hunger, and thirst
  • Thalamus: relays sensory information to the cortex
  • Cerebrum: divided into two hemispheres, responsible for higher-level thinking
• Roles of the corpus callosum:
  • connects the two hemispheres, enabling inter-hemispheric communication
• Roles of the cerebral cortex:
  • sensory areas: process sensory information
  • motor areas: control voluntary movements
  • association areas: integrate information from multiple senses
• Hemispheric specialization:
  • left hemisphere: involved in language processing, logical reasoning, and sequential processing
  • right hemisphere: involved in spatial processing, creativity, and parallel processing
• Cortical lobes and their functions:
  • Frontal lobes:
    • Primary motor cortex: controls voluntary movements
    • Broca's area: involved in speech production
  • Parietal lobes:
    • Primary somatosensory cortex: processes touch and spatial information
  • Occipital lobes:
    • Primary visual cortex: processes visual information
  • Temporal lobes:
    • Primary auditory cortex: processes auditory information
    • Wernicke's area: involved in speech comprehension

Brain Plasticity

• Types of plasticity:
  • Experience-expectant plasticity: based on expected experiences
  • Experience-dependent plasticity: based on actual experiences
• Neuroplasticity in response to brain injury:
  • Synaptogenesis: formation of new synapses
  • Pruning: elimination of unnecessary synapses
  • Long-term potentiation: strengthening of existing synapses
  • Long-term depression: weakening of existing synapses
• Types of change:
  • Generation of new networks
  • Reassignment of function
  • Neurogenesis: growth of new neurons

Acquired Brain Injury

• Traumatic brain injury: caused by external force, e.g., Phineas Gage case study
• Biological, psychological, and social changes:
  • changes in emotional regulation, motivation, and personality
• Aphasia: language processing disorder
  • Types:
    • Fluent (Wernicke's aphasia): difficulty understanding language
    • Non-fluent (Broca's aphasia): difficulty producing language
• Stroke:
  • Ischaemic: restricted blood flow
  • Haemorrhagic: bleeding in the brain
  • Symptoms: weakness, numbness, vision changes, speech difficulties
  • Effects: cognitive, emotional, and physical impairments
  • Diagnosis and treatment: medical imaging, medication, and rehabilitation

Neurological Disorders

• Epilepsy:
  • Types: partial, generalized, and unknown
  • Seizure types: tonic, clonic, tonic-clonic, absence
  • Causes: genetic, infection, head trauma, stroke, and unknown
  • Diagnosis: medical history, EEG, and imaging
  • Treatment: medication, surgery, and lifestyle changes
• CTE (Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy):
  • Symptoms: memory loss, depression, anxiety, and impulsivity
  • Diagnosis: based on symptoms, medical history, and imaging
  • Treatment: symptom management, medication, and support