1

Broca’s area is responsible for speaking ability.

Wernicke’s area functions for language comprehension.

Language areas

Lateralization of hemispheres

corpus callosum

2

Cerebellum – compares motor cortex output with what is happening in body. Important for acquiring physical skills (procedural memory)

Basal nuclei – inhibits unwanted movements. Associated with Parkinson’s disease, Huntington’s disease

Coordination and smooth movements require additional input

Basal nuclei inhibits muscle tone

selects and maintains purposeful muscle activity while inhibiting useless movement

monitors and controls slow, sustained contractions (posture)

Hypotonia - low muscle tone

normal

EEG records synchronous firing of pyramidal neurons in cortex (many combined dipoles). EEG measures combined activity of ~10 million neurons

Basic EEG (‘brainwaves’)

3

Basic EEG (‘brainwaves’)A set of interconnected brain areas that fxn in motivation, emotion, and memory

Limbic association cortex

Involves both cortical and subcortical regions

“Feeling and reacting brain” vs. thinking brain of frontal cortex. Fear, anger, pleasure and sexual drive

Reward and punishment centers exist

Limbic systemReceives signals right from thalamus when experiencing fearful stimuli (emotional stimuli)

Amygdala is associated with hippocampus, learning.

Limbic system: amygdala

4

Short-term memory – stored for a few minutes and can contain only a few items or concepts (like a phone number). Items can get ‘bumped’ from STM.

Long-term memory – lasts years or more –generally stored in cortex. Includes factual info about the world, and personal events.

Memory HippocampusShort-term memory is converted to long-term memory using signals involving the hippocampus

Hippocampus is an area where new neurons can be produced.

Newly acquired

information

Usually

permanently lost Rapid retrieval

Inability to

retrieve“Forgetting” “Remembering”

Searching and

readout

Short-term

memory stores

(Practice)

Consolidation

Long-term

memory stores Slower retrieval, except for

thoroughly ingrained memories,

which are rapidly retrieved

Usually only

transiently unable

to access stores

Storage in temporal lobes, limbic system, cerebellum

How we rememberIn Alzheimer’s disease, abnormal proteins

cause damage to neurons (amyloid beta, tau)

The hippocampus is the first to be affected

Alzheimer’s disease

5

Idea that areas of the brain distinctly focus on one sense has been discarded

There is a lot of ‘cross-talk’ between the senses (i.e. what you see influences what you hear and so on)

Our brain is not really a ‘swiss army knife’

Then Now

Figure 5.28Page 173Cervical

cord

Thoracic

cord

Lumbar

cord

Sacral

cord

Cervical nerves

Thoracic nerves

Lumbar nerves

Sacral nerves

Coccygealnerve

Cauda

equina

Dermatome - a patch of skin innervated by the same spinal nerve

Spinal cord

Spinalnerve

Vertebra

Meningeslayers

6

Nerve- a bundle of peripheral axons.

Spinal nerves contain afferent and efferent fibers.

Cell body ofefferent neuron

Cell body ofafferent neuron

From receptors

To effectors

Interneuron

Spinal nerve

Stimulus

Biceps(flexor)

contracts

Handwithdrawn

Triceps(extensor)

relaxes

Ascending pathwayto brain

Response

Reflex arc

Receptor

Afferent pathway

Integrating center

Efferent pathway

Effector organs

Integrating center(spinal cord)

Thermalpain receptor

in finger

Efferent Pathway

Effectororgans

AfferentPathway

Withdrawal reflex