2. “If the human brain were so simple
that we could understand it, we would
be so simple that we couldn’t.”
-Emerson Pugh, The Biological Origin
of Human Values (1977)
3. The Brain
• Brainstem
• Responsible for automatic
survival functions
**Am I going to eat it?
Have sex with it? Kill it?
• Medulla
• Controls heartbeat and
breathing
4. Techniques to examine
functions of the brain
1. Remove part of
the brain & see
what effect it has
on behavior
2. Examine humans
who have suffered
brain damage
6. The Central Nervous System: Spinal Cord
The job of the spinal cord
Damage to the spinal cord
http://youtu.be/oPerfpxYJ1U
7. Neurons: Their Anatomy and Function
Neuron anatomy
• Soma
• Axon
• Myelin
• Dendrites
Communication ~ neurons
• The synapse
Neurotransmitter
To fire on not to fire
• Synaptic plasticity
11. LEFT HANDED CLASS IDEAS
**33 million people are left handed
**25% more likely to have accidents, 51% if working with machinery
**What could be done in the classroom that would make it easier for
students who are left handed to take notes or tests.
**What about the mouse on computers? The mouse is actually made for
people who are right handed. How adaptable must a left handed person
become in order not to be frustrated by using a right handed mouse?
14. The Limbic System
• Hypothalamus, pituitary, am
ygdala, and hippocampus all
deal with basic
drives, emotions, and
memory
• Hippocampus Memory
processing
• Amygdala Aggression
(fight) and fear (flight)
• Hypothalamus
Hunger, thirst, body
temperature, pleasure;
regulates pituitary gland
(hormones)
16. The Cerebral Cortex
• Frontal (Forehead to top) Motor Cortex
• Parietal (Top to rear) Sensory Cortex
• Occipital (Back) Visual Cortex
• Temporal (Above ears) Auditory Cortex
17. The Cerebral Cortex
Aphasia
impairment of language, usually caused by left hemisphere damage
either to Broca’s area (impairing speaking) or to Wernicke’s area
(impairing understanding)
Broca’s Area
an area of the left frontal lobe that directs the muscle movements
involved in speech
Wernicke’s Area
an area of the left temporal lobe involved in language comprehension
and expression
21. PHINEAS GAGE
Phineas Gage was a railroad worker in the 19th century living in
Cavendish, Vermont. One of his jobs was to set off explosive
charges in large rock in order to break them into smaller pieces. On
one of these instances, the detonation occurred prior to his
expectations, resulting in a 42 inch long, 1.2 inch wide, metal rod to
be blown right up through his skull and out the top. The rod
entered his skull below his left cheek bone and exited after passing
through the anterior frontal lobe of his brain.
Frontal
22. Remarkably, Gage never lost consciousness, or quickly regained it
(there is still some debate), suffered little to no pain, and was awake
and alert when he reached a doctor approximately 45 minutes later.
He had a normal pulse and normal vision, and following a short
period of rest, returned to work several days later. However, he was
not unaffected by this accident.
23. CONCUSSION QUESTION
**Have you ever had or do you know someone who has had a
concussion?
**What kind of physiological or cognitive effects occurred?
**What brain areas can you think of that are affected when a
football player falls and hits the back of their head?
24. Parietal Lobe
Senses and integrated senses
Spatial awareness and
perception
The Parietal Lobe of the brain
is located deep to the Parietal
Bone of the skull.
26. Occipital Lobe
Its primary function is the
processing, integration, interpretati
on, etc. of VISION and visual
stimuli.
The Occipital Lobe of the Brain is
located deep to the Occipital Bone of
the Skull
28. Brain Plasticity
• The ability of the brain to reorganize neural
pathways based on new experiences
• Persistent functional changes in the brain
represent new knowledge
• Brain injuries
29. • Over Chapters
One, Two and
Three
• Bring scantron
882-E & #2 pencil
Study
• Unit One Exam on
Tuesday- 9/10
• Multiple Choice &
True/False
• 50 questions
