1.3.2 Brain Functions

Objectives

Learners can:

• describe the key functions of the brain

• explain how signals move through the brain

• brain

• cell

• neuron

• tissue

Prerequisite Vocab

• neurobiologist

New Vocab

a scientist who studies the brain

A neurobiologist is a scientist who studies the brain.

Some neurobiologists study the structure and organization of the brain. Others study the chemistry of the brain.

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Neurobiologist

By lowering electrodes into the brain of a living person, it is possible to record the nerve impulse sent by a single neuron.

Some electrodes can be put on the surface of the brain or just on the scalp. These electrodes measure the electrical activity of huge numbers of neurons.

How the Brain Works

Neurobiologists can visualize brain cells by cutting brain tissue into extremely thin slices. They use dyes to stain the slices so that the cell parts can be seen with a microscope.

Neurobiologists can use these direct observations to learn which neurons are connected to which other neurons.

Brain Tissue

The abbreviation MRI stands for magnetic resonance imaging. One type of MRI that is used by neurobiologists to study brain activity is an fMRI, or functional magnetic resonance imaging. This technology allows researchers to study brain activity in a way that indirectly contacts the brain.

Brain Imaging

Recap

Neurobiologists have several methods to study the brain. These include:

• using electrodes to observe brain activity; (direct)

• observing brain tissue under a microscope (direct)

• using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) (indirect)

Brain Maps

There are maps of your body in your brain. The area at the front of your brain receives information about touch, pain, the temperature of your skin, and the position of your muscles and joints. The connections in this region are organized like a map of the body. Similarly, there is a muscle map in the back of the frontal lobe.

• ​controls the right side of the body

• responsible for speech, writing, logic, and mathematics

Left Brain

• ​controls the left side of your body

• responsible for creativity, emotions, intuition, and is good with the arts

​​Right Brain

The brain stem controls automatic body functions, such as heart rate and breathing, swallowing, coughing, and hiccupping.

Messages travel from the cerebrum to the cerebellum and from the spinal cord to the cerebellum.

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Messages

The image of the dog forms in both eyes and is coded into a message that is sent to the visual area of your brain.

You See the dog

Neurons take this message to the parts of your brain where you store memories. You attach the image of the dog to the word "dog" by making a connection between the image stored in one part of the brain with the word stored in another.

Your Brain Processes

Neurons carry this message to the speech area in your brain. Your speech area then connects through the motor system to your tongue, face, and vocal cords, which lets you say "dog."

Dog!

​Your brain constantly makes connections between things you know, things you feel, and things you discover. Areas of your cortex are separate but communicate and work with each other all the time. For example, imagine you see a dog and then say the word, "dog."