4.3 Cerebral Cortex Flashcards
(20 cards)
Cerebral cortex is the ____ layer of the brain
outermost.
- it is a thin layer of cells which cover the outer surface of the cerebral hemispheres
- primarily made up of gray matter
- extensively folded: ridges = gyri (gyrus), grooves = sulci (sulcus)
- folding increases SA
corpus callosum
wide band of nerve fibers
- connects the right and left cerebral hemispheres
frontal lobe
- most forward of the 4 lobes
- decision-making
parietal lobe
- right behind our frontal lobe
- better understand where our body is in time and space
occipital lobe
- back of the brain
2 pathways
- with the temporal lobe: recognize people
- with the parietal lobe: process movement of objects
temporal lobe
- several areas specialized for particular functions
- some higher visual system tasks e.g. recognition of people
functions performed by different areas of the CC within the 4 lobes fall into 3 categories
- sensory
- motor
- association
Primary visual cortex
- occipital lobe
- begins the process of interpreting input from the eyes
Primary auditory cortex
- temporal lobe
- process incoming sounds
Primary somatosensory cortex
- parietal lobe
- processes info abt touch, pain, body position, and skin temp
Primary motor cortex
- rear most of frontal lobe
- highest level of voluntary control over movement
Association cortex
areas of the cortex without specific sensory or motor functions
these areas are distributed thruout the cortex
Prefrontal cortex
most forward portion of the frontal lobe
- planning of behaviour, attention, and judgment
Mirror neurons
help us understand not only actions and emotions of others, but their intentions as well
lateralization
a SPECIAL type of localization of function in CC
movement and sensation on the right side of the body are processed by the left hemisphere, and vice versa
the visual cortex of the left hemisphere processes data from the right half of the visual field
Can the right and left hemispheres function independently?
YES
some brain functions are largely localized in one hemisphere => debunks the left/right hemisphere and personality myth
What shows evidence of lateralization?
Language.
right handed people generally lateralize language to the left hemisphere (70% of left handed ppl as well)
What happens after split-brain surgery?
corpus calloseum is severed. hemispheres no longer connected.
Implication: when one hemisphere learns something, it cannot “tell” the other one
How do we test split-brain?
feed different visual info to each hemisphere (Gazzaniga, 1967)
Gazzaniga 1967
Speech: localized in left brain. If the visual is shown to the right eye, they can identify it, but NOT if it is in the left hemisphere.
If 2 objects are shown, the one in the left eye can be identified by pointing to the object.
