Cerebral Cortex Lecture Notes

Burt's Brain Lobes and Their Functions

1. Frontal Lobe

   • Located at the front of the brain.
   • Controls thinking and creativity.
   • Color: Red

2. Parietal Lobe

   • Helps recognize objects and their uses.
   • Experiences sensations (pain, pressure, touch, temperature).
   • Color: Purple

3. Occipital Lobe

   • Located at the back of the head.
   • Interprets messages from the eyes.
   • Color: Blue

4. Temporal Lobe

   • Found next to the ears.
   • Assists with hearing, planning speech, and memory.
   • Color: Green

5. Brain Stem

   • Connects the brain to the spinal cord.
   • Primitive part of the brain, similar across creatures.
   • Color: Orange

Motor and Sensory Functions

6. Motor Cortex

   • Helps move arms and legs.
   • Shown in grey on the diagram.

7. Sensory Cortex

   • Allows feeling of sensations, like soft fur.
   • Shown in yellow on the diagram.

Language Processing Areas

8. Wernicke’s Area

   • Helps in understanding language.
   • Shown in orange on the diagram.

9. Broca’s Area

   • Responsible for language production.
   • Shown in dark blue on the diagram.

Communication in the Brain

10. Corpus Callosum
    • Nerve fiber enabling communication between right and left cerebral hemispheres.

Personality and Brain Hemisphere Quiz

• Left vs. Right Hemisphere Functions:
  • Left is more logical, orderly, time-oriented, detailed.
  • Right is impulsive, creative, emotional, and spontaneous.
• Take a quiz to determine hemisphere dominance:
  • Scores range from strong left brain to strong right brain.
  • Questions cover habits, creativity, planning, emotional responses, and risk-taking.

Scoring

• Left Brain: Strong (0-2), Moderate (3-4)
• Right Brain: Moderate (5-7), Strong (12-13)
• Balanced: Middle brain (5-7)

Key Points

• The brain's two hemispheres have distinct functions but work together.
• Individuals may favor one hemisphere, affecting their personality and cognitive style.