Brain and Neuropsychology, Study notes of Psychology

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BRAIN AND

NEUROPSYCHOLOGY-

PART 1

Nethanya Ravindi Wellappuliarachchi BSc (Hons) in Psychology, University of West London, UK MSc (reading) in Pain Management, University of South Wales, UK

What does our brain look like?

The structure of the human brain

◦ Our brain is divided into two hemispheres. Left hemisphere and the right

hemisphere.

◦ The upper part of the brain is called the cerebrum and this has an outer cortex.

◦ The cortex is a layer that covers the outside of the cerebrum and has a lot of folds

in it to increase its surface area.

◦ The bumps on the surface it is known as the “GYRI” (singular: gyrus)

◦ The creases are known as “SULCI” (Singular: Sulcus)

◦ The brain is able to communicate with the rest of the body through the spinal cord.

◦ Information passes between the brain and the spinal cord through the brainstem,

which also controls reflexes.

The functions of the brain

◦ Frontal Lobe : important role in decision-making and impulse control. This part

of the brain also helps control problem-solving skills, as well as helping us to

concentrate and pay attention to different activities.

Temporal Lobe : helps us with hearing and understanding sounds, understanding

speech and creating speech. In the temporal lobe, there are important areas

involved in both producing and processing sound- based information. This is why the

temporal lobes are said to contain the auditory cortex (it controls hearing). There are

also areas in the temporal lobe that help to control memory functions.

◦ Parietal lobe has a big part to play in our ability to understand the world around us

(perception). For example, it gives us the ability to recognize faces. Perception of faces

requires us to know that the ‘object’ we see is a face, and then work out whether the

face belongs to someone that we already know so that we can understand who they

are.

5 minutes to absorb

◦ Occipital lobe: mainly deals with our ability to see. It helps us to process visual

information from our eyes, and also helps to make sense of this information so we

understand what we are seeing. This lobe is often called the visual cortex because

its main job is controlling all things related to processing visual information.

ACTIVITY: BUILD-A-BRAIN-CHALLENGE

1 .Identify the main structures of the brain (e.g., cerebrum, cerebellum, brain

stem, corpus callosum, frontal/temporal/parietal/occipital lobes).

2. Explain the functions of each part.

WHAT YOU NEED: A3 sheets or chart paper and Colored markers.

What do Neuropsychologists do?

Key Responsibilities of Neuropsychologists: ◦ Diagnostic Testing- Development and administration of comprehensive test batteries (Salvadori & Pantoni, 2020). ◦ Treatment and Rehabilitation : Providing cognitive rehabilitation strategies, behavioral therapies and coping techniques (Anderson, 2018). ◦ Surgical Mapping: In cases of Epilepsy, or brain tumors, the neuropsychologists work alongside with the neurosurgeons to map functional brain areas, ensuring that critical language and cognitive center are preserved (Dharia et al., 2024). ◦ Monitoring Recovery: Neuropsychologists repeat evaluations to track disease progression, recovery, or a patient’s response to medical treatments (Pimental et al., 2018).

Father of Neuropsychology? ◦ Donald Hebb (1904-1985) he is known as the “Father of Neuropsychology” ◦ He was able to combine the World of Psychology and the world of neuroscience together to bring forward NEUROPSYCHOLOGY. ◦ In 1949, Hebb proposed a theory, about how learning is accomplished within the brain. He said that learning occurs through the strengthening of connections between neurons, a concept known as the Hebbian Theory or cell Assembly Theory (Hebb,1949). ◦ The Hebbian Theory explains how neural pathways are developed based on experiences.