PSYCH 100 Lecture Notes - Lecture 5: Phineas Gage, Frontal Lobe, Brainstem
Document Summary
Psych 100 -- lecture 5 -- the brain. Controls vital automatic functions (heartbeat, breathing, blood pressure) If damaged badly, we wouldn"t be able to survive. Involved in balance, body posture, movement, knowing where your body is in space. Relay station for all information sensory messages (except smell) Directs messages from higher brain to brain stem. A kind of router to higher levels of the brain. Operator of the brain for sensory information. All senses but smell go through thalamus. Smell goes directly to limbus system (can"t explain it without saying it smells like: ) The limbic system: collection of brain structures that account for emotional expression, memory, and motivation. Responsible for intense emotional responses like fear. Regulates hunger, thirst, sexual behavior, emotional behavior, internal body temperature, and other body functions. Stored new memories, gives us our internal map -- navigational skills. Higher mental processes of language, memory, and thinking. Broca"s area: our ability to speak language.
