Brain Structure and Function

“If the human brain were so

simple that we could
understand it, we would be so
simple that we couldn’t”

-Emerson Pugh, The Biological Origin of Human

Values (1977)
 Parts of the Brain

THALAMUS amygdala
hippocampus
 Relays
messages pituitary

CEREBELLUM
 Coordination
and balance
BRAINSTEM  Heart
rate and breathing
 The Brain
• Brainstem
–responsible for
automatic survival
functions
• Medulla
–controls heartbeat
and breathing
 Reticular Formation
•Widespread connections
•Arousal of the brain as
a whole
•Reticular activating
system (RAS)
•Maintains
consciousness and
alertness
•Functions in sleep and
arousal from sleep
 The Cerebellum

–helps coordinate
voluntary
movement and
balance
 The Limbic System
• Hypothalamus, pituitary,
amygdala, and hippocampus
all deal with basic drives,
emotions, and memory

• Hippocampus  Memory
processing

• Amygdala  Aggression
(fight) and fear (flight)

• Hypothalamus  Hunger,
thirst, body temperature,
pleasure; regulates pituitary
gland (hormones)
 The Limbic System
 Hypothalamus
 neural structure lying
below (hypo) the
thalamus; directs several
maintenance activities
 eating
 drinking
 body temperature
 helps govern the
endocrine system via the
pituitary gland
 linked to emotion
 (show video)
 The Limbic System
• Amygdala
–two almond-
shaped neural
clusters that are
components of
the limbic system
and are linked to
emotion and fear
 The Brain
• Thalamus
– the brain’s sensory
switchboard, located
on top of the
brainstem
– it directs messages to
the sensory receiving
areas in the cortex
and transmits replies
to the cerebellum and
medulla
 The Cerebral Cortex
• Cerebral Cortex
–the body’s
ultimate control
and information
processing
center
The lobes of the cerebral hemispheres
The lobes of the cerebral hemispheres

Planning, decision Sensory

making speech

Vision
Auditory
 The Cerebral Cortex
• Frontal Lobes
– involved in speaking and
muscle movements and in
making plans and judgments
– the “executive”
• Parietal Lobes
– include the sensory cortex
 The Cerebral Cortex
• Occipital Lobes
– include the visual areas, which
receive visual information from the
opposite visual field
• Temporal Lobes
– include the auditory areas, each of
which receives auditory information
primarily from the opposite ear
 The Cerebral Cortex

• Frontal (Forehead to top)  Motor Cortex

• Parietal (Top to rear)  Sensory Cortex
• Occipital (Back)  Visual Cortex
• Temporal (Above ears)  Auditory Cortex
Brain Lateralization
 Our Divided Brains
• Corpus collosum –
large bundle of
neural fibers
(myelinated axons,
or white matter)
connecting the two
hemispheres
 Hemispheric Specialization

LEFT RIGHT

Symbolic thinking Spatial perception

(Language) Overall picture
Detail Context,
Literal meaning metaphor
 Contra-lateral
division of labor
• Right hemisphere
controls left side of
body and visual field

• Left hemisphere
controls right side of
body and visual field
 Split Brain Patients
• Epileptic patients had corpus callosum cut to
reduce seizures in the brain
• Lives largely unaffected, seizures reduced
• Affected abilities related to naming objects in
the left visual field
• left and right brain differences in
learning.m4v
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Qi5_dAN
WYo
•
Brain Plasticity
 Brain Plasticity
• The ability of the brain to
reorganize neural pathways
based on new experiences
• Persistent functional changes in
the brain represent new
knowledge
• Age dependent component
• Brain injuries
Environmental influences on
neuroplasticity

Impoverished environment

Enriched environment
 Phineas Gage

• September 13th, 1848

• Phineas 25 years old
• Rutland & Burlington Railroad, Cavendish,
VT
• Paving the way for new RR tracks
• “Tamping Iron”
– 1.25in x 3ft
 Phineas Gage
• Accident
– Quick Recovery
• Months later: “No longer Gage”
– Before: capable, efficient, best foreman, well-balanced
mind
– After: extravagant, anti-social, liar, grossly profane
• Stint with P.T Barnum
• Died 12 years later
• Watch Clip:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c6kRP41ygrI
 The Nervous System
• The nervous system is made up of neurons, nerve
cells that transmit signals or “messages” throughout
the body.

• Dendrites – The rootlike structures at the ends of

neurons that receive messages from other neurons.

• Axon – The long, thin part of a neuron along which

nerve impulses travel.

© 2014, 2011, 2008 by Pearson Education, Inc. All rights

 The Nervous System
• Terminals – The small branching structures at the
tips of axons.
• Neurotransmitters – Chemical substances that
transmit messages from one neuron to another.
• Synapse – The junction between one neuron and
another across which neurotransmitters pass.
• Receptor site – A part of a dendrite on a receiving
neuron that is structured to receive a neurotransmitter.

© 2014, 2011, 2008 by Pearson Education, Inc. All rights

 The Anatomy of a Neuron

© 2014, 2011, 2008 by Pearson Education, Inc. All rights

 Transmission of Neural Impulses

© 2014, 2011, 2008 by Pearson Education, Inc. All rights

 Neurotransmitter Functions and
Relationships

© 2014, 2011, 2008 by Pearson Education, Inc. All rights

 Neural Transmission

• The Brain's Inner Workings - Part 1 -

Structure and Function
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C13OVRguQ
rQ&feature=relmfu

• The Brain's Inner Workings - Part 2 –

Cognition
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1NixAppWW
ec&NR=1&feature=endscreen
• Neurons and how they work
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FR4S1BqdF
G4&feature=related
 Steps in Neural Transmission Class Challenge
Goal: gain a hands-on idea of how electrical information is passed along
an axon for neural transmission to occur.
• 1 Facilitator and 12 students.
• Facilitator- Assign the following roles to each student in
your group: electrical stimulus, dendrite, cell body,
axon, myelin sheath (use four students for this one),
positive ion, negative ion, terminal button, and
neighboring neuron. (use the text to help you understand what each role does)
• Group – Students line up in the correct order of neural
transmission.
• Facilitator – Orchestrate the group to ‘act out’ each of
the steps and have each student act out their parts as
you are going through the steps. Do this a couple of
times until you think they have the hang of it. Next, allow
the students to run through the steps by themselves. (Extra
points for creativity)
 Neural Transmission Act 1
• electrical stimulus
• dendrite
• cell body
• axon
• myelin sheath (use four students for this
one)
• positive ion
• negative ion
• terminal button
• neighboring neuron.
• The Brain – History Channel
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iE3M
gMFfI6U
 Introductory Psychology Concepts

The Brain - Major Structures and Their

Function Amygdala Hippocampus
Cerebrum
Thalamus
Corpus
callosum

Hypothalamus
Pituitary gland
Pons Cerebellum
Medulla Brain stem
Reticular formation Spinal cord