Module+4+Incredible+Nervous+System

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[|**__How Phineas Gage Lost It & The Power of Half__**] =The Brain= Most of those module is dedicated to the brain and brain parts. To this end it is very important. You are responsible for the material in the text as well as the links below. Be sure to examine them in order to provide you with additional information about this incredible organ.




 * Read pp. 73-82**


 * The Frontal Lobe**

Take this test. It is similar to the Stroop Color Test. Compare two times:
 * Read the words as written (black and color).
 * Read the color words as the color they are (start with the black words as being read normally).


 * Sensitivity and the Somatosensory Cortex**

Try the letter game. Design the experiment: Now conduct the experiment. Was there a difference in interpretation? If so, why was there one? If not, why not?
 * Write them on the palm of the hand of your partner.
 * Write them on the back.
 * Hypothesis?
 * Variables:
 * Independent?
 * Dependent?
 * Confounding?

[|Homunculus]

http://thalamus.wustl.edu/course/limbic.html http://www.med.harvard.edu/AANLIB/home.html http://nobelprize.org/educational_games/medicine/split-brain/ Give this site a try to learn about the split brain and how the right and left hemispheres behave. http://www.pbs.org/wnet/brain/3d/index.html This is a great site for getting an idea of what the brain looks like in 3-D. http://www.neuroskills.com/ Go to the section on Brain Injury for some detail on what happens to the brain when it experiences trauma. http://www.web-us.com/brain/braindominance.htm Take a test to understand if you are right or left hemisphere dominant. [|Traumatic Brain Injury] - check this site out. It's interactive and allows you to see how trauma can affect the brain.
 * Links**



We will examine the brain in general in this module, but more specifically you will be focusing on one part of the brain. But to make this part of psychology just a little more exciting we will be trying to sell - yes, 'sell' - a part of the brain. As a rule, real-estate is really about location and features of a property. Well, look at the parts of the brain the same way.
 * Assignment: The Brain for Sale**

This project is a group oriented one. It brings into focus skills involved in cooperation and interpersonal intelligences. As well, it brings into use research skills and organization skills. Finally, it brings into focus artistic/spatial intelligence, along with communication skills. When people talk about real-estate they often say that the most important thing to a property’s value is, “Location, location, location.” This is certainly true, but what makes location important? Most would respond with the type of services, scenery, cultural activities, opportunities for work etc. that are available within that area. Well, the brain, like properties has a lot of different options. For example, there is the frontal lobe, the limbic system, the cerebellum, the brain stem, and the motor and sensory cortexes. These are just some of the areas of the brain. We could also divide the brain in two at the corpus callosum giving us the right and left hemispheres. Each one of the above has an important function, not one can stand alone without the others, but which is the most important, or most valuable? Or for the real-estate agent, has the best “location” in terms of services, importance (rich neighborhood) etc. You must sell three pieces of “brain” real-estate by showing just how important each of those pieces is. Thus you need to know a lot about you brain parts and the role each plays in the entire brain, and in human/animal functions. You must create a website like (but with your own touches and creativity) to this real-estate site www.mls.ca or www.mls.com. While you’re at it, perusing the site, check out some properties in expensive cities, i.e. New York and look at how they are described. Finally, you must do a sales presentation to the class introducing your website. The website stays up for a long time – it is a teaching tool after all.
 * Purpose of project:**
 * Introduction:**
 * Here’s what must be done:**
 * Parts of the brain that you can select:**
 * Frontal lobe
 * Parietal lobe
 * Temporal lobe
 * Occipital lobe
 * Limbic system (Mammalian brain)
 * Hindbrain (Reptilian brain)

Due date: TBA Rubric: =

=**Homework Assignment: He and She Brains**= Are the brains of men and women really all that different? To answer this question and others go to the [|He Brains She Brains] Go down the page and explore the questions posted below. >
 * 1) What differences in the brains of women and men have been found in research studies using MRI and NMR? Are differences in people's cognitive abilities (for example, memory) related more to individual differences or to whether they are male or female?
 * 2) Is it true that people only use 10 percent of their total brain capacity? How did this fact (or falsehood) originate?
 * 3) What ever became of Albert Einstein's brain? Did Einstein's brain differ physically from the average human brain?
 * 4) Throughout history, people have compared the brain to different inventions, such as the telephone. What is the current metaphor for the brain? In what ways does this metaphor hold up? In what ways does it fail? (Hint: State the similarities and differences between the brain and this invention.

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 * Films**
 * //Regarding Henry (1991)//**

Questions for //Regarding Henry// media type="youtube" key="o7OYCmynrRU?fs=1" height="385" width="480"
 * 1) What area of the brain was most affected by his injury? What is this area responsible for?
 * 2) Do you believe Harrison Ford's portrayal of the brain injury was accurate? Why or why not?
 * 3) How do you think yo would cope with an event such as this occurring to you?
 * //Gattaca//**

Questions for Gattaca
 * 1) Do you believe that some time in the future that you will be able to "order" what your child will be like by altering the genetic code of the developing embryo, like the people in Gattaca?
 * 2) What types of problems do yo see being alleviated and what type of problems do you see being created by altering the genetic makeup of individuals?
 * 3) If given the opportunity to correct all possible genetic problems before they actually start in a developing embryo and to make the child exactly what you want him/her to be like, would you do so? Why or why not?