THE HUMAN BRAIN

Objectives

Identify the general structure of the human brain.

Recognize the two hemispheres of the brain.

Identify the differences between right and left hemispheres.

Describe the function of Broca’s and Wernicke’s areas.

Introduction

• The human brain is by far the most complex and highly organized structure of the body.

• This organ allows us to think, move, feel, see, hear, taste, and smell.

• It controls our body, receives, analyzes, and stores information.

• The brain produces electrical signals, which, together with chemical reactions, let the parts of the body communicate. Nerves send these signals throughout the body.

Cerebrum -The largest division of the brain. It is divided into two hemispheres, each of which is divided into four lobes.

Cerebrum Cerebrum

Cerebellum

Longitudinal Fissure

Left hemisphere Right hemisphere

STRUCTURE OF THE BRAIN

Frontal lobe• It is located deep to the Frontal Bone of the skull.• It plays an integral role in the following functions/actions:

- Memory Formation

- Emotions

- Decision Making/Reasoning

- Personality•Broca’s Area – Controls facial neurons, speech, and language comprehension. Located on Left Frontal Lobe.

• Broca’s Aphasia – Results in the ability to comprehend speech, but the decreased motor ability (or inability) to speak and form words.

Parietal lobe• It plays a major role in the following functions/actions:

- Senses and integrated sensation(s)- Spatial awareness and perception

Occipital lobe

Its primary function is the:- processing,- integration, - interpretation,

VISION and visual stimuli.

Temporal lobe•It plays an integral role in the following functions:

-Hearing- Organization/Comprehension of language- Information Retrieval (Memory and Memory Formation)

• Wernicke’s Area – Language comprehension. Located on the Left Temporal Lobe.

- Wernicke’s Aphasia – Language comprehension is inhibited. Words and sentences are not clearly understood, and sentence formation may be inhibited or non-sensical.

• Arcuate Fasciculus - A white matter tract that connects Broca’s Area and Wernicke’s Area through the Temporal, Parietal and Frontal Lobes. Allows for coordinated, comprehensible speech. Damage may result in:

- Conduction Aphasia - Where auditory comprehension and speech articulation are preserved, but people find it difficult to repeat heard speech.

Broca’s Area

Wernicke’s Area

Left and Right Hemispheres

Optimistic halfPositive emotions- control

Pessimistic halfEmotional perceptions

NEUROFUNCTIONAL THEORY

LAMENDELLA –

“A neurofunctional perspective on language attempts to characterize the neurolinguistic information processing systems responsible for the development and use of language”.

Right hemisphere

This deals with different aspects of language.

Associated with right hemisphere functioning is the holistic processing and according to Krashen, this hemisphere is responsible for the storing and processing of formulaic speech.

Left hemisphere

There are two main areas associated with language.BROCA’S AREA

This area is located just anterior to the motor cortex which controls movements of the lips, tongue, jaw, and vocal cords.Damage to this area results in slow and laboured speech, but is does not affect comprehension.

WERNICKE’S AREA

This area partially surrounds the auditory cortex.Damage to this area results in speech that is fluent but also meaningless, and it also affects comprehension of language(spoken and written).

LEFT RIGHT One-at-a time processing. Sequential: A to B to C. Looks at details. Receptive to verifiable

aspects of the world. A splitter (distinction is

important). Talks, and talks and talks. Knows “how” Lineal thinking

All-at-once processing Simultaneous Look at the whole Receptive to qualitative

aspects of the world (feelings) A lumper (conecctedness is

important, puts everything together)

Mute ,uses pictures not words. Knows “what” Majestic thinking

Brain’s hemispheres

Men’s and women’s learning styles and capacities

MEN WOMENTemporal lobe: this region of the cerebral cortex helps control hearing, memory and a person’s sense of self and time.

In cognitively normal men, a tiny region of the temporal lobe behind the eye has about 10% fewer neurons than it does in women.

Women have more neurons in this region, which understands language as well as melodies and speech tones.

Corpus callosum: this bundle of neurons is the main bridge between the left and the right hemispheres, carrying messages between them.

A man’s corpus callosum takes up less volume in his brain than a woman’s does, suggesting the two hemispheres communicate .

In women, the back part of the callosum is bigger than in men. That may explain why women use both sides of their brains for language.

Anterior Commissure: this collection of nerve cells also connects the brain’s two hemispheres . It is smaller and appeared earlier in evolution than corpus callosum.

In men, the commissure is smaller than it is in women, even though men’s brains are, on average, larger than women’s.

The larger commisure in women may be another reason their two cerebral hemispheres seem to work in partnership on tasks from language to emotional responses.

Christoph Blumrich (newsweek)

What Cortical

Region of the brain

would these doctors be

stimulating?

Let’s practice!!! Read the definitions, then label the brain anatomy diagram.

Answers

Read the definitions, then label the neuron diagram below.

Bibliography

“Understanding Psychology” –Fourth Edition, Random House School Division.

“Biology” Chapter 43 – Integration and control IV: The vertebrate Brain. Helena Curtis & N. Sue Barnes.

“Theories of Second Language Acquisition” – Rod Ellis“The Human Brain” - Harvard University LS/HHMI

High School Science - Multiple Diagrams of the Human Brain. outreach.mcb.harvard.edu/teachers/Summer05/.../Human_brain.ppt 

www.bbc.co.uk - BBC homepage – the brain

Thank you!!!

JUANITA QUEVEDO VALERIA MACHINES