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How we study the brain - brain areas and functions

22 important questions on How we study the brain - brain areas and functions

What are the two functions of the somatic nervous system?

Sensory branch, collects information from the body for the brain.
Motor branch, sends instructions from the brain to the muscles to control voluntary movements.

What are the two branches of the autonomic nervous system?, what are their functions?

Sympathetic (Fight or flight), kicks inf or emergency's when we need to use a lot of resources.
Parasympathetic (rest and digest), stimulates same body organs and systems as sympathetic, in a stable state to digest food and conserve energy.

Name four ways your body might respond if you activate the sympathetic nervous system?

-increased heart rate
-lings open up to make it easier to breath.

-Dilated pupils

-Hands Sweat

Slow deep breathing activates the parasympathetic nervous system. How else might your body respond?

Pupils will become constricted, body's organs like lungs, heart and digestive track plus more will be put into a stable state to rest and digest.

As a result of a spinal cord injury a patient loses the ability to move or feel their legs, but can till move and feel their hands. Where in the spine do you think the injury occurred?

-Lumbar

What parts of the spine effect what body parts?

Cervical, head, neck, arms and hands.
Thoracic, chest and abdominal
Lumbar nerves, leg muscles
Sacral, bowel, bladder and sexual function

Why is the cortex so lumpy? What do we call the bumps and crevices?

Because it is so large it need to be folded very tightly causing a lumpy and bumpy surface.

We call the crevices sulcus/sulci and the bumps we call gyrus/gyri.

What are some functions a mind has to preform so that we can successfully achieve our goals?

Perceive the world, attention to focus on important senses, remember, link perceptions to memories, learn new things, interrupt things based off of our own experiences, communicate and solve problems by putting pieces of knowledge together.

What four F's do we associate with the hypothalamus.

(3 F's 1 M)

Fighting
Fleeing
Feeding
mating

Which structure is the brains sensory relay station? And what structure is related to the 4 f's and where does it sit?

The thalamus, the hypothalamus sits just below the thalamus and is involved in the 3f's and 1 m, keeping the body in homeostasis.

Why is the artists depiction of the homunculi so distorted?

Because it is made to scale in relation to the cortex and how much of the cortex is involved in each human part. It is essentially the way the cortex views the body.

What major changes occurred in the brain during human evolution?

Our sensory cortex remined the same sizes but our association cortex grew massively which has allowed us to survive as a species.

A split-brain patient holds an apple in their left hand. What happens If you ask them what they are holding. WHY? What happens if you ask them to draw it with their left hand? With their right hand?

A split-brain patient holding an apple in their left hand cannot say what they’re holding because the right hemisphere receives the touch and feel information, and it cannot communicate with the left hemisphere, which controls speech. If asked to draw with their left hand, they can draw an apple because the right hemisphere controls that hand and can represent what it knows visually. If asked to draw with their right hand, they cannot draw the apple because the left hemisphere didn’t receive the information from the left hand.

How has the study of split-brain patients been informative?

The study of split‑brain patients has helped researchers understand the role of the corpus callosum as the pathway that allows the left and right hemispheres to communicate. It has shown that the two hemispheres have specialized functions — the left is mainly responsible for language and speech, while the right is more involved in visual and spatial processing. This research revealed that the hemispheres are not mirror images, but work together through the corpus callosum to create unified perception and behaviour.

What is behind the expression “use your grey matter,” and why is it not entirely accurate?

The expression “use your grey matter” refers to the grey matter in the brain, which includes the association cortex responsible for thinking, decision‑making, and conscious experience. When someone says this, they mean “think harder” or “use your brain.” However, it’s not entirely accurate because we can’t consciously control our grey matter or directly “make it think.” In reality, all areas of the brain work together to produce thought and behaviour — not just the grey and both grey and white are critical to proper functioning of the mind.

Why is converging evidence the best kind of evidence in the study of brain function?

Because we don't want to just rely on one method as the brain is a very complex organ we can miss things by just using one or two methods which don't give us a full picture of what is happening, using converging evidence allows us to create a fuller picture of what is going on and happening in certain areas or functions of the brain.

If you were interested in whether a particular brain area was involved in a specific behaviour, what neuroscience methods could you use?

FMRI would be used because it measures changes in blood flow, showing which brain areas are active during a specific task or behaviour. This helps identify where activity occurs. Good for spatial resolution.

If you were interested in the precise time in which a particular brain process occurred, which neuroscience methods could you use?

EEG (electroencephalography) measures electrical activity in the brain and can show when activity occurs, but not precisely where. Good for temporal resolution.

For each of these physical stimuli, indicate the psychological experience it produces.
i) amplitude of a sound wave
ii) kinetic energy of air molecules
iii) the chemical structure of airborne molecules
iv) the chemical structure of food molecules
v) pressure on the skin

Loudness
Temperature
Smell
Taste
touch

The Weber fraction for telling that two sounds have a different amplitude is .4. If I present a first tone that is 20 decibels, how many decibels will a louder tone need to be for me to tell they are different? explain the maths

28DB
because it is a 0.4 increase needed
k=20
I=0.4
20 X 0.4= 8

Have you ever had a false sensation that your phone has vibrated to indicate you have a message, but when you check, there's nothing there? In signal detection terms, this is an example of

A false Alarm

If a tree falls in the forest and nobody hears it, does it make a sound? and why?

No because When a tree falls it squishes the air which forms pressure waves which would usually meet and ear, the ear would turn it into sounds so no ears=no sound.

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Topics that are related to How we study the brain - brain areas and functions

How we study the brain - vision and perception

How we study the brain - brain areas and functions

22 important questions on How we study the brain - brain areas and functions

What are the two functions of the somatic nervous system?

What are the two branches of the autonomic nervous system?, what are their functions?

Name four ways your body might respond if you activate the sympathetic nervous system?

Slow deep breathing activates the parasympathetic nervous system. How else might your body respond?

As a result of a spinal cord injury a patient loses the ability to move or feel their legs, but can till move and feel their hands. Where in the spine do you think the injury occurred?

What parts of the spine effect what body parts?

Why is the cortex so lumpy? What do we call the bumps and crevices?

What are some functions a mind has to preform so that we can successfully achieve our goals?

What four F's do we associate with the hypothalamus.(3 F's 1 M)

Which structure is the brains sensory relay station? And what structure is related to the 4 f's and where does it sit?

Why is the artists depiction of the homunculi so distorted?

What major changes occurred in the brain during human evolution?

A split-brain patient holds an apple in their left hand. What happens If you ask them what they are holding. WHY? What happens if you ask them to draw it with their left hand? With their right hand?

How has the study of split-brain patients been informative?

What is behind the expression “use your grey matter,” and why is it not entirely accurate?

Why is converging evidence the best kind of evidence in the study of brain function?

If you were interested in whether a particular brain area was involved in a specific behaviour, what neuroscience methods could you use?

If you were interested in the precise time in which a particular brain process occurred, which neuroscience methods could you use?

For each of these physical stimuli, indicate the psychological experience it produces.i) amplitude of a sound waveii) kinetic energy of air moleculesiii) the chemical structure of airborne moleculesiv) the chemical structure of food moleculesv) pressure on the skin

The Weber fraction for telling that two sounds have a different amplitude is .4. If I present a first tone that is 20 decibels, how many decibels will a louder tone need to be for me to tell they are different? explain the maths

Have you ever had a false sensation that your phone has vibrated to indicate you have a message, but when you check, there's nothing there? In signal detection terms, this is an example of

If a tree falls in the forest and nobody hears it, does it make a sound? and why?

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How we study the brain - vision and perception

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What four F's do we associate with the hypothalamus.

(3 F's 1 M)

For each of these physical stimuli, indicate the psychological experience it produces.
i) amplitude of a sound wave
ii) kinetic energy of air molecules
iii) the chemical structure of airborne molecules
iv) the chemical structure of food molecules
v) pressure on the skin