140 pages of comprehensive full semester lecture notes from an A plus student! Don't let the complicated course content get ahead of you - these notes are well organized, super easy to follow and contain all lecture information. Perfect for all test and exam preparation.
Good notes, easy to follow :) Would recommended for test and exam prep
Seller
Follow
elenaen
Reviews received
Content preview
The human brain
The cerebrum (upper part of the brain) consists of an outer cerebral cortex of gray matter, an
internal region of cerebral white matter and gray matter nuclei deep within the white matter.
Gray matter: Contains the cell bodies, dendrites and axon terminals of neurons, so it is
where all synapses are.
White matter: Made of bundles of axons connecting different parts of grey matter to each
other.
Right hemisphere: Spatial orientation
➔ Primary auditory cortex
➔ Non-verbal language (body language, emotional expression e.g. tone of language)
➔ Spatial skills (3D)
➔ Conceptual understanding
➔ Artistic/musical skills
➔ Effects of injury:
● Loss of non-verbal language and speech lacks emotion
● Spatial disorientation
● Inability to recognise familiar objects
● Loss of musical appreciation
Left hemisphere: Language
➔ Primary auditory cortex
➔ Broca’s
➔ Wernicke’s
➔ Supramarginal gyrus
➔ Angular gyrus
Cerebral cortex:
➔ Region of gray matter forming the outer rim of the cerebrum
➔ Contains billions of neurons arranged in layers, gray matter develops rapidly
compared to white matter resulting in folds called gyri/gyrus or convolutions
➔ Deepest grooves between folds: Fissures
➔ Shallower grooves between folds: Sulci/sulcus
Lobes of the cerebrum
➔ Frontal lobe: Main anterior section
● Central sulcus separates the frontal lobe from the parietal lobe
● Lateral fissure separates the frontal lobe from the temporal lobe
➔ Parietal lobe: Superior posterior section
● Lateral fissure is the horizontal deep groove which divides the parietal and
temporal lobe and extends downwards between frontal and temporal
➔ Temporal lobe: Inferior posterior section
● Lateral fissure surrounds the temporal lobe
, ➔ Occipital lobe: Furthest posterior section, smaller more tightly packed lobe
● Parieto-occipital sulcus separates the occipital lobe from the rest of the
cerebrum, starts at the preoccipital notch
● When protrudes called occipital protuberance
Cerebral white matter: Consists of myelinated axons
➔ Corpus callosum: Wide, thick nerve tract containing commissural cell fibers. Allows
for communication between hemispheres.
Functional organisation of the cerebral cortex
Sensory areas: Receive sensory information and are involved in perception, the conscious
awareness of a sensation
★ Damage here would result in a lack of eyesight, hearing etc
Sensory association areas are adjacent to primary areas, they receive input and integrate
experiences to generate recognition patterns
★ Damage here would result in misrecognition of an object or sound etc
Post central gyrus: Primary sensory cortex
➔ Directly posterior to the central sulcus in the parietal lobe of each hemisphere
➔ Receive nerve impulses for touch, pressure, temperature etc
➔ Mapped for the body with each point in the area receiving impulses from a specific
part of the body, known as the sensory homunculus
➔ The size of the cortical area receiving impulses from a particular part of the body
depends on the number of receptors present there (instead of the size of the body
part) and thus resulting in being sensitive to touch
➔ Largest part is the face, mainly the lips, followed by the fingertips
❏ Parietal association cortex: Sensory association area
● Posterior to the primary sensory area in the post central gyrus
● Spatial skills and 3D recognition of shapes, faces, concepts, abstract
perception etc
● Stores memories of past somatic sensory experiences allowing pattern
recognition
❏ Supra marginal gyrus and angular gyrus: Reading and writing regions
● Only in the left hemisphere
● The SMGLA is primarily (but not exclusively) responsible for understanding
visual symbols as words
● The AGLA is primarily (but not exclusively) responsible for allowing us to plan
out the symbols necessary to write what we want to express.
● Nearby to Wiernicke’s area for translation of language
★ Damage results in agraphia - inability to communicate through reading
and writing
,Primary visual area: Posterior tip of the occipital lobe
➔ Receives and orders visual information and passes to the visual association area
➔ Highest density of small sensory cells
❏ Visual association area: Occipital lobe, anterior to the primary visual cortex
● Receives information from the primary visual area to interpret and form
patterns for recognition
Primary auditory area: Superior part of the temporal lobe near the lateral fissure
➔ Breaks sounds into lateral tones known as tonotopic representation
➔ Located in both hemispheres (because two ears)
❏ Auditory association area: Region inside wernicke’s area in the temporal cortex
● Allows you to recognize a particular sound as speech, music or noise
❏ Wernicke’s area: Association area in the left temporal and parietal lobes
● Responsible for the comprehension of speech
● Stroke in Wernicke’s area the individual could still speak but cannot arrange
words in a coherent fashion known as fluent aphasia producing a “word
salad”
★ Word deafness (inability to understand spoken word) or word
blindness (inability to understand written word)
Motor areas: Control the execution of voluntary movements
Precentral gyrus: Primary motor area:
➔ Immediately anterior to the central sulcus in the frontal lobe
➔ Contains very long myelinated cells that connect and activate muscles
➔ Map of the body known as the motor homunculus where each region within the area
controls voluntary contractions of specific muscles or groups of muscles.
➔ Electrical stimulation of any point in the primary motor area causes contraction in the
corresponding region of the body (on the opposite side to the hemisphere stimulated)
➔ More cortical area devoted to muscles involved in skilled, complex or delicate
movement
➔ Largest part is the hands/fingers and speech area
❏ Premotor area: Anterior to the primary motor area in the frontal cortex
● Motor planning for neuron activation
● Can learn motor activities of a complex and sequential nature e.g. writing your
name
● Contains:
➢ Broca’s area
➢ Frontal eye field: Controls scanning movements of the eye
➢ Exner’s area: Plans hand and finger movements
, Broca’s speech area: Frontal lobe in the pre-motor cortex, anterior to the precentral gyrus
and near the lateral fissure
➔ Found in the left hemisphere for 97% of the world (the language hemisphere of the
brain) where planning and production of speech occur
➔ Receive nerve impulses from wernicke's area and then pass to the motor region for
muscle contractions of larynx, pharynx and mouth
★ A cerebrovascular accident or stroke results in individuals being unable to
coordinate the muscle movements required to physically form or articulate
words, they know what they wish to say but cannot speak, known as
nonfluent aphasia/ motor aphasia
➔ Connected to Wiernicke’s area through the arcuate fasciculus, an arch shaped
bundle of white fibres which transports information from W to B to align speech
recognition/comprehension with speech production to give an appropriate verbal
response.
★ Conduction aphasia is when there are deficits in the speech production and
speech comprehension areas
Other association areas
Frontal association cortex/prefrontal cortex: Anterior portion of the frontal lobe
➔ Determines intelligence, personality, behaviour, mood, cognitive function
➔ Bilateral damage causes mood swings, being inconsiderate and a lack of emotional
intelligence
Temporal association cortex: Inferior portion of the temporal lobe
➔ Determines memory, mood, aggression, intelligence
★ Epileptic patients have a lesion here, if removed then prevent seizures but
takes away memory too.
The Spinal Cord
Protective structures
➔ First layer of defence: Hard bony skull and vertebral column protect against
damaging blows or bumps to the CNS
➔ Second layer of defence: Meninges - three membranes circling the bony encasement
and the nervous tissue. Cranial meninges and spinal meninges are continuous with
each other.
● Superficial: Dura mater
● Middle: Arachnoid mater
● Deep: Pia mater - very vascular to supply oxygen and nutrients to the spinal
cord
❏ Between the Dura mater and the Arachnoid mater is a thin subdural space
containing interstitial fluid
❏ Between the Arachnoid mater and the pia mater is the subarachnoid space
containing cerebrospinal fluid
The benefits of buying summaries with Stuvia:
Guaranteed quality through customer reviews
Stuvia customers have reviewed more than 700,000 summaries. This how you know that you are buying the best documents.
Quick and easy check-out
You can quickly pay through credit card or Stuvia-credit for the summaries. There is no membership needed.
Focus on what matters
Your fellow students write the study notes themselves, which is why the documents are always reliable and up-to-date. This ensures you quickly get to the core!
Frequently asked questions
What do I get when I buy this document?
You get a PDF, available immediately after your purchase. The purchased document is accessible anytime, anywhere and indefinitely through your profile.
Satisfaction guarantee: how does it work?
Our satisfaction guarantee ensures that you always find a study document that suits you well. You fill out a form, and our customer service team takes care of the rest.
Who am I buying these notes from?
Stuvia is a marketplace, so you are not buying this document from us, but from seller elenaen. Stuvia facilitates payment to the seller.
Will I be stuck with a subscription?
No, you only buy these notes for $12.99. You're not tied to anything after your purchase.
