Terms
Parietal lobes
The portion of the cerebral cortex lying at the top of the head and toward the rear; receives sensory input for touch and body position.
Areas of the cerebral cortex that are not involved in primary motor or sensory functions; rather, they are involved in higher mental functions such as learning, remembering, thinking, and speaking.
Association areas
Consciousness
Our subjective awareness of ourselves and our environment.
Processing one aspect of a problem at a time; generally used to process new information or to solve difficult problems.
Sequential processing
DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid)
A complex molecule containing the genetic information that makes up the chromosomes
Occipital lobes
The portion of the cerebral cortex lying at the back of the head; includes areas that receive information from the visual fields
The brains ability to change, especially during childhood, by reorganizing after damage or by building new pathways based on experience.
Plasticity
Cognitive neuroscience
The interdisciplinary study of the brain activity linked with cognition (including perception, thinking, memory, and language).
The study of the relative power and limits of genetic and environmental influences on behavior.
Behavior genetics
Genes
The biochemical units of heredity that make up the chromosomes; segments of DNA capable of synthesizing proteins.
Temporal lobes
The portion of the cerebral cortex lying roughly above the ears; includes the auditory areas, each receiving information primarily from the opposite ear.
The formation of the new neurons.
Neurogenesis
Dual processing
The principle that information is often simultaneously processed on separate conscious and unconscious tracks
The genetic transfer of characteristics from parents to offspring.
Heredity
Genome
The complete instructions for making an organism, consisting of all the genetic material in that organisms chromosomes.
Motor cortex
An area at the rear of the frontal lobes that controls voluntary movements.
The large band of neural fibers connecting the two brain hemispheres and carrying messages between them.
Corpus callosum
Blindsight
A condition in which a person can respond to a visual stimulus without consciously experiencing it.
Every nongenetic influence, from prenatal nutrition to the people and things around us.
Environment
Identical (monozygotic) twins
Develop from a single fertilized egg that splits in two, creating two genetically identical organisms
Somatosensory cortex
An area at the front of the parietal lobes that register and processes body touch and movement sensations.
A condition resulting from surgery that isolates the brains two hemispheres by cutting the fibers (mainly those of the corpus callosum) connecting them.
Split brain
Parallel processing
Processing many aspects of a problem simultaneously; generally used to process well-learned information or to solve easy problems
Threadlike structure made of DNA molecules that contain the genes.
Chromosomes
Fraternal (dizygotic) twins
Develop from separate fertilized eggs. They are genetically no closer than ordinary brothers and sisters, but they share a prenatal environment.