Week 2 Brain & Behavior

Context

Taking time to understand how to harness parts of your nervous system is very empowering with skill learning. This is the critical initial step before applying brain fitness strategies. Integrated with learning brain anatomy is sharing this knowledge with others, one major Jesuit theme applied to benefit others in our communities.  Most people choose Power Point.

Task description

Using an anatomic diagram of the brain as a guide, create a brain map of your own. Choose an audience of your own, and develop a short visual presentation to teach them about brain anatomy that might be relevant to them.  For example, if you were to pick an audience of First Responders, you might focus your presentation on parts of the brain that deal with stress; if you were to pick adult children of people with dementias, you might focus your presentation on parts of the brain that are implicated in Alzheimer’s Disease.  The list below are REQUIRED parts to include

In addition to the areas you will focus on more specifically (based on your audience), include the structure and function of the following brain areas:

· Amygdala

· Basal ganglia

· Corpus callosum

· Hypothalamus

· Hippocampus

· Insula

· Cingulate gyrus

· Medulla

· Frontal lobes: Broca’s area as well

· Temporal lobe

· Parietal lobe

· Occipital lobe

· Putamen

Specify your audience in your visual representation and focus on the correct placement of these structures and the functions. These areas all have multiple functions, so take the time to explore multiple functions. You may use several sources to finish this brain tour including 3D brain maps on the web.