1. The Brain

2. Measuring the Speed of Thought 1850-Herman von Helmholtz established that mental processes were based on measurable physical processes. We will roughly calculate the speed at which information moves through the nervous system.

3. Measuring the Speed of Thought Activate a neural chain (Squeeze Right Shoulder) –1. Receptors in the shoulder detect the squeeze –2. Sensory nerves carry the info to the spinal cord. –3. Inter-neurons carry it to the brain where the information is processed by additional inter-neurons in the brain. (Hey, there’s the squeeze! Now what? Oh yeah, I gotta squeeze the next person’s shoulder.) –4. Motor nerves carry the command to squeeze to the right hand. –5. The muscles in the right hand are the effector.

4. Measuring the Speed Thought Task #1 (Squeeze Right Shoulder) –Length of time divided by # of people –The result: Average time each participant required to activate a simple neural chain. Task #2 (Right Hand on Left Ankle) –Length of time divided by # of people –The result: Change in sensory nerve component (pass from ankle to brain) –Subtract Task #1 time from Task #2 time to see how much longer.

5. Measuring the Speed of Thought Task #3 (Put both hands on the shoulders of the person in front –right on right, left on left) –If your right shoulder squeezed, then you are to squeeze the left shoulder of the next person. If you feel your left shoulder squeezed then you are to squeeze the right squeeze. –Difference from Task #1 and Task #3 represents the “speed of thought”

6. Major Structures and Functions of the Brain Pituitary Gland –Master gland of the endocrine system Amygdala –Influences anger and aggression Corpus Callosum –Relays information between the two hemispheres

7. Major Structures and Functions of the Brain Cerebral Cortex –Controls thinking and sensing functions –Voluntary movement Septum –Influences anger and fear Hippocampus –Influences learning and memory

8. Major Structures and Functions of the Brain Thalamus –Relays sensory information to cerebral cortex Hypothalamus –Regulates temperature, eating, sleeping, sex Midbrain –Reticular Activating System –Carries messages about sleep and arousal

9. Major Structures and Functions of the Brain Pons –Relays info between cerebral cortex and cerebellum Cerebellum –Coordinates fine muscle movement, balance Medulla –Regulates heartbeat, breathing

10. Basic Subdivisions of the Cortex Frontal Lobe –Motor processing Parietal Lobe –Sensory processing Temporal Lobe –Auditory processing Occipital Lobe –Visual processing Broca’s Area –Ability to speak Wernicke’s Area –Understand speech

11. The Amazing Case of Phineas Gage 1848-Construction worker Preparing a powder charge for blasting a rack, inadvertently tamped a steel rod into the hole. The explosion projected the tamping rod (2.5cm diameter; one meter long) into his skull. The rod entered his head through his left cheek, destroyed his eye, traversed the frontal part of the brain and left the top of the skull at the other side.