AP Psychology Unit 3B Vocabulary

Tissue destruction; a brain lesion is a naturally or experimentally caused destruction of brain tissue.

An amplified recording of the waves of electrical activity that sweep across the brain's surface. These waves are measured by electrods placed on the scalp.

A series of x-ray photographs taken from different angles and combined by computer into a composite representation of a slice through the body.

A visual display of brain activity that detects where a radioactive form of glucose goes while the brain perfoms a given task.

A technique that uses magnetic fields and radio waves to produce computer generated images of soft tissue. These scans show brain anatomy.

A technique for revealing bloodflow and, therefore, brain activity by comparing successive MRI scans. These scans show brain function.

The oldest part and central core of the brain, beginning where the spinal cord swells as it enters the skull; this structure is responsible for automatic survival function.

The base of the brainstem; controls heartbeat and breathing.

A nerve network in the brainstem that plays an important role in controlling arousal.

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 "little brain" at the rear of the brainstem; functions include processing sensory input and coordinating movement ouput and balance.

Doughnut-shaped neural system (including the hippocampus, amygdala, and hypothalamus) located below the "cerebral hemispheres", associated with emotions and drives.

Two lima bean-sized neural clusters in the limbic system; linked to emotion.

A neural structure lying below (hypo) the thalamus; it directs several maintenance activities (eating, drinking, body temperature), helps govern the endocrine system via the pituitory gland, and is linked to emotion and reward.

The intricate fabric of interconnected neural cells covering the cerebral hemispheres; the body's ultimate control and information processing center.

Cells in the nervous system that support, nourish, and protect neurons.

Portion of the cerebral cortex lying just behind the forehead; involved in speaking and muscle movements and in making plans and judgments.

Portion of the cerebral cortex lying at the top of the head and toward the rear; receives sensory input for touch and body position.

Portion of the cerebral cortex lying at the back of the head; includes areas that receive information from the visual fields.

Portion of the cerebral cortex lying above the ears; includes the auditory areas, each receiving information primarily from the opposite ear.

An area at the rear of the frontal lobes that controls voluntary movements.

Area at the front of the parietal lobes that registers and processes body touch and movement sensations.

Areas of the cerebral cortex that are not involved in primary motor or sensory functions; rather, they are involved in higher mental functions such as learning, remembering, thinking, and speaking.

Impairment of language, usually caused by left hemisphere damage either to Broca's area (impairing speaking) or to Wernicke's area (impairing understanding).

Controls language experession-an area, usually in the left frontal lobe, that directs the muscle movements involved in speech.

Controls language reception-a brain area involved in language comprehension and expression; usually in the left temporal lobe.

The brain's ability to change, especially during childhood, by reorganizing after damage or by building new pathways based on experience.

The formation of new neurons.

The large band of neural fibers connecting the two brain hemispheres and carrying messages between them.

A condition resulting from surgery that isolates the brain's two hemispheres by cutting the fibers (mainly those of the corpus callosum) connecting them.

Our awareness of ourselves and our environment.

The interdisciplinary stidy of the brain activity linked with cognition (including perception, thinking, memory, and language).

The principle that information is often simultaneously processed on separate conscious and unconscious tracks.

Breathing and heartbeat are controlled by the...

Perception, thinking, and language can operate at conscious, deliberate levels and also at unconscious, automatic levels. This best describes...

A PET scan best allows researchers to determine...

Damage to the hippocampus would result in...

Surgical stimulation of the sensory cortex might result in the false sensation...

Awareness of ourselves and our environment best describes...

The link between the nervous system and the endocrine system is maintained by the...

A researcher interested in determining the size of a particular area of the brain would be most likely to use a(n)...

The support cells that provide nourishment and help the brain in numerous other ways are called...

Which of the following is a task more likely to be accomplished by the right hemisphere of the brain?

If you flashed a picture of a spoon to the left visual field of a person whose corpus calllosum had been severed (so it was transmitted to her right hemishpere), she would...

Brain plasticity refers to the...

When Heinrich Kluver and neurosuregeon Paul Bucy surgically lesioned the amygdala of a rhesus monkey's brain, the monkey...

The reward deficiency syndrome argues that addictive disorders may be partially explained by genetic flaws in the...

An individual experiences brain damage that produces a coma. Which part of the brain was probably damaged?

What is the oldest part of the brain, and is responsible for automatic survival functions?

Controls heartbeat and breathing.

Just above the medulla, helps coordinate movements.

Filters incoming stimuli and relays important information to other areas of the brain. Affects arousal.

Helps us judge time, modulate our emtions, and discriminate sounds and textures; also coordinates voluntray movement. Coordinates muscle movement and helps process sensory information.

The two halves of the brain.

What is at the border between the brain's older parts and the cerebral hemishperes-the two halves of the brain?

What system is associated with emotion, memory, and drives?

One limbic system component, processes memory.

Influence aggression and fear.

Chain of command governing bodily maintenance. Involved in various bodily maintenance functions, pleasurable rewards, and the control of the hormonal system.

Some researchers believe that addictive disorders, such as alcohol dependence, drug abuse, and binge eating, may stem from what?

A genetically disposed deficiency in the natural brain systems for pleasure and well-being that leads people to crave whatever provides that missing pleasure or relieves negative feelings.

The two large hemispheres that contribute 85 percent of the brain's weight.

Support, nourish, and protect neurons.

Stepping back to consider the whole cortex, each hemisphere is divided into four _____, geographic subdivisions separated by prominent ________, or folds.

Invovled in speaking and muscle movements and in making plans and judgments.

Receives sensory input for touch and body position.

Receives information from the visual fields.

Receiving information primarily from the opposite ear.

Moreover, stimulating parts of this region in the left or right hemisphere caused movements of specific body parts on...

Controls voluntary movements.

Registers and processes body touch and movement sensations.

Involved in higher mental functions such as learning, remembering, thinking, and speaking.

Judgment, planning, processing (personality).

Mathematician and spatial reasoning.

When you read aloud, the words..

Aims to rewire brains by restraining a fully functioning limb and forcings use of the "bad hand" or the uncooperative leg.

Visual area of right hemisphere.

Visual area of left hemisphere.

Later units will explore our hidden mind at work in research on unconcious _______, on concious (________) and unconcious (_______) memories, on concious versus automatic prejudices, and on the out-of-sight processing that enables sudden insights and creative moments.

Enables us "to create the mental furniture that allows us to think about the world"-to recognize things and to plan future actions.

Gudies our moment-to-moment actions.