Download - 4.01 the brain what is going on in there
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