BIOLOGICAL PSYCHOLOGY
densely packed neurons.
THE CEREBRAL CORTEX
• the most prominent part of the mammalian brain
• it consists of the cellular layers on the outer surface of
the cerebral hemispheres
CORPUS CALLOSUM
• The
corpus callosum is a large bundle of more than 200
million myelinated nerve fibers that connect the two
brain hemispheres, permitting communication between
the right and left sides of the brain.
ANTERIOR COMMISURE
• The anterior or ventral white commissure is a collection
of nerve fibers that cross the midline of the spinal cord
and transmit information from or to the contralateral
side of the brain. It is present throughout the length of
the spinal cord and lies behind the anterior median
fissure.
SIX LAYERS OF CEREBRAL CORTEX (LAMINAE)
I. Molecular Layer (lamina molecularis)
- consists only a few nerve cells.
II. External Granular Layer (lamina granularis
externa)
- relatively thin layer consisting of numerous small,
III. Pyramidal Layer or External Pyramidal Layer
(lamina pyramidalis externa)
- is composed of medium-sized pyramidal nerve
cells.
IV. Inner Granular Layer (lamina granularis interna)
- contains small, irregularily shaped nerve cells.
V. Ganglionic or Inner Pyramidal Layer (lamina
pyramidalis interna)
- includes large pyramidal cells.
VI. Multiform Layer (lamina multiformis)
- small polymorphic and fusiform nerve cells.
FOUR MAJOR LOBES OF THE BRAIN
PARIETAL LOBE
• It lies between the occipital lobe and the central sulcus,
which is one of the deepest grooves in the surface of
the cortex
• The parietal lobe is vital for sensory perception and
integration, including the management of taste,
hearing, sight, touch, and smell.
• It is home to the brain's primary sensory area, a region
where the brain interprets input from other areas of the
body.
Functions:
• Distinguishing between two points, even without visual
input.
• Localizing touch: When you touch any object with any
part of your body, your parietal lobe enables you to feel
the sensation at the site of the touch and not, say, in
your brain or all over your body.
• Integrating sensory information from most regions of
the body.
• Visuospatial navigation and reasoning: When you read a
map, follow directions, or prevent yourself from
tripping over an unexpected obstacle, your parietal lobe
is involved. The parietal lobe is also vital for
proprioception—the ability to determine where your
body is in space, including in relationship to itself. For
 instance, touching your finger to your nose without the
assistance of a mirror is a function of the parietal lobe.
• Some visual functions, in conjunction with the occipital
lobe.
• Assessing numerical relationships, including the number
of objects you see.
• Assessing size, shape, and orientation in space of both
visible stimuli and objects you remember encountering.
• Mapping the visual world: a number of recent studies
suggest that specific regions in the parietal lobe serve as
maps to the visual world.
• Coordinating hand, arm, and eye motions.
• Processing language.
• Coordinating attention.
Some important parts of the parietal lobe:
1. Postcentral gyrus
- This region is the brain's primary somatosensory
cortex, and maps sensory information onto what is
known as a sensory homonculus. Some
researchers also refer to this region as Brodmann
area 3.
2. Posterior parietal cortex
- This region is thought to play a vital role in
coordinating movement and spatial reasoning. It
also plays a role in attention, particularly attention
driven by new stimuli, such as when an animal
jumps into the road while you are driving.
3. Superior parietal lobule
- This region helps you determine your own
orientation in space, as well as the orientation of
other objects. It also receives significant input
from the hand, suggesting that it helps coordinate
fine motor skills and sensory input from the hands.
4. Inferior parietal lobule
- Sometimes called Gerschwind's territory, this
region aids in assessing facial expressions for
emotional content. Some research suggests it
plays a role in other functions, including language
processing, basic mathematical operations, and
even body image. It contains a number of sub-
regions, including the angular and supramarginal
gyrus.
Three specific syndromes are especially common in people
with parietal lobe damage:Superior parietal lobule:
• Right parietal lobe damage can impede your ability to
care for your body because it undermines your ability
to notice or care for at least one side of the body. This
phenomenon is known as contralateral neglect. People
with damage to the right parietal lobe may also be
unable to make or draw things.
• Gerstmann's syndrome is a cluster of symptoms
resulting from damage to the left parietal lobe. People
with Gerstmann's syndrome often struggle with
writing, arithmetic, language, and the ability to
perceive objects, though the degree and extent of
damage varies from person to person and injury to
injury.
• Damage that crosses both parietal lobes leads to a
condition called Balint's syndrome, which impedes
motor skills and visual attention. People with Balint's
syndrome may not be able to voluntarily direct their
eyes. They struggle to integrate the components of a
visual scene, and may be unable reaching for or
manipulating an object without looking at it.
OCCITAL LOBE
• located at the posterior (caudal) end of the cortex
• Primary purpose is for visual information.
• The occipital lobes sit at the back of the head and are
responsible for visual perception, including colour, form
and motion.
Damage to the occipital lobe can include:
• Difficulty with locating objects in environment
• Difficulty with identifying colours (Colour Agnosia)
• Production of hallucinations
• Visual illusions - inaccurately seeing objects
• Word blindness - inability to recognise words
• Difficulty in recognizing drawn objects
• Inability to recognize the movement of an object
(Movement Agnosia)
• Difficulties with reading and writing
• Cortical blindness
Key structures that are part of the temporal lobe include:
• Wernicke’s Area
- Wernicke’s area is a region within the dominant
side temporal lobe. It is responsible for processing
and giving meaning to speech and the written
word. Wernick’s area helps a person understand
speech and language.
• Broca’s Area
- region within the temporal lobe strongly
responsible for a person’s ability to speak and use
language with fluency.
• Limbic System
- The temporal lobe is a significant part of the limbic
system. The limbic system is involved with
motivation, emotion, learning, and memory.
TEMPORAL LOBE
• The temporal lobe is the lateral portion of each
hemisphere, near the temples
• It is the primary cortical target for auditory information.
The human temporal lobe—in most cases, the left
temporal lobe—is essential for understanding spoken
language.
• The temporal lobe also contributes to complex aspects of
vision, including perception of movement and
recognition of faces.
• A tumor in the temporal lobe may give rise to elaborate
auditory or visual hallucinations, whereas a tumor in the
occipital lobe ordinarily evokes only simple sensations,
such as flashes of light. In fact, when psychiatric patients
report hallucinations, brain scans detect extensive
activity in the temporal lobes
• The temporal lobes also play a part in emotional and
motivational behaviors. Temporal lobe damage can lead
to a set of behaviors known as the Klüver-Bucy
syndrome (named for the investigators who first
described it).
• Klüver-Bucy syndrome is a rare behavioral impairment
that is associated with damage to both of the anterior
temporal lobes of the brain. It causes individual to put
almost anything into their mouths.
Damage in the temporal lobe may lead to one or more
presenting symptoms. A person with damage in the
temporal lobe may experience issues, including:
• impaired verbal and nonverbal memory
• impaired musical skills
• impaired speech and ability to understand speech
• impaired learning
• difficulty planning
• trouble with direction
• a state of apathy or indifference
• trouble recalling visual stimuli
• inability to recognize faces or familiar objects
• changes in hunger and thirst
• poor impulse control and addiction
• deafness
• one or more types of hallucination, such as visual,
auditory, or olfactory
• amnesia
• Dyslexia
- Dyslexia causes a person to experience difficulty
reading, as the brain has trouble giving meaning to
language. The person may struggle with word or
sound recognition and may have difficulty pairing
certain sounds in language to their meanings.
• Wernicke’s Aphasia, or Receptive Aphasia
- impairs a person’s ability to understand or use
language. They may misuse words or speak in a
way that does not make sense.
• Temporal lobe Epilepsy
- is one of the common forms of partial epilepsy in
adults, as a study in Imaging Brain Diseases notes.
The condition causes uncontrolled electrical
activity in the brain that can lead to seizures.
• Pick’s Disease, or Frontotemporal Dementia
- is a less common form of dementia, that damage
or atrophy in the front and temporal lobe causes.
The condition may include changes to states such
as mood, attention levels, or irritated or
aggressive behaviors.
• Schizohprenia
- There is a link between schizophrenia and deficit
or damage in the temporal lobe, within the
primary auditory cortex in the left temporal
lobe.This condition can cause some of the major
symptoms of schizophrenia, including hearing
external voices or other auditory hallucinations.
FRONTAL LOBE
• The frontal lobes are the largest lobes in the human brain
and they are also the most common region of injury in
traumatic brain injury.
• The frontal lobes are important for voluntary movement,
expressive language and for managing higher level
executive functions.
• Executive functions refer to a collection of cognitive skills
including the capacity to plan, organize, initiate, self-
monitor and control one’s responses in order to achieve
a goal. The frontal lobes are considered our behaviour
and emotional control centre and home to our
personality. There is no other part of the brain where
lesions can cause such a wide variety of symptoms.
• The frontal lobe, which contains the primary motor
cortex and the prefrontal cortex, extends from the
central sulcus to the anterior limit of the brain
The frontal lobe controls high-level cognitive skills like:
• Planning
• self-control
• memory formation
• empathy
• attention
The frontal lobe is the part of the brain that controls
important cognitive skills in humans, such as:
• emotional expression
• problem-solving
• memory
• language
• judgment
• sexual behaviours
Damage to the frontal lobes can result in:
• Loss of simple movement of various body parts
(Paralysis)
• Inability to plan a sequence of complex movements
needed to complete multi-stepped tasks, such as making
coffee (Sequencing)
• Loss of spontaneity in interacting with others
• Inability to express language (Broca's Aphasia)
• Loss of flexibility in thinking and persistence of a single
idea or behaviour (Perseveration)
• Inability to focus on a task and to filter out distractions
(Attention)
• Mood fluctuations (Emotional lability)
• Difficulty problem solving
• Difficulty inhibiting or controlling a response or impulse
(Disinhibition)
• Reduced motivation, initiation and persistence on
activities (Adynamia)
• Reduced awareness/insight into difficulties
• Changes in social behaviour
• Changes in personality
Prefrontal cortex
• The prefrontal cortex (PFC) is the cerebral cortex
covering the front part of the frontal lobe. This brain
region has been implicated in planning complex cognitive
behavior, personality expression, decision making, and
moderating social behaviour.
• The most anterior portion of the frontal lobe
• The prefrontal cortex is especially important for the
delayed-response task, in which a stimulus appears
briefly, and the individual must respond to the
remembered stimulus after a brief delay.
• People with prefrontal cortex damage often fail to adjust
to their context, so they behave inappropriately or
impulsively.
How do the parts work together?
• The binding problem is the question of how we
connect activities in diff erent brain areas, such as
sights and sounds. The various brain areas do not all
send their information to a single central processor.
• Although we cannot fully explain binding, we know
what is necessary for it to occur: Binding occurs if
you perceive two sensations as happening at the
same time and in the same place.
• For example, a skilled ventriloquist makes the
dummy’s mouth move at the same time as his or her
own speech, in nearly the same place, so you
perceive the sound as coming from the dummy. If
you watch a foreign-language fi lm that was poorly
dubbed so that the lips do not move at the same
time as the speech, you perceive that the words did
not come from those lips.