PSYCHOLOGY 101 observation, and modeling;

MODULE 1 classical conditioning, etc.

I. History of Psychology
II. Psychology in the Contemporary Time
III. Research and Ethics in Psychology
PSYCHOLOGY:
➔ THE SCIENTIFIC STUDY OF
BEHAVIOR AND MENTAL
PROCESSES
➔ explains and studies human behavior,
personality, cognition, emotions, through
interpersonal and intrapersonal
relationships, as well as consciousness;
➔ Study of the human mind began with
plato and socrates
➔ THE FATHER OF PSYCHOLOGY:
William Wundt
I. The History of Psychology
◆ He studied human consciousness
using the scientific method;
◆ OBJECTIVE INTROSPECTION:
when an individual examines
their own thoughts and mental
activities
◆ STRUCTURALISM: each part of
the mind served its own,
respective function in human
consciousness; Titchener added
that physical sensation can also
be used to study the mind
◆ FUNCTIONALISM: the central
nervous system is the center of
human functionality
◆ GESALT: patterns have more
meaning when analyzed as a
whole; contributed to the bodies
of knowledge for cognition,
perception and sensation
◆ PSYCHOANALYSIS: the
unconscious is the basis for all
human desire and motivation
◆ BEHAVIORISM: behavior
formed through repetition,
What are the 3 approaches that founded
psychology?
● Behaviorism
● Psychoanalysis
● Gestalt Psychology
II.Psychology in the Contemporary
Time
NURTURE
NATURE
➔ Psychodynamic Perspective
◆ Psychoanalysis: therapy that
aims to treat by investigating the
interaction of conscious and
unconscious parts of the mind;
free association
◆ Psychodynamic Perspective:
focuses on the unconscious mind
and its control over a person’s
actions
● Development of the self,
interpersonal relationships
◆ JUNG, FREUD, ERIKSON
➔ Behavioral Perspective
◆ Behavior and personality are
formed by a person’s
environment
● Conditioning, observation
◆ Supports a nurture perspective
◆ BANDURA, SKINNER, PAVLOV
➔ Humanistic Perspective
◆ Individuals have the power to
change their own circumstances,
take control of their lives
● People are capable of
self-actualization
◆ MASLOW, ROGERS
➔ Cognitive Perspective
◆ Human behavior/the individual’s
is actions is a by-product of
cognitive activities (memory,
intelligence)
 ● GESTALT, ELLIS, BECK,
MEICHENBAUM
➔ Sociocultural Perspective
◆ Individual’s behavior is formed
based on their culture and the
society they’re situated in
● Social influence
◆ VYGOTSKY
➔ Biopsychological Perspective
◆ Biological processes justifies
mental activity/behavior, as well
as considering evolutionary
theories
◆ Behavior is a by-product of
biological activity
◆ EYSENCK, CATTELL, MCCRAE
➔ Evolutionary Perspective
◆ Explains universal characteristics
every human shares
◆ Combines biopsychology and
sociocultural perspectives
◆ BUSS
III. Research and Ethics in Psychology
➔ Psychology’s primary aim is to uncover
the mysteries of human and animal
behavior
➔ Why is psychology a science?
◆ Several notions and discoveries
can be contested and therefore
testable
◆ The questions brought about by
discoveries leave room for more
research
◆ Psychology studies both humans
and animals
● Some metal processes in
humans can also be
observed in animals
● Convergence of human
and animal behavior
➔ The Scientific Method in Psychology
◆ System of gathering data without
bias
◆ STEPS:
● Questioning
● Hypothesis formulation
● Testing the hypothesis
● Drawing conclusion
● Reporting results
◆ Ask the ff questions:
● Description: What is
happening
● Explanation: Why is it
happening
● Prediction: When will it
happen again
● Control: How could it be
changed
◆ Confirmation bias: tendency of
researchers to look at the stuff
that supports the hypothesis
● Hypotheses must be
falsifiable
➔ Hypothesis Testing
◆ Naturalistic observation
● Observing behavior in an
untouched environment
● Researcher can be a
participant
● CONS: risks observer and
observer bias (because
they’re in the same
environment)
◆ Laboratory observation
● Observing behavior in a
controlled environment
● Researcher can control
the variables
● CONS: can produce
different results (artificial
behavior)
◆ Case Studies, Surveys
➔ Ethics in Psychological Research
◆ Participants must:
● Be allowed to withdraw
any time
● Be able to make an
informed decision
 ● Be protected from the
risks, or have the risks
disclosed to them
● Be debriefed regarding the
nature of the study
◆ The data must remain
confidential, and the well-being of
the participants must be weighed
against the study’s benefits
MODULE 2
The Action Potential
● Hodgkin and Huxley were able to record
electric activity in a neuronal membrane
○ They observed action potential,
where the potential energy
outside the neural membrane is
-60 mV
○ Action Potential is a result of
movement (balancing) of sodium
and potassium ions across the
axon membrane
○ Membrane permeability
● What happens?
○ Once a stimulus reaches the
axon membrane, actional
potential occurs. This is where
Na+ channels open and enter the
axonal membrane, depolarizing
that part of the membrane
○ The depolarization creates a
change in mV, an action potential
○ This phenomenon ends because
■ Na+ channels open for a
very short time
■ K+ channels open for
longer, which cause the
hyperpolarization of that
part of the membrane
○ Action Potential (AP) always
propagates away from its source
or stimuli, depolarizing adjacent
parts of the membrane through
waves/currents
■
■ Even if a channel has
already recovered, once
the AP has passed it
cannot reactivate it
because of distance
Neuroplasticity
● Influence of external and internal
(intrinsic) factors on brain cells
● Decline of cognitive function is not
because of age, but rather the
individual’s ability for info processing
● Michael Merzenich “the father of
plasticity”
○ Accdg to him: the brain is highly
plastic and interventions can be
made to improve the plasticity of
the brain
● Marian Diamond “the mother of
neuroplasticity”
○ Discovered that the brain shrinks
with impoverishment and grows
in an enriched environment at
ANY AGE
○ Essentials for enriched
environment:
■ Newness, challenge,
exercise, diet, love
● Fred Cage
○ Discovered that the brain is
capable of neurogenesis, animals
can do fivefold neurogenesis
○ Humans are also capable of
increasing neurogenesis
● Davidson
○ Human thought is associated with
neuroplastic gains and improved
immune response
Role of Psychology in Neuroplasticity
● Has the potential to transform the way
we diagnose and treat mental illness,
 compensating the lack of progress in ■ This is when challenge
this field and newness are needed
● Development of credible risk score, to integrate the new
cognitive training, psychosocial braincells
approaches, education, tailored games ● Cognitive training in the elderly can
improve or counteract their mental
ESSENTIALS FOR AN ENRICHED decline with age
ENVIRONMENT
2. Exercise
1. Newness and Challenge ● Without exercise the harm that ensues
● Environmental stimulation can enhance brain health are comparable to smoking
and maintain cognitive function and obesity
● Novelty, focused attention and challenge ● No physical activity is associated with a
● Additional stimulation is beneficial even decline in information processing speed
at older ages in animals as it and memory
encourages ● Regular exercise can:
○ Improvements in learning ○ Improve the immune system
parameters ○ Improve cognitive performance
○ Locomotor activity ○ Decrease hippocampus atrophy
○ Exploratory behavior ○ Better network integrity in the
● People who can attain academic or brain
career achievements even in older age ○ Encourage neurogenesis
have higher levels of cognition and ● Increasing the gray matter in the brain
delay of cognitive impairment can compensate for the volume lost in
● Music: multisensory form of enrichment old age
that necessitates audiovisual ● Caloric expenditure can moderate
information and appreciation of abstract neurodegeneration and increase gray
rules (rhyme, how it sounds) matter volume
○ Improved mood, improved
cognitive skills, executive function 3. Diet and Inflammation
○ Improved processing speed while ● Diet plays a role in neuroplasticity and
music is playing energy expenditure
● Neurogenesis in info processing ● Nutrients are required for sustaining a
○ Essential for finding longer lifespan and encouraging
discrepancies in experiences and cognitive performance
sensory inputs to identify ● Caloric restriction has several benefits
newness ○ Elongated health span
○ There is a period when new brain ○ Improvement of memory
cells need to be exercised ○ Reduction of inflammation
enough to be integrated through ○ Synaptic resilience
plastic response or weaker ● However all these benefits surface given
currents that an individual is able to fulfill their
○ In the start of neurogenesis own nutritional needs in their diet
dendrites grow towards the ● Blue zones or centenarians have
dentate gyrus and axons recommended the ff kinds of food
 ○ Legumes
○ Fish Nerves and Neurons
○ Fruits and vegetables ● Cajal hypothesized that the nervous
● A good diet (even with cacao) can have system is composed of cells that
the ff benefits function together
○ Improvement of mood ● Neurons: basic unit/building block of the
○ anti-oxidant/inflammatory benefits nervous system
○ Cognitive function ○ All neurons ensure both voluntary
○ Angiogenesis and neurogenesis and involuntary functions are
○ Increase of grey matter volume performed
● Foods high in omega 3 fatty acids and ○ Electric signals are sent through
DHA can have specific benefits such as neurons linearly
increase of grey matter and lowering the PARTS OF A NEURON
risk for dementia, omega 3 content in
RBCs, synaptic plasticity, etc. Part Description
4. Love, perceipt, and reduced stress
● Affection towards rats in a lab Axon Fiber attached to the
encouraged neuroplastic gains because soma that carry out
of an increase in lifespan messages to other
cells
● Negative stereotype perceptions is
associated with quicker loss of volume Axon terminals Short fibers in axons/
in the hippocampus, more tangles in at the end of the
nerve fibres, and amyloid plaques neuron that
○ Their verbal fluency and memory communicates with
also declined other nerve cells
● Mindfulness and meditation can have Dendrites Receives messages
anti-inflammatory effects from other cells
● A rich social and familial support system
can encourage healthy aging Myelin Sheath Insulation and
protection for nerves
5. Sleep
● Blood circulation to the brain is affected Soma Contains the nucleus
by sleep deprivation because of and sustains the
inflammation function of the cell
○ Deficits in learning and memory
● Chronic insomnia was associated with ● Neural impulse: the electrical signal
hippocampal atrophy, leading to a lesser when neurons send each other
production of new brain cells messages
● Other impairments brought by sleep
deprivation include Neurotransmitters: are released when the AP
○ Impairment of protein translation reaches the end of an axon; to a receptor site
○ Impaired metabolism for another neuron to receive
○ Thermal dysregulation ● Has either inhibitory or excitatory effect,
turning on and turning off cells
Nervous System - a network of cells that NEUROTRANSMITTERS
carries information to and from the body
Name location function ◆ Autonomic NS: regulation of
bodily processes
Acetylcholine hippocampus Memory, ● Parasympathetic division:
arousal, energy saving division
attention (ordinary regulation)
Dopamine Various areas Pleasure; ● Sympathetic division:
unstable energy expenditure in
levels can stressful situations
cause ◆ Somatic NS: carries info from
parkinsons organs to brain and back, as well
or schizo as movement
Endorphin hypothalamus Pain relief; ● Motor system (efferent):
low levels moving, muscles, glands
may cause ● Sensory system (afferent):
depression perception, sensing
GABA All over NS Sleep and
movement, The Endocrine and PItuitary Glands
inhibitory ● Endocrine glands: releases hormones
into the bloodstream, allowing for
Glutamate All over CNS Learning communication w the nervous system
and
○ Hormones: stimulates organs in
memory;
causes the body affecting emotions and
Alzheimer’s behavior, inhibitory and excitatory
and responses
Huntington’s Parts of the Endocrine system
disease ● Pineal gland
Serotonin Lower section Sleep, ● Thyroid gland
of NS mood, ● Pancreas
anxiety, ● Gonads
appetite ● Adrenal glands

The Nervous System ● Pituitary gland: master gland, controls

➔ Central Nervous System: controls life activities of other glands
sustaining functions of the body HORMONES
◆ Brain: core of the nervous CORTISOL Stress hormone,
system, processes the provides body with
information from the senses, fatty acid and
makes decisions, and dictates glucose
the motion of the body; cognition, Insulin Glucose absorption
thought, learning, language to metabolize sugar,
◆ Spinal cord: transportation of fats and
messages from brain to PNS and carbohydrates
facilitate reflexes
Melatonin Regulates sleep and
➔ Peripheral Nervous System
awake time
 Oxytocin Reproductivity and and reintegrate himself back into the
parental behavior community, even getting a job is a testament to
neuroplasticity. Mind you that nature in the
Thyroxin Metabolism and nature vs nurture debate does not bank on the
growth notion that physical body parts are imperative
to consciousness and thought (of course they
CASE STUDY 1: PHINEAS CAGE are), nature insists that the body essentializes
● Part of his skull was penetrated with an parts of how we think and act. In the
iron bar, removing a part of his brain perspective of nature Cage should not have
● His personality went from pleasant to been able to reinstate himself, but he was able
profane and inappropriate to.
● Social Disinhibition: post-traumatic
personality change

1. What changes occurred in Phineas

Gage’s personality after the iron bar
pierced his head?

Gage went from being a pleasant and

well-liked person to becoming insolent and
gravely disliked

2. What does the case of Phineas Gage

tell you about neuroplasticity and
neurogenesis?

The case of Phineas Cage demonstrated the

fact that he was unable to overcome the
challenges brought by his lack of a part of his
brain. Although he was never able to
completely recover his old personality, he was
able to readjust back into society. This is a
demonstration of how his efforts ultimately
contributed to neurogenesis and the
integration of these new cells into his brain.
It is human proof that the brain is capable of its
own reparations to a certain degree.

3. Examining the case, what justifications

could you make to support the nurture
perspective of human behavior?

Although the case of Phineas Cage would be

inclined towards behavior because of how a
part of his personality was eradicated as a
result of being removed from him physically,
the fact that he was able to recover socially
MODULE 3: Sense and Perception
Sensation: the process of activating neural
signals in the receptors of the 5 sensory
organs
Transduction: external stimulus into a neural
activity
Weber’s Law of Just Noticeable Difference
(JND)
● JND is defined as the small difference
between 2 stimuli that is detectable 50%
fo the time
Ex.
Amount of salt in a soup: the JND is the
minimum amount of salt needed before you
can tell that one soup is saltier than the other
● Absolute Threshold: lowest level of
stimulation that a person can
consciously detect 50 percent of the
time when there is a stimulation
○ Minimum amount of stimulation
before someone notices there is
a stimulation
Ex. Minimum amount of oil drops in a diffuser
before you can recognize the essential oil used
● Subliminal Stimuli: stimuli strong enough
to activate sensory receptors, but not
strong enough to be recognized
consciously
○ These usually initiate a Parts of the Eye
physiological response without
consciously being aware of it
○ Subliminal Perception: semi
strong stimuli can influence your
unconscious mind
■ This is more likely to
influence automatic rxns
instead of voluntary
behavior
● Habituation: getting used to stimuli that
we used to be conscious of; how the
brain deals with unchanging stimuli
that’s not really important
○ Sleeping in a noisy room
● Sensory Adaptation: not being able to
sense/respond at all to stimuli; receptors
themselves are unable to receive stimuli
○ Spicy food, if you keep eating, it’s
less spicy
○ This doesn’t apply to eyes
because the eyes are never still
READING: SENSE AND PERCEPTION
● Sensory receptors are special neurons
that receive stimulation not from
neurotransmitters, but rather from other
kinds of energy
SIGHT
Perceptual Properties of Light
● Photons: packets of waves
● Aspects of perception: Brightness, color,
saturation
○ Brightness; amplitude of the light
wave, bright high amplitude
○ Color: length of the wave; long
waves red, short waves blue
○ Saturation: purity of the color;
high saturation, one color
wavelength only
Structure of the Eye
● Light reflects off an object and the eye
can see it when light reaches the retina
● Refraction: bending of light as it passes
through diff densities
● Cornea: membrane that protects the eye
and bends light waves to focus the
image in the retina
● Aqueous Humor: nourishes the eye
● Iris: muscles controlling the pupil size
● Pupil: iris opening that changes size
depending on the light in the
environment
● Lens: changes shape to focus objects
○ Rods/Cones: receives the
photons of light, undergoes
transduction, and sends it to the
brain
 ○ Bipolar cells and Ganglion cells
send it to the rods and cones
○ Visual accommodation: lens
changes from thick to thin to
focus on stuff far or near
● Retina: photoreceptor cells
● Fovea: central area of retina, most
photoreceptors
● Optic Nerve: sends to brain
● Blind spot: where retinal cells form the
optic nerve (no more sensation)
EYES TO THE BRAIN
● Light from right visual field goes to left
sides of the retinas
○ Goes to left brain cortex
● Light from left visual field goes to right
side of retinas
○ Goes to right brain cortex
● RODS AND CONES
○ Rods are sensitive to changes in
light/brightness but not color
■ Allows eyes to adapt to
low light
■ Dark Adaptation: ability to
adjust to low light
■ The brighter the light, the
more it takes for the rods
to adapt to lower levels of
light
○ Cones are receptors for visual
acuity
■ Sensitive to different
wavelengths of light
■ TRICHROMATIC
THEORY
● 3 kinds of cones;
red green blue;
different colors
correspond to
different amounts of
light received by
RGB
● The combination of
cones and the rate
of firing to the brain
determines the
color we perceive
■ Opponent Process theory
● ganglion/bipolar
cells in the retina
are assigned to
either red/green or
yellow/blue
● Stimulating the cell
with one color for
too long will cause
fatigue, and when
suddenly switched
out for white, we will
experience the
decrease of the
responsiveness of
that one color cell
● Too much red, see
green, etc.
Color Blindness: caused by defective cones in
the retina of the eye; sex-linked inheritance,
recessive gene (men are more likely to be
colorblind)
● Monochromatic: no cones or no cones
that are working (no colors)
● Dichromatic: one cone does not work
properly
○ Protanopia
○ Deuteranopia
HEARING
Sound: vibrations of molecules in the air
(high amp, loud; high frequency, high pitch)
● Wavelength: pitch
● Amplitude: volume
● Timbre: “richness” of sound
○ Human hz limit is 20-20,000 Hz
Parts of the Ear
● Pinna: visible external part of the ear;
entrance to the auditory canal
○ Auditory canal leads to the
tympanic membrane/eardrum
● Middle Ear
 ○ Hammer (malleus):
○ Anvil (incus)
○ Stirrup (stapes): vibrates the
membrane near the inner ear
● Oval window: membrane vibrated by the
stirrup;
○ Cochlea: snail like structure that
vibrates whenever the oval
window vibrates
○ Basilar membrane is in the
middle of the cochlea
■ Corti is in the Basilar
membrane,
● Corti: contains hearing receptors
○ Hair cells: the receptors
■ Sends neural signals once
its bumps against the
tectorial membrane
PITCH
● Place Theory (Helmholtz, 1863)
○ Pitch depends on the location of
the hair cells that are stimulated
(near the oval window, high pitch;
far from the oval window, low
pitch)
○ This would imply that the basilar
membrane vibrates unevenly (to
reach specific locations). It only
does this at high enough volumes
(starting at 1k hz)
● Frequency Theory (Rutherford, 1886)
○ Pitch depends on the speed at
which the basilar membrane
vibrates
■ High speed, high pitch
○ This would imply that the hair
cells fire at the same rate as the
basilar membrane (but only does
this until 1k hz)
FREQUENCY THEORY WORKS FOR LOW
PITCHES, PLACE THEORY WORKS FOR
HIGH PITCHES
● Volley Principle (Wever, 1949)
○ Groups of auditory neurons take
turns in firing
HEARING IMPAIRMENTS
● Conduction Hearing Impairment: no
vibrations from eardrum to cochlea;
caused by a damaged eardrum or
complications in the middle of the ear
● Nerve Hearing Impairment:
complications in the inner ear or in the
corti organ; loss of hair cells
○ Tinnitus: ringing in one’s ears
○ Cannot be helped with normal
hearing aids (needs a cochlear
implant)
■ Cochlear implants send
signals directly into the
cochlea for transduction
TASTE (GUSTATION)
● Tastebuds: name for common receptor
cells; each bud has about 20 receptors
○ Nerves are right beneath the
tastebuds
● Papillae: bumps on the tongue
● Saliva: dissolves the chemicals into
molecules so the papillae can send
signals to the brain

5 flavors: sweet, sour, salty, bitter, and umami
SMELL (OLFACTION)
● Top of the nasal passages: contains the
olfactory receptors containing 10 million
receptors
● Olfactory receptor cells have cilia
○ Cillia contains the receptor sites
that send signals to the brain
when molecules move through
them\
● Olfactory Bulb: sends neural signals
through the thalamus and to other
cortical parts such as the olfactory
cortex, orbitofrontal cortex and the
amygdala
SOMESTHETIC SENSES
Skin sense: sensing temperature, texture,
pressure, pain
Kinesthetic sense: location of body parts in
relation to one another
Vestibular sense: movement and body position
Touch, Pressure and Temperature
● The skin contains several kinds of
receptors
○ Some are assigned to sense only
temperature, etc.
○ Pacinian Corpuscles: pressure
○ Free nerve endings: just below
the epidermis; assigned to pain,
temperature, and pressure
■ There are also some free
nerve endings internally
● Kinds of Pain
○ Visceral Pain: pain in the organs
○ Somatic Pain: pain in the
muscles, tendons, joints
■ Includes residual feelings
of pain after hurting
yourself
Gate-Control Theory
● Pain signals pass through a gate in the
spinal cord
○ The “gate” is the imbalance needed
for the neural activity of the cells
before it sends smth to the brain
● Substance P: a chemical when released
into the spinal cord, allows the spinal gates
to open and for the sensation to go to the
brain.
○ The brain can either open the spinal
gates more to feel more pain or vice
versa
● Consciousness of pain can either be
intensified or be distracted from
The Kinesthetic Sense
● Proprioceptors: Receptors in the muscles,
joints, tendons, sensing the location of a
particular limb at a moment
● Kinesthesia: a sense of movement and
location of limbs in relation to other limbs
The Vestibular Sense
● Inner most chamber of the ear
● Otolith organs
○ Sacs above the cochlea detecting a
person’s orientation
● Semicircular canals
○ Tubes filled with fluid that stimulate
the haircells in the cochlea allowing
the awareness of dimension (x,y,z)
or balance
● Motion Sickness - disagreement between
what the body feels and the eyes see
○ Sensory conflict theory
PERCEPTION: combining all the sensations a
person experiences at a given moment and
interprets them
Perceptual Constancy
 ● Size constancy: size permanence ● Motion parallax: in a moving vehicle, closer
regardless of distance objects will appear to move by you faster,
● Shape constancy: shape permanence and farther objects will move slower
regardless of angle ● Accomodation: muscular cues that the lens
● Brightness constancy: brightness makes to view something far or dark
permanence regardless of amount of light
Binocular Cues: needs 2 eyes
THE GESTALT PRINCIPLES ● Convergence: two eyeballs focus on one
object; the closer it is, the easier it is for the
Figure-ground relationship: tendency of a person to eyes to perceive because an intersection of
perceive objects in relation to their background their field of view is made
(reversible figures switch back and forth) ○ The farther is harder to see
● Binocular Disparity: each eye doesn’t see
PRINCIPLES OF GROUPING the same image
● Proximity: closeness implies as being part ○ Closer the object, each eye sees it
of the same group differently
● Similarity: similar looking objects as being
part of the same group ILLUSIONS
○ Sports teams ● Can either be based on early sensory
● Closure: tendency to complete figures that processes or high-level assumptions made
are apparently incomplete by the brain
● Continuity: tendency to perceive things as Factors Influencing Perception, otherwiseknown as
simply as possible with a continuous pattern perceptual set/expectancy are tendencies people
● Contiguity: perceives two close things have to interpret the same things
asbeing related to each other ● Top-down processing: using preexisting
○ Ventriloquists knowledge to organize individual features
● Common region into a unified whole
● Bottom-up processing: analysis of smaller
DEPTH PERCEPTION features to build up to a complete
- To see the world in 3 dimensions perception
- Develops early in infancy or at birth

Monocular Cues for Depth

● Linear perspective: long parallel lines
appear to converge or come together at the
end once a certain distance is reached
● Relative size: objects that have an assumed
size will be perceived as far if they look
even smaller than usual
● Overlap: tendency to think that if object A is
blocking object B, object A is infront or on
top of object B
● Aerial (atmospheric) perspective: the farther
something is, the fuzzier it will look
○ Blurry mountains when they’re far
● Texture gradient: distinct textures are
associated with closeness to the perceiver,
smaller and finer textures are farther
People from around the world can have different
perceptual sets.
REMEMBER:
● Perception is subjective
○ But works hnd in hand with IQ and
memory (memory of what is what,
like what looks like a dog)
● Gestalt perspective states that
understanding an object in its entirety
provides more meaning and interpretation
than just studying parts of it
○ Translating this principle into
perception, people would look
acquire more meaning from
understanding the whole sensory
experience than its parts.
Structures of the Brain
Medulla is the first swelling at the top of the spinal
cord; controls life-sustaining functions such as
heartbeat, breathing, and swallowing; allows the
crossover of sensory nerves
Pons is the larger swelling above the medulla;
relays info from the other cortex to the cerebellum;
coordinates movement; influences sleep, dreaming,
and arousal
Reticular Formation is a network of neurons
running through the middle of the medulla and
pons; responsible for general attention, alertness,
and arousal
Cerebellum is found at the base of the skull
controlling involuntary, rapid fine motor movement;
coordinates voluntary movements in rapid
succession; learned reflexes, skills, and habits
Thalamus is the inner chamber;relay station for
incoming sensory information form the lower parts
of the brain to the cortex;
Hypothalamus is located below the thalamus;
regulates body temperature, thirst, hunger, sleeping
and waking, sexual activity, and emotions; controls
pituitary gland
Hippocampus is responsible for forming long-term
memories
Amygdala is responsible for fear response and
remembering fear
Cingulate Cortex is responsible for emotional and
cognitive processing; selective attention, written
word recognition, and working memory
Cortex is the outermost layer of the brain
Occipital lobe are responsible for processing visual
information in the primary visual cortex, and
identifying and making sense of information using
the visual association cortex
Parietal lobes are responsible for processing
information from the skin and internal body
receptors for touch, temperature, andbody position
Temporal lobes are responsible for auditory senses
(containing the primary auditory cortex and the
auditory association area); involved with language,
and some visual info
Frontal lobes are responsible for higher order
processes/mental function; in the left hemisphere,
devoted to language; assists in controlling emotions
Motor cortex are found in the frontal lobes; are
responsible for controlling voluntary movements by
connecting with the somatic division
Mirror neurons are neurons that fire when an
animal or persons performs an action and also
when the action is performed by someone else
Association areas are areas in the cortex dedicated
to interpreting information and high order
processing

Broca’s area is associated with speech production;

damage to this area harms the interactionbetween
frontal, temporal and motor areas; in the left frontal
lobe

Wernicke’s area is associated with understanding

speech and the meaning of words; in the left
temporal lobe