Personal Development 11

Ms. Kris Ignacio

Powers of the Mind

THE WORKINGS OF THE BRAIN

THE CENTRAL NERVOUS SYSTEM: The “Central Processing Unit”

The Central Nervous System

• Composed of the brain and the spinal cord.
• Both the brain and the spinal cord are composed of neurons and glial cells
that control the life-sustaining functions of the body as well as all thought,
emotion, and behavior.

The Brain

• Fist-sized; three pound organ

• Responsible for the overall functioning of the body
• Core information-processing unit in the body
• Written memory
– A special system in the brain
– Makes it possible to access stored information for use on specific
activities
• The core of the nervous system
• The part that makes sense of the information received from the senses,
makes decisions, and sends commands out to the muscles and the rest of
the body

MAJOR PARTS OF THE BRAIN

Hindbrain

• Part of the brain responsible for instinctive, autonomic behavior and

survival functions

Medulla

 Responsible for life-sustaining functions such as

breathing, swallowing, and heart rate
 First large swelling at the top of the spinal cord
 Lowest part of the brain

Pons

 Plays a part in sleep, dreaming, left–right body

coordination, and arousal
 The larger swelling above the medulla that connects the top of the brain
to the bottom

Reticular Formation
  Responsible for general attention, alertness, and arousal
 Reticular activating system (RAS)
 An area of neurons running through the middle of the medulla and the
pons

Cerebellum

 “Little brain”
 Controls and coordinates involuntary, rapid, fine motor
 Part of the lower brain located behind the pons

Hindbrain
• Medulla- controls vital functions
– respiration, blood circulation, digestion and heart rate
• Cerebellum- regulates posture, balance and muscular coordination
• Pons- bridge between the medulla and other part of the brain
– Movements, sleep and arousal
• Reticular activating system- regulates attention, movement

Midbrain
• Conduction and switching center of the brain that enables responses
– Muscle movements
– Auditory and visual system processing
• Problems with auditory and visual processing may result in certain
learning abilities
– Dyslexia and central auditory processing disorder

Forebrain
• Controls the intellectual activity and consciousness
• Cerebrum- “executive center”
– Responsible for remembering, learning, and thinking; language
and emotion
• Thalamus- relays sensory information
• Hypothalamus- secretes hormones and controls physiological functions
– Temperature, hunger and thirst
• Corpus callosum- connects the two hemispheres of the brain
• Pituitary gland- master gland that secrets hormones and controls the
endocrine system

STRUCTURES UNDER THE CORTEX

Limbic System

 A group of several brain structures located

under the cortex and involved in learning, emotion, memory, and
motivation
 Thalamus, hypothalamus, hippocampus, amygdala, and the cingulate
cortex

Thalamus

 Relays sensory information from the lower part of the

brain to the proper areas of the cortex
 Processes some sensory information before sending it to its proper area
 Located in the center of the brain

Olfactory bulbs

 Two bulb-like projections just under the front of the

brain that receive information from the receptors in the nose

Hypothalamus
 Responsible for motivational behavior such as sleep, hunger, thirst, and
sex
 Located below the thalamus and directly above the pituitary gland

Hippocampus

 Responsible for the formation of long-term

memories and the storage of memory for location of objects
 Curved structure located within each temporal lobe

Amygdala

 Responsible for fear responses and memory of

fear
 Brain structure located near the hippocampus

Cingulate Cortex

 Plays an important role in both emotional and

cognitive processing
 Found right above the corpus callosum in the frontal and parietal lobes

Cortex
 Consists of densely packed neurons, responsible for higher thought
processes and interpretation of sensory input
 Outermost covering of the brain
 Divided into to two sections:
 Cerebral Hemispheres
 Corpus Callosum

Cerebral Hemispheres

 The two sections of the cortex on the left and right

sides of the brain

Corpus Callosum

 Thick band of neurons that connects the right and left

cerebral hemispheres
 Each hemisphere has 4 sections:
 Occipital Lobe
 Parietal Lobe
 Temporal Lobe
 Frontal Lobe

SECTIONS OF THE BRAIN

Occipital Lobe

 Contains the visual centers of the brain

 Located at the rear and bottom of each cerebral hemisphere
 Visual association cortex
Parietal Lobes

 Contains the centers for touch, taste, and

temperature and sensations
 Located at the top and back of each cerebral hemisphere
 Somatosensory cortex

Temporal Lobes

 Responsible for the sense of hearing and meaningful

speech
 Located just behind the temples
 Primary auditory cortex & auditory association area

Frontal Lobes

 Responsible for higher mental processes and decision making as well as

the production of fluent speech
 Located in the front and top of the brain

Frontal Cortex

 Motor cortex
  Section of the frontal lobe located at the back, responsible for sending
motor commands to the muscles of the somatic nervous system

THE ASSOCIATION AREAS OF THE CORTEX

Association Areas
 Areas within each lobe of the cortex responsible for the coordination and
interpretation of information, as well as higher mental processing

Broca’s Area

 An area of the brain devoted to the production of

speech
 Broca’s aphasia

Wernicke’s Area

 Area of the brain appears to be involved in understanding the

meaning of words
 Wernicke’s aphasia

The Spinal Cord

• A long bundle of neurons that carries messages

between the body and the brain and is responsible for very fast, lifesaving
reflexes.

Three types of neurons

• Afferent neurons
– a neuron that carries information from the senses to the central
nervous system
• Efferent neurons
– a neuron that carries messages from the central nervous system to
the muscles of the body.
• Interneuron
– a neuron found in the center of the spinal cord that receives
information from the afferent neurons and sends commands to the
muscles through the efferent neurons.

Reflex Arc

• the connection of the afferent neurons to the interneurons to the efferent

neurons, resulting in a reflex action.

THE PERIPHERAL NERVOUS SYSTEM: NERVES ON THE EDGE

Peripheral Nervous System

• Made up of all the nerves and neurons that are not contained in the brain
and spinal cord.
• This system allows the brain and spinal cord to communicate with the
sensory systems of the eyes, ears, skin, and mouth and allows the brain
and spinal cord to control the muscles and glands of the body.
• Two major systems:
– Somatic Nervous System
– Autonomic Nervous System

Somatic Nervous System

• Made up of the sensory pathway and motor

pathway.
• Division of the PNS consisting of nerves that carry information from the
senses to the CNS and from the CNS to the voluntary muscles of the body.

SENSORY PATHWAY MOTOR PATHWAY

• Nerves • Nerves
coming from coming from
the sensory the CNS to
organs to the the voluntary
CNS muscles,
consisting of consisting of
afferent efferent
neurons. neurons.

Autonomic Nervous System

• Division of the PNS consisting of nerves that control all of the involuntary
muscles, organs, and glands
• Controls everything else in the body
• Divided into 2 divisions:
– Sympathetic division
– Parasympathetic division

Sympathetic Division

• “Fight-or-flight system”
• Part of the ANS that is responsible for reacting to stressful events and
bodily arousal
• Located on the middle of the spinal column
• Job: Get the body ready to deal with the stress

Parasympathetic Division

• “Eat-drink-and-rest”
system
• Part of the ANS that restores the body to normal functioning after arousal
• Responsible for the day-to-day functioning of the organs and glands
• Allows the body to put back all the energy it burned

DISTANT CONNECTIONS: THE ENDOCRINE GLANDS

Endocrine Glands

• Glands that secrete chemicals called hormones

directly into the bloodstream.

Hormones

• Chemicals released into the bloodstream by

endocrine glands.
• Affect behavior and emotions by stimulating muscles, organs, or other
glands of the body.

THE MASTER OF THE HORMONAL UNIVERSE:

PITUITARY GLAND

Pituitary Gland

•
Gland located in the brain that secretes human growth hormone and
influences all other hormone secreting glands
• “The master gland”
PINEAL GLAND

Pineal Gland

• Secretes a hormone called melatonin, which helps tracks

day length
• Melatonin levels are influential in regulating the sleep–wake cycle
• Located near the base of the cerebrum

THYROID GLAND

Thyroid Gland

• Secretes hormones that regulate growth and metabolism

• Plays a crucial role in body and brain development
• THYROXIN
– Regulates metabolism

PANCREAS

Pancreas

• Controls the level of blood sugar in the body by secreting insulin and
glucagons
GONADS
Gonads
• Sex glands, including the ovaries in the female and the testes in the male
• Secrete hormones that regulate sexual behavior and reproduction

ADRENAL GLANDS

Adrenal Glands
• Secrete over 30 different hormones to deal with stress, regulate salt
intake, and provide a secondary source of sex hormones affecting the
sexual changes that occur during adolescence
• Located on top of each kidney

The two hemispheres of the brain

LATERALIZATION OF THE BRAIN

Each hemisphere has a particular way of processing information,

learning and ways of doing things.
LEFT HEMISPHERE RIGHT HEMISPHERE
FACTUAL INTUITIVE
LOGICAL HOLISTIC
ANALYTICAL SPONSTANEOUS
SEQUENTIAL/ORGANIZE
OPEN AND FLEXIBLE
D
CONTROLLED

Left Hemisphere
• Control the right side of the body
• It is responsible for the logical, intellectual functions necessary for
UNDERSTANDING
WRITING
SPEAKING
Right Hemisphere
• Controls the left side of the body
CREATIVE
INTUITIVE
EMOTIONAL ASPECTS

• There are functions that are more highly evident, but the ideal condtion is
to manifest balance of the two:
– intellectual and creative/ artistic
– Intuitive and capable of experiencing emotional richness
and connections
• Key elements: Openness to varied ways of learning, commitment to
growth, nurturing relationships and being guided by upright values
Holistic and balanced life

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