Understanding the Brain: STRUCTURES AND FUNCTIONS
● Brain vs. mind → two different things
○ Subconscious brain vs. active brain
○ Dual processing → doing stuff now that we’re not aware of
● “Everything psychological is simultaneously biological.”
● The amygdala and ventromedial prefrontal cortex were activated during the trolley problem
● Prefrontal cortex: thinking/logic/what to do/evaluation
○ Is not fully developed until you’re 25 years old → amygdala remains the most prominent until
then (especially in teenage years)
○ Predicts consequences, pursuing goals, emotional control, abstract thought, delayed
gratification, rational decision making, second sober thought
○ Can strengthen using meditation and learning from consequences
○ Not the prefrontal cortex → prefrontal area
● Hippocampus: regulates memory (memory processing) and emotions
● Amygdala: Turns on fight or flight and stores memories of the event
○ Mostly looks at emotional responses → ex. fear and aggression
● Sulci: valley, groove vs. gyri: hills, ridge
○ The gyri (folds in the brain) indicate intelligence
● Second sober thought: thinking about something twice
○ Ex. the Senate reviewing all new bills and laws before they’re actually passed
● Fun facts about the human brain:
○ 3 lbs
○ 100 billion nerve cells
○ Lose 200,000 per day
○ Still end up with 98%
● Medulla/medulla oblongata: controls unconscious functions
○ Breathing
○ Heart rate
○ Blood pressure
○ Crossover point
○ Contralaterality
● Pons: controls REM sleep and dreaming
○ Other parts of the brain can control other aspects of sleep
● Thalamus: relay centre for cerebral cortex
○ Gets sensory signals except smell
○ Hub for all the signals (ex. train tracks, airport, etc)
● Reticular formation: body arousal and the ability to focus attention
● Hypothalamus: several metabolic functions (ex. body temperature, hunger, thirst, hormones)
○ Emotion and rewards
○ Lateral hypothalamus: feelings of hunger
○ Ventromedial hypothalamus: feelings of fullness
○ Hyperphagia: never feeling full
● Olds and Milner 1954 experiment: the rat is willing to get electrocuted to press a lever that stimulates
the hypothalamus
○ Ex. social media, gambling
● Pituitary gland: master gland working with the hypothalamus
, ○ Regulates growth-growth hormone
○ Controls other endocrine glands → hormones
■ Ex. stressful event = cortisol
● Nucleus accumbens: near hypothalamus (work together)
○ Reward centre for dopamine release → addiction
○ Kind of like what gives you a rush
● Phineas Gage was impaled right through the prefrontal cortex and lost all of the functions controlled
by that area of the brain
○ He became impulsive and very quick tempered because he wasn’t able to control many of his
emotions → amygdala took over
● Parallel (right brain) vs. serial (left brain) processors
● What are the parts of the hindbrain?
○ Thalamus
○ Reticular formation
○ Pons
○ Medulla
● Which species shares our hindbrain? Reptiles
● Cerebellum: coordinates movement and balance
○ Focuses on nonverbal learning and memory
○ Processes sensory input
● Limbic system: shared with all mammals
○ Includes the hypothalamus, pituitary gland, amygdala, and hippocampus
● Corpus Callosum: attaches left and right side of the brain
● What are some ways to study the brain?
○ PET Scan → identifies “hot spots”
○ Lobotomy
○ Deep brain stimulation
○ CT scans
○ fMRI
● What functions does the left hemisphere control?
○ Science
○ Logic
○ Linear
○ Past and future
○ Language
○ Details
○ “I am”
○ Right side of the body
○ Computing
○ Language and speech
● What functions does the right hemisphere control?
○ Arts
○ Creativity
○ Present moment
○ Euphoria
○ Nirvana
● Brain vs. mind → two different things
○ Subconscious brain vs. active brain
○ Dual processing → doing stuff now that we’re not aware of
● “Everything psychological is simultaneously biological.”
● The amygdala and ventromedial prefrontal cortex were activated during the trolley problem
● Prefrontal cortex: thinking/logic/what to do/evaluation
○ Is not fully developed until you’re 25 years old → amygdala remains the most prominent until
then (especially in teenage years)
○ Predicts consequences, pursuing goals, emotional control, abstract thought, delayed
gratification, rational decision making, second sober thought
○ Can strengthen using meditation and learning from consequences
○ Not the prefrontal cortex → prefrontal area
● Hippocampus: regulates memory (memory processing) and emotions
● Amygdala: Turns on fight or flight and stores memories of the event
○ Mostly looks at emotional responses → ex. fear and aggression
● Sulci: valley, groove vs. gyri: hills, ridge
○ The gyri (folds in the brain) indicate intelligence
● Second sober thought: thinking about something twice
○ Ex. the Senate reviewing all new bills and laws before they’re actually passed
● Fun facts about the human brain:
○ 3 lbs
○ 100 billion nerve cells
○ Lose 200,000 per day
○ Still end up with 98%
● Medulla/medulla oblongata: controls unconscious functions
○ Breathing
○ Heart rate
○ Blood pressure
○ Crossover point
○ Contralaterality
● Pons: controls REM sleep and dreaming
○ Other parts of the brain can control other aspects of sleep
● Thalamus: relay centre for cerebral cortex
○ Gets sensory signals except smell
○ Hub for all the signals (ex. train tracks, airport, etc)
● Reticular formation: body arousal and the ability to focus attention
● Hypothalamus: several metabolic functions (ex. body temperature, hunger, thirst, hormones)
○ Emotion and rewards
○ Lateral hypothalamus: feelings of hunger
○ Ventromedial hypothalamus: feelings of fullness
○ Hyperphagia: never feeling full
● Olds and Milner 1954 experiment: the rat is willing to get electrocuted to press a lever that stimulates
the hypothalamus
○ Ex. social media, gambling
● Pituitary gland: master gland working with the hypothalamus
, ○ Regulates growth-growth hormone
○ Controls other endocrine glands → hormones
■ Ex. stressful event = cortisol
● Nucleus accumbens: near hypothalamus (work together)
○ Reward centre for dopamine release → addiction
○ Kind of like what gives you a rush
● Phineas Gage was impaled right through the prefrontal cortex and lost all of the functions controlled
by that area of the brain
○ He became impulsive and very quick tempered because he wasn’t able to control many of his
emotions → amygdala took over
● Parallel (right brain) vs. serial (left brain) processors
● What are the parts of the hindbrain?
○ Thalamus
○ Reticular formation
○ Pons
○ Medulla
● Which species shares our hindbrain? Reptiles
● Cerebellum: coordinates movement and balance
○ Focuses on nonverbal learning and memory
○ Processes sensory input
● Limbic system: shared with all mammals
○ Includes the hypothalamus, pituitary gland, amygdala, and hippocampus
● Corpus Callosum: attaches left and right side of the brain
● What are some ways to study the brain?
○ PET Scan → identifies “hot spots”
○ Lobotomy
○ Deep brain stimulation
○ CT scans
○ fMRI
● What functions does the left hemisphere control?
○ Science
○ Logic
○ Linear
○ Past and future
○ Language
○ Details
○ “I am”
○ Right side of the body
○ Computing
○ Language and speech
● What functions does the right hemisphere control?
○ Arts
○ Creativity
○ Present moment
○ Euphoria
○ Nirvana
