Brain Map

Cerebral Cortex

• What do the frontal lobes do?
• The frontal lobes are the command center of the brain. They control personalities, problem-solving, memory, language, and judgement.
• What is the relationship between selective attention and learning?
• Selective attention makes your memory capacity greater so you can prioritize more important information above little-used information. 
• What is the last part of your brain to develop and what can you do to prevent it from deteriorating? 
• The frontal lobe is the last part of the brain to develop. To prevent the frontal lobe from deteriorating, always be engaged with your environment and transform information instead of just memorizing it. 
• What does the neo cortex do?
• The neo cortex helps us navigate our bodies. It controls our senses, spatial awareness, and motor skills.
• What is the role of the pre frontal cortex?
• The pre frontal cortex controls our personalities and our behavior in social situations. 
• What do we know about the pre frontal cortex’s relationship with multitasking?
• It prevents us from doing more than two big tasks at the same time. We can't actually multitask; our brain jumps back and forth between tasks, meaning we do both tasks inadequately.  
• Which part of the brain is associated with speech and language development?  Give an interesting fact about this region.
• Broca's Area is responsible for speech production and language development. Mirror neurons are found in this part of the brain and they to learn language production and comprehension.
• Which part of your brain is responsible for thinking the following: “Is it hot in here or is it just me?”
• The somatosensory cortex responds to touch and interprets temperature.
• What does your visual cortex do for you?
• The visual cortex differentiates colors and faces.
• State three interesting or significant facts about your occipital lobe.
• collects and catagorizes visual information to be stored in other parts of the brain
• deals with imagination and processing memories
• visualizing doing a task multiple times will help you perform that task better
• What would happen if your temporal lobes were damaged?
• If your temporal lobes were damaged, you wouldn't have a long term memory so you would forget things like faces and the alphabet.
• What is your “fast brain” and what does it do?
• The eye fields control eye movement and help the brain process movement quickly.

Neuron

• State 3 things that you could do that would influence your synapses, and have a positive affect on your life and health.
• Active learning, sleep, and exercise would influence your synapses. 
• What is the relationship between multi-sensory or multi-modal learning and your dendrites?
• By engaging multiple parts of the brain in storing information, the brain will convert the information from memorized to learned.
• How does “big picture thinking” and mnemonics affect dendrites and/or learning?
• "Big picture thinking" helps one to fully comprehend a subject. Mnemonics help us remember subjects based on personal or relatable information. 
• Describe a neurotransmitter that you feel is very important.  Justify your reasoning.
• Glutamate is a very important neurotransmitter because it helps with long term memory. It is also affects the way we learn and strengthens our synapses. 

Limbic System

• What does the corpus callosum do?
• The corpus callosum communicates between the left and right hemispheres of the brain. It is responsible for motor, cognitive, and sensory functions between the hemispheres.
• What is the relationship between music and the corpus callosum? 
• Studies have shown that musical practice can strengthen the communication between the two hemispheres of the brain. 
• Why is the thalamus important?
• The thalamus relays information from the senses to the cortex. It also processes some information.

I learned more about the way all the parts of the brain work together. I also realized that multiple parts of the brain had similar functions. I think that's why if one part of the brain is damaged, it can still function normally, because the other parts of the brain take over for it. I learned about different neurotransmitters like oxytocin, glutamate, and dopamine. I learned the parts of the limbic system that I didn't really know about before like the basal ganglia and amygdala.