Psychology Unit 4

Visual Cortex

is the area located in the occipital lobe (at the very back of the brain) that processes visual information.

Auditory Cortex

which is responsible for hearing and language.

corticalization

The folding of the cerebral cortex

Reticular Formation

The job of the reticular formation is to filter out some of the stimuli that are coming into the brain from the spinal cord and to relay the remainder of the signals to other areas of the brain. The reticular formation also plays important roles in walking, eating, sexual activity, and sleeping.

Motor Neurons

carry messages from the brain and spinal cord to the body, including muscles and glands. The term motor refers to movement, so these are the neurons that activate muscles that allow you to move.

parasympathetic division of the ANS

calm the body by slowing the heart and breathing and by allowing the body to recover from the activities that the sympathetic system causes. The parasympathetic nervous system acts more slowly than the sympathetic nervous system as it calms the activated organs and glands of the endocrine system, eventually returning your body to a normal state, called homeostasis.

Pons

a structure in the brain stem that helps control the movements of the body, playing a particularly important role in balance and walking. The pons is also important in sleeping, waking, dreaming, and arousal.

Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI)

a type of brain scan that uses a magnetic field to create images of brain activity in each brain area. The patient lies on a bed in a large cylindrical structure containing a very strong magnet.

electroencephalograph (EEG).

an instrument that records the electrical activity produced by the brain's neurons through the use of electrodes placed on the surface of the research participant's head. An EEG can show if a person is asleep, awake, or anesthetized because the brain wave patterns are known to differ during each state

positron emission tomography (PET) scan

an invasive imaging technique that provides color-coded images of brain activity by tracking the brain's use of a radioactively tagged compound, such as glucose, oxygen, or a drug that has been injected into a person's bloodstream.

Reflex

an involuntary and nearly instantaneous movement in response to a stimulus.

Occipital Lobe

at the very back of the skull, which processes visual information.

Hypothalamus

brain structure that contains a number of small areas that perform a variety of functions. Through its many interactions with other parts of the brain, the hypothalamus helps regulate body temperature, hunger, thirst, and sex drive and responds to the satisfaction of these needs by creating feelings of pleasure.

Glial Cells

cells that surround and link to the neurons, protecting them, providing them with nutrients, and absorbing unused neurotransmitters. The glia come in different forms and have different functions. For instance, the myelin sheath surrounding the axon of many neurons is a type of glial cell. The glia are essential partners of neurons, without which the neurons could not survive or function.

Cerebellum

consists of two wrinkled ovals behind the brain stem. It functions to coordinate voluntary movement.

Somatic Nervous System

division of the PNS that controls the external aspects of the body, including the skeletal muscles, skin, and sense organs. The somatic nervous system consists primarily of motor nerves responsible for sending brain signals for muscle contraction.

Hippocampus

important in storing information in long-term memory. If the hippocampus is seriously damaged on both sides of the brain, a person may be unable to store new long-term memories

contralateral control

in most cases the left hemisphere receives sensations from and controls the right side of the body, and vice versa.

sympathetic division of the ANS

involved in preparing the body for rapid action in response to stress from threats or emergencies by activating the organs and glands in the endocrine system

Central Nervous System

made up of the brain and spinal cord, is the major controller of the body's functions, charged with interpreting sensory information and responding to it with its own directives. The CNS interprets information coming in from the senses, formulates an appropriate reaction, and sends responses to the appropriate system to respond accordingly

transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS)

may turn out to be the most useful of all. TMS is a procedure in which magnetic pulses are applied to the brain of living persons with the goal of temporarily and safely deactivating a small brain region. draw causal conclusions about the influence of brain structures on thoughts, feelings, and behaviors.

Amygdala

primarily responsible for regulating our perceptions of and reactions to aggression and fear. The amygdala has connections to other bodily systems related to fear, including the sympathetic nervous system

Somatosensory Coretx

receives information from different parts of the body, namely the skin's sensory receptors as well as from the movements of different body parts.

Peripheral Nervous System

represents the front line. The PNS links the CNS to the body's sense receptors, muscles, and glands. As you can see in the following figure, the PNS is divided into two subsystems, one controlling internal responses and one controlling external responses.

Temporal Lobe

responsible primarily for hearing and language.

Frontal Lobe

responsible primarily for thinking, planning, memory, and judgment.

Thalamus

s the egg-shaped structure sitting just above the brain stem that applies still more filtering to the sensory information coming from the spinal cord and through the reticular formation, and it relays some of these remaining signals to the higher brain levels.

Medulla

the area of the brain stem that controls heart rate and breathing. In many cases, the medulla alone is sufficient to maintain life

Neuroplasticity

the brain's ability to change its structure and function in response to experience or damage. Neuroplasticity enables us to learn and remember new things and adjust to new experiences.

Autonomic Nervous System

the division of the PNS that governs the internal activities of the human body, including heart rate, breathing, digestion, salivation, perspiration, urination, and sexual arousal.

neurogenesis

the forming of new neurons. These new neurons originate deep in the brain and may then migrate to other brain areas where they form new connections with other neurons

Spinal Cord

the long, thin, tubular bundle of nerves and supporting cells that extends down from the brain. It is the central pathway of information for the body.

Brain Stem

the oldest and innermost region of the brain. It controls the most basic functions of life, including breathing, attention, and motor responses.

Cerebral Cortex

the outer barklike layer of our brain that allows us to so successfully use language, acquire complex skills, create tools, and live in social groups.

Motor Cortex

the part of the cortex that controls and executes movements of the body by sending signals to the cerebellum and the spinal cord.

single-unit recording method,

thin microelectrode is surgically inserted in or near an individual neuron, is used primarily with animals. The microelectrode records electrical responses or activity of the specific neuron.

Parietal Lobe

which extends from the middle to the back of the skull and is responsible primarily for processing information about touch.