4.01- The Brain: What’s Going On in There?

Biomedical Technology II

Activity: What Does the Brain Do?

The brain regulates…..

• Physiological functions

• Behavioral functions

• Emotional functions

Let’s Explore Some of the Parts of The Brain

Brain Stem

coordinating functions such as:

*heart rate

*breathing

*eating

*sleeping

CEREBELLUM

2nd largest region of the brain

Located behind and below the cerebrum

Coordinates movement

Maintains balance and posture

LIMBIC SYSTEM

Located deep within the temporal lobe of the cerebrum

Responsible for:

Regulates emotions, motivations and movements

DIENCEPHALON

Located between the cerebrum and the midbrain

Consists of thalamus and hypothalamus

Responsible for:

sensory perception

regulation of pituitary gland

CEREBRAL CORTEX

*Located over and around most of the brain

*Responsible for thinking, perceiving, producing and understanding language

*Can be divided into different areas

~ vision ~ hearing ~ movement ~smell ~thinking ~reasoning

How Do Scientists Investigate What Happens in the Human Brain?

• Watching a person’s behavior

• Using various imaging techniques such as CT scan, MRI or PET scans

• Using animals for research

Imaging of the Brain

Positron Emission Tomography (PET)

measures the spatial distribution and movement of radioisotopes in tissues of living subjects

How is a PET scan performed?

Activity: PET and Brain Function

ACTIVITY ONLINE LOCATION

http://science.education.nih.gov/supplements/nih2/Addiction/activities/lesson1_analyzing.html

Information for Question #5 The tasks that the subject performed during each of the PET scans

are as follows:

Set #1- The person is resting

Set #2- The person is listening to music

Set #3- The person is looking at a picture showing both pattern and color

Set #4- The person is performing a thinking task

Set #5- The person must remember an image to be recalled later

Set #6- The person is hopping up and down on their right foot.

Activity: Who Was Phineas Gage?

• Computer reconstruction of the skull of Phineas Gage illustrating the projection of the tampering rod through the brain.

• Picture taken from NIH Curriculum Supplement; The Brain: Understanding Neurobiology Through the Study of Addiction

The Main Idea…..

Different parts of the brain process different stimuli

What Things Makes You Feel Good?

The Reward System

• Part of the brain produces and regulates feelings of pleasure

– Ventral Tegmental Area (VTA)

– Nucleus accumbens

– Portion of the frontal region of the cerebral cortex

The Reward System

Drugs & The Brain

What Did We Learn?

• Particular functions are localized to specific areas of the brain

• Imaging techniques allow scientists to study activity in the brain

• Normal behaviors can activate the reward system in the brain and drugs of abuse affect those same reward circuits