• Watch the following clip

• How is brain surgery different today different from brain surgery in the 1940’s?

• Why did the patient need to be awake?

Learning Objectives

• Describe the structure of the brain.

• Recall how scientists learn about the brain.

• Discuss some of the ethical issues involved in the study of the brain.

The Brain

On the right hand page you are going to make notes and complete activities throughout the lesson

For the end of the lesson

Left hand side, right hand side

Paired interview

Read through the information on your card.

Make summary notes in your exercise books (you can talk to your partner about this!)

Don’t forget to write title and the date!!

Paired interview

In pairs interview the pair opposite about the information on their card.

Your pair will then be interviewed.

Make notes about the other pairs information

You can only do that AFTER the interview is finished

The Brain

• Simple Animals – have a large mass of neurons at the head end

• Complex animals – have a brain made of billions of neurons– It has many areas, each carry out a

function– Allows you to learn from experience

The Brain

Watch the clip about the structures of the brain

Brain Role Play

Survival

Cerebellum

• Latin for “Little Brain”• Primitive part of the brain• Survival• Responsible for Fight or Flight and

Reproduction

Brain Role Play

Emotional (1)

Temporal Lobe 1

• Links the nervous system with the endocrine system

• Release oxytocin from pituitary gland (Chemical of love)

• Responsible for protection and nurturing instincts

Brain Role Play

Emotional (2)

Temporal Lobe 2

• Storage of traumatic memories• Fear conditioning (e.g. phobias)• If the amygdala is damaged then

organisms can become fearless– Is this a good thing?

Brain Role Play

Cerebral Cortex

Cerebral Cortex

• Consciousness • Intelligence• Language• Memory• Very Large in Humans

Brain labelling

• Use the information around the room to label your diagram of the brain.

• Add detailed notes from the slide to your diagram.

Finding out about the brain?

How do we know about the structure and function of the

brain?

Finding out...MRI and fMRI scans

are one way we find out about the structure of the brain.

The patient is awakeThe skull is not cut

openNormal life can

continue after the scan

Injured Brains

• Awake Brain Surgery• People who have had

accidents e.g. Phineas Gage

• Stroke Victims

• Are there any problems studying brains in this way?

Finding out...

write down some ethical issues associated with finding out about the brain in this way

Past QuestionStuart is a doctor studying the Cerebral

Cortex of the brain. One of Stuart’s patients has damage to her cerebral cortex. Suggest two processes that are most damaged by this. [2 marks]

Suggest how Stuart could find out exactly which parts of the brain are damaged [2 marks]

Answers

a) Memory, speech, b) Look at images on an MRI Scan,

apply an electrical charge to different parts of the brain.

The Brain

Your Notes

Left hand side, right hand side

Jokes show how much you get it – draw your own cartoon with a joke about the brain to make someone else in the class laugh…