Your Brain Map

In this assignment we were asked to go to a webpage called "Your Brain Map," which features an interactive 3-D model of the human brain, to learn about the different parts of the brain and their functions. Then we were asked to answer the following questions:

Cerebral Cortex 
1. What do the frontal lobes do?

 >> The frontal lobes are the "command center" of the brain. They affect personality, impulse control, problem solving, language, critical thinking, and judgement.

2. What is the relationship between selective attention and learning?

>> "Selective attention" is when your brain prioritizes information and only remembers the more important facts, disregarding unimportant information. Studies show that "smarter" people are just people who are more selective at what they pay attention to instead of burdening themselves with unimportant information, thus learning faster.

3. What is the last part of your brain to develop and what can you do to prevent it from deteriorating? 

>> The frontal lobes are the last part of your brain to develop and the first to start deteriorating. You can prevent deterioration by being engaged with your environment, keeping your brain active, and "transforming" facts rather than just memorizing them -- connecting them into bigger ideas.

4. What does the neo cortex do?

>>  The neo cortex controls your senses, spatial awareness, and motor skills.

5. What is the role of the pre-frontal cortex? 

>> The pre-frontal cortex controls your personality, social interactions, decision-making, perception, memory, will, and planning.

6. What do we know about the pre-frontal cortex’s relationship with multitasking? 

>> We cannot actually "multitask." When "multitasking," the pre-frontal cortex is merely switching from one task to another rapidly, which results in inferior quality overall.

7. Which part of the brain is associated with speech and language development? Give an interesting fact about this region. 

>> Broca's area is associated with speech and language development. One interesting thing about this region is the mirror neurons found there. Mirror neurons are neurons that fire when a person (or primate, or some types of birds) observes the same action done by another individual. This helps the person learn languages and recognize subtle cues.

8. Which part of your brain is responsible for thinking the following: “Is it hot in here or is it just me?”  

>> The somatosensory cortex is responsible for detecting temperature.

9. What does your visual cortex do for you?

>> The visual cortex distinguishes colors and identifies complex things like faces.

10. State three interesting or significant facts about your occipital lobe.

>> The occipital lobe deals with both long- and short-term memories, as well as autobiographical events (both real and imagined). It is also engaged when you visualize yourself doing a task. Studies have shown that visualizing yourself doing a task over and over can improve your performance in real life.

11. What would happen if your temporal lobes were damaged?

>> Damage to the temporal lobes would cause long-term memory loss. You would not be able to remember things like the alphabet, so you would not be able to read.

12. What is your “fast brain” and what does it do? 

>> Your "fast brain" is your eye fields. They are called the "fast brain" because they can pick up information in a few milliseconds, faster than the rest of the brain.

 

Neuron
13. State 3 things that you could do that would influence your synapses and have a positive affect on your life and health. 

>> Exercising, eating healthy, and sleeping all improve the health of your synapses as well as improving your overall life and health.

14. What is the relationship between multi-sensory or multi-modal learning and your dendrites? 

>> Multi-sensory or multi-modal learning is when you engage multiple regions of your brain in learning, cross-referencing data stored in your brain. When this happens, your dendrites are stimulated multiple times, resulting in better memory.

15. How does “big picture thinking” and mnemonics affect dendrites and/or learning?  

>> Big picture thinking and mnemonics allows the learner to put abstract facts into context, relating them with other information and making them more concrete and easier to remember.

16. Describe a neurotransmitter that you feel is very important.  Justify your reasoning. 

>> Glutamate is a very important neurotransmitter, as it is vital in the strengthening of synapses and the formation of long-term memories. It is also interesting that consuming monosodium glutamate (MSG), which is commonly found in Asian cooking, may increase the amount of glutamate in your brain, but that too much glutamate can actually lead to brain damage.

Limbic System
17. What does the corpus callosum do? 

>>  The corpus callosum connects the left and right hemispheres of the brain, allowing them to communicate with each other. It also allows you to understand how language is structured and is involved in reading and writing. 

18. What is the relationship between music and the corpus callosum?  

>> Music can strengthen the connection between the left and right hemispheres of the brain, but only if you practice music constantly (not just "used to play the piano" like most people say).

19. Why is the thalamus important? 

>> The thalamus is important because it is involved with so many different functions, from motor control to sensory information to memory to senses to states of consciousness.

From this tutorial, I learned about the different structures of the brain, where they are located, and what they do. Some of the facts I had heard of before, such as how the frontal lobes (more specifically the pre-frontal cortex) are the last parts of the brain to mature, which is why younger people usually have less impulse control and poorer judgement. Something new I learned was about how the occipital lobes are involved in making both long- and short-term memories, and how the temporal lobes are involved in making long-term memories. One thing I wonder about is the neurotransmitter glutamate and how it may be affected by consuming MSG. I know MSG is commonly found in Asian cooking and that some people get headaches from eating it, but I did not know that it may increase the amount of glutamate in your brain, too much of which can cause brain damage. This makes me wonder if MSG in Asian's diets affects the people as a whole, because I have probably eaten MSG more times than I can count and have yet to get a headache from it. This also reminds me about when we had a "power hour" reading session last semester, where I read that eating escolar (a type of fish) could give you gastrointestinal problems. I have also eaten escolar many times, but have not had any gastrointestinal problems. This makes me wonder if this is kind of like how some people cannot eat dairy products because historically their ancestors have not eaten dairy either.