The cerebral cortex is a very interesting and unique part of the brain. More than 99% of cortical activity takes place strictly within the cortex alone. It also contains more than half of the brain cells in it. The cerebral cortex is divided into two hemispheres- the left and right hemispheres. Information is passed through the cerebral cortex from one hemisphere to another. The cerebral cortex is divided into 4 different lobes, but to be accurate we have 8 lobes witch I mean 4 on each side. The lobes are; frontal, parietal, occipital, and the temporal lobe. The frontal lobe has two specific areas the motor cortex which tells the body to move and the broca's area which controls the muscles of the mouth with speech. The parietal lobe contains the sensory cortex and is responsible for touch sensations for our body. Occipital lobe is in charge of our eyesight. The Temporal lobe controls our hearing and it contains the auditory cortex. All of these important areas within the cerebral cortex is quite fascinating. The not portion of this blog will be done with videos further explaining how the cerebral cortex works.
1st video is a very detailed power point presentation of how the cerebral cortex works.
Neuroscientist Michael Merzenich looks at one of the
secrets of the brain's incredible power: its ability to actively re-wire
itself. He's researching ways to harness the brain's plasticity to
enhance our skills and recover lost function.
Michael Merzenich studies neuroplasticity -- the brain's powerful
ability to change itself and adapt -- and ways we might make use of
that plasticity to heal injured brains and enhance the skills in healthy
ones.
Being able to see your brain activity in real time? Sounds crazy huh? Well it might be possible through fMRI! I will be going over the chemical events at the synapse and how it ties in with behavior. Different emotions trigger different synapses that fire off to envoke specific emotions or feelings. The chemical effect of dopamine is triggered when you feel happy and a flow of synapses is sent to the brain to trigger that response. I really find it interesting that we could see our brain responses in real time. It would allow us to in a way control our own brains and mask pain.
I will now present you with video of how fMRI can be used to see your thoughts and feeling in real time.
Christopher deCharms: A look inside the brain in real time About:
Neuroscientist and inventor Christopher deCharms
demonstrates a new way to use fMRI to show brain activity -- thoughts,
emotions, pain -- while it is happening. In other words, you can
actually see how you feel.
Christopher deCharms is working on a way to use fMRI scans to show brain activity -- in real time.
Between the two sections I took a liking for 2.2The nerve impulse. I decided to take a further look into what a Nerve Impluse is and how it functions. I found it very interesting on how a nerve impuse could do a number of things that help the human body, from memory to actions and reactions. Usually when students or people in general hear the word "nerve impulse" they would assume the discution was going to be about the nervous system. But for my post I will bring more than just the nervous system; I will talk in detail about the Nerve Impulse, and how the nerve impulse works in the brain. I have several videos I would like to show you but I will limit myself to two videos. This video is a more educational detailed version of a nerve impulse type, Animation: The Nerve Impulse.
Also since you and I love watching videos more than reading an article I decided to throw in a very insightful video from my favorite educational source: Ted Talks
About:
In the quest to map the brain, many scientists have attempted the incredibly daunting task of recording the activity of each neuron. Gero Miesenboeck works backward -- manipulating specific neurons to figure out exactly what they do, through a series of stunning experiments that reengineer the way fruit flies percieve light.
Using light and a little genetic engineering -- optogenetics -- Gero Miesenboeck has developed a way to control how living nerve cells work, and advanced understanding of how the brain controls behavior.
For some reason the embeded video is cut off abit, but you cant still click on the full screen option on the upper right of the TED video
I found this interesting video explaining the (Mirror) Motor Neuron system and how it connects with humans and human behaviors. I also thought this would be a good start to think of how the brain, neurons, and social behaviors work.
Neuroscientist Vilayanur
Ramachandran outlines the fascinating functions of mirror neurons. Only
recently discovered, these neurons allow us to learn complex social
behaviors, some of which formed the foundations of human civilization as
we know it.
Neurologist V.S. Ramachandran looks deep into the brain’s most
basic mechanisms. By working with those who have very specific mental
disabilities caused by brain injury or stroke, he can map functions of
the mind to physical structures of the brain.
