The Brain Stem
The Limbic System
The Cerebral Cortex
Your Broken Brain
Genetics and Evolutionary Psychology
100
This forms the base of the brainstem; controls heartbeat and breathing
What is the medulla?
100
Two lima bean-sized clusters in the limbic system; linked to emotion.
What is the amygdala?
100
This lobe is located at the back of the head; includes areas that deal exclusively with vision.
What is the occipital lobe?
100
Damage to this region of the frontal lobe can affect your ability to speak, and may limit your ability to read, despite excellent vision.
What is the Broca's Area?
100
The complete set of instructions for making an organism, consisting of all the genetic material in that organism's chromosomes.
What is the genome?
200
A nerve network in the brainstem that plays an important role in arousal.
What is the reticular formation?
200
Helps direct "maitenance" activities like eating, drinking and body temperature.
What is the hypothalamus?
200
This lobe receives input for touch and other sensory information.
What is the parietal lobe?
200
Any impairment of language, caused by damage to certain regions of the brain.
What is aphasia?
200
Twins who develop from separate fertilized eggs; genetically no closer than brothers and sisters.
What are fraternal twins?
300
The brain's sensory switchboard
What is the thalamus?
300
Part of the limbic system that helps make memories relevant to present experience.
What is the hippocampus?
300
This lobe is in charge of speaking, making plans and judgement.
What is the frontal lobe?
300
Damage to this region can limit your ability to understand what is said to you, and may appear also as spoken gibberish.
What is Wernicke's Area?
300
This is the likelihood of a trait's appearance in any given population.
What is heritability?
400
This region of the brainstem helps to coordinate movements
What is the pons?
400
Major endocrine gland controlled by the hypothalamus.
What is the pituitary gland?
400
Lobe that receives information primarily from the ear on the opposite side of the head.
What is the temporal lobe?
400
A split brain is created when this nerve connecting the left and right hemispheres is severed.
What is the corpus callosum?
400
The subfield of biology that focuses on the molecular structure and function of genes.
What is molecular genetics?
500
The oldest part of the brain, beginning where the spinal cord swells as it enters the skull.
What is the brainstem?
500
When experimenting with the hypothalamus of rats, researchers determined that instead of "pleasure centers", rats instead have these.
What are "reward centers"?
500
These are areas of the cerebral cortex not involved in motor or sensory functions; integrate information and aid memory.
What are association areas?
500
Damage to this region doesn't affect speech or cognition, but may prevent you from reading this aloud.
What is the angular gyrus?
500
A random error in gene replication that leads to a change.
What is mutation?
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