Transcript Studying The Brain - Freeman Public Schools

Studying The Brain
Lesson 6-2
Objectives
• Identify the structure and functions of
the human brain
• Discuss the different ways
psychologists study the brain
Introduction
• Early Greeks thought the heart was the
source of feelings and thought
• Hippocrates observed the effects of
head injuries on people’s thoughts.
The Three Brains
• Hindbrain
– at base of the skull
– controls most life processes (eating, sleep,
appetite, thirst, mating)
– includes cerebellum, medulla and pons
Brain
Hindbrain
– cerebellum- controls posture and balance
– medulla- controls breathing
– pons- bridges messages between brain
and spinal cord
Brain
Midbrain
• Integrates sensory information and
relays it
Brain
Forebrain
• Includes thalamus- integrates sensory
information, except smell
• hypothalamus- controls hunger, thirst,
body temperature, and sexual behavior
Brain
Forebrain
• Allows for higher level thinking
• Outer layer is called cerebral cortex
• Inner layer is the cerebrum
Brain
Activity
• Color the brain according to hindbrain,
midbrain, and forebrain
• Label structure and function:
– thalamus
– pituitary gland
– pons
– medulla
- cerebellum
-cerebral cortex
-spinal cord
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Lobes of the Brain
• Cerebrum is two sides
• Corpus Callosum is a band of fibers that
connects the two sides
• Deep grooves that forms lobes
Lobes of the Brain
• Occipital Lobe- processes visual info
• Parietal Lobes- Sensory information
• Temporal Lobe- hearing, memory,
emotion, speaking
• Frontal Lobe- organization, planning,
creative thinking, and personality
Psychosurgery
• A prefrontal lobotomy has been
preformed many times to alter
psychopathic behavior
– are very controversial when
preformed on prisoners
• informed consent
• role of prisons
Brain and Criminal Behavior
• Recent studies show that men
convicted of violent crimes are
more likely to have abnormalities of
their frontal lobe and their right
hemisphere.
Activity
• Color and label the lobes of the brain
Left and Right Hemispheres
• Are almost mirror images
• Left brain controls the right side of the
body
– controls speech for most people
– controls mathematical ability and logic
Left and Right Hemispheres
• Right hemisphere controls left side of
the body
– visual and spatial ability
• puzzles
– recognizing patterns
• music and art
– creativity and intuition
Split Brain Operations
• Corpus Callosum- lets right brain know
what left brain is doing
• right brain- sees the sunset
• left brain- describes the sunset
Split-Brain Operations
• In Epileptics, split the corpus callosum
to decrease number of seizures
• seizure is massive uncontrolled
electrical activity that begins in either
hemisphere and spreads to the other
Split-Brain Operations
• Roger Sperry did experiments on
people with split brain operations
– Nobel Peace prize in 1981
• Holds ball in right hand can say it is a
ball, but put in left hand, can’t say it is a
ball.
• Showed each half had specialized
functions
Activity
• Right brain or left brain??
How Psychologists Study the
Brain
• Physiological Psychologists or
Psychobiologists study the role of the
brain in behavior
Recording
• Electrodes- can be inserted into the
brain to record electrical activity
• electroencephalograph- EEG records
electrical activity from whole areas of
the brain
• See p. 167
Stimulation
• Electrodes can be used to set off the
firing of neurons
• Stimulate brains of patients during
surgery to find out what function they
perform
• have been used to relieve pain of
terminally ill cancer patients
• experimented with use to control violent
emotional behavior
Lesions
• Cut or destroy a small portion of an
animals brain
• They then monitor the animal for
changes in behavior
• Assume those changes are controlled
by that part of the brain
• Rhesus monkey study
– no longer fearful and aggressive
Accidents
• 1848- Phineas Gage
– RR foreman
– showed good judgement, restraint, worked
well with others
• tamping iron enters Gage’s head right
below left eye (13 pounds, 3 feet long)
• survived, but personality changed
greatly
Accidents
• Dr. Paul Broca discovered the
connection between left brain and
speech
– area now called Broca’s area
Images
• Computer Axial Tomography (CAT)
– xrays pass around and through a
person’s head
– radiation absorbed based on density
of brain tissue
– transforms into a 3 dimensional
picture
Images
• Positron Emission Topography (PET)
– captures a picture as different parts are
being used
– Uses a radioactive solution into the blood
and then measures the amount absorbed
by blood cells.
Images
• Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI)
– study both structures and activity
– pass radio frequencies through the
brain
– used to identify tumors or brain
damage
Closure
• Web activity from prentice hall site
• Read articles on brain injury on prentice
hall site and report to class. Each
student reads a different one.
• Web activity- Probe the brain
• Research a brain disorder