Module 6: The Brain Questions and Answers Rated A+

Module 6: The Brain Questions and Answers Rated A+ case study A research technique in which one person is studied in depth in the hope of revealing universal principles computed axial tomography (CAT or CT) a series of x-ray photographs taken from different angles and combined by computer into a composite representation of a slice through the body magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) Techniques using magnetic fields and radio waves to produce computer-generated images of the brain (fMRI shows brain activity, including blood flow) Electroencephalogram (EEG) An amplified recording of the waves of electrical activity that sweep across the brain's surface. These waves are measured by electrodes placed on the scalp. Positron Emission Tomography (PET) a visual display of brain activity that detects where a radioactive form of glucose goes while the brain performs a given task brainstem the oldest part and central core of the brain, beginning where the spinal cord swells as it enters the skull; it is responsible for automatic survival functions medulla located at the base of the brainstem, it controls basic life-support functions like heartbeat and breathing reticular formation a nerve network in the brainstem that plays an important role in controlling wakefulness and arousal thalamus the brain's sensory switchboard, located on top of the brainstem; it directs messages to the sensory receiving areas of the brain cerebellum the "little brain" attached to the rear of the brainstem; it helps coordinate voluntary movements and balance limbic system a ring of structures at the border of the brainstem and cerebral cortex; it helps regulate important functions such as memory, fear, aggression, hunger, and thirst, and it includes the hypothalamus, the hippocampus, and the amygdala hypothalamus A neural structure lying below the thalamus; it directs several maintenance activities (eating, drinking, body temperature), helps govern the endocrine system via the pituitary gland, and is linked to emotion and reward. hippocampus a neural center located in the limbic system that wraps around the back of the thalamus; it helps process new memories for permanent storage amygdala An almond-shaped neural cluster in the limbic system that controls emotional responses, such as fear and anger. cerebral cortex the intricate fabric of interconnected neurons that form the body's ultimate control and information-processing center corpus callosum the large band of neural tissue that connects the two brain hemispheres and allows them to communicate with each other frontal lobes the portion of the cerebral cortex lying just behind the forehead; involved in speaking and muscle movements and in making plans and judgments parietal lobes portion of the cerebral cortex lying at the top of the head and toward the rear; it includes the somatosensory cortex and general association areas used for processing information occipital lobes the portion of the cerebral cortex lying at the back of the head; it includes the primary visual processing areas of the brain temporal lobes portion of the cerebral cortex lying roughly above the ears; includes the auditory areas of the brain motor cortex a strip of brain tissue at the rear of the frontal lobes that controls voluntary movements somatosensory cortex a strip of brain tissue at the front of the parietal lobes that registers and processes body sensations plasticity the brain's ability to change, especially during childhood, by reorganizing after damage or experience Broca's area a brain area of the left frontal lobe that directs the muscle movements involved in speech Wernicke's area a brain area of the left temporal lobe involved in language comprehension and expression split brain patients corpus collosum is severed, two hemispheres of the brain don't communicate inside the skull