Reading Activity Week #3 (Due Monday)

Chapter 2
1a)
I found the mind-body issue and the reflex arc interesting when reading about Descartes. I have learned about the mind-body concept in other psychology classes, but our Cognitive textbook did a good job at explaining it further.
1b)
The mind-body issue is interesting to me because it explains how humans are in two worlds at one time. Furthermore, our psychological being (mind) works simultaneously with our neurological being (body). The reflex arc is interesting as it illustrates how our mind and body work together to sense something such as danger. Like Descartes well explained, if we reach out to something out the filaments connecting our hand to our brain will trigger to tell us to pull away from the hot object. It is fascinating how our mind and body work together to trigger these reflexes.
2a)
The next idea from chapter two that I found interesting was the lobes of the cerebral cortex. I enjoyed learning about what functions belong to each of our lobes of our brains.
2b)
It is interesting to me that the whole human body functions from only four regions (lobes) of the human brain. With the frontal lobe comes my judgment and problem-solving skills while my temporal lobe processes more of my hearing and speaking. My parietal lobe helps more with visual processing and sensory information while my occipital lobe receives and processes information from my retina. The human body is so complex, yet we function from just four lobes in our brain.
3a)
The split-brain research was an interesting part of this chapter. Roger Sperry and his colleagues determined several ideas about how our brain functions through much research.
3b)
The split-brain research was interesting to me as it explained the importance of the bundle of nerves that connects the two hemispheres of our brain, known as the corpus callosum. Sperry’s research also illustrated that the right side of our body processes things in the left hemisphere of our brain and vice versa. It is interesting to read about how humans process things and the plasticity and importance of our brain.
4a)
The least interesting thing from this chapter was the section on the central nervous system. I have learned a lot about the central nervous system in several classes in the past, so I did not learn a lot of new information from this section.
4b)
I do not find the structure of a neuron interesting. I learned about the central nervous system (dendrites, cell body, axon, neurons, etc.) in my science classes in high school. The fact that the structure of a neuron and the information about the central nervous system is more scientific based does not interest me. I am not much for science or scientific research.
5)
The research on the split-brain, I think, will be the most useful in understanding Cognitive Psychology. I think it is important to understand how our brain processes information as this ties closely to why humans think and act in certain ways.
6)
Chapter two builds on chapter one as the first chapter touched based on the cognitive revolution and brain imaging. The second chapter digs much deeper into the brain and how different philosophers have researched it. Chapter two also builds on the range of psychological processes discussed in chapter one. Cognitive psychology involves perception, learning, memory, intelligence, emotions, and much more. Chapter two takes these processes from chapter one and puts them more into play by looking at how these processes relate to our brain.
7a)
I would like to learn more about the areas of the brain involving aphasia and language. These concepts are only slightly touched upon in chapter two.
7b)
I want to learn more about Broca’s aphasia, Wernicke’s aphasia, Conduction aphasia, Global aphasia, and Subcorticle aphasia. I think it is important to understand what scholars have researched on mental functions and disorders people may have. It is also important to know what causes these disorders or ways to prevent these disorders, if possible.
8)
One concept that really made me think while reading chapter two was the hemispheric processing. It was interesting to learn which side of the brain controls certain processes and how the left side of our body is more controlled by our right hemisphere and vice versa.
9)
A list of terms and terminology used in my post:
Mind-body issue, reflex arc, Descartes, filaments, brain, cerebral cortex, frontal lobes, temporal lobes, parietal lobes, occipital lobes, retina, split-brain research, Roger Sperry, corpus callosum, right and left hemisphere, plasticity, central nervous system, dendrites, axons, cell body, neurons, perception, aphasia, Broca’s aphasia, Wernicke’s aphasia, Conduction aphasia, Global aphasia, Subcorticle aphasia, and hemispheric processing

1a) The first thing that I found interesting in this chapter was how cognitive neuroscience gained its name.
1b) This was interesting because of the fun little story that was included along with the concept. Cognitive neuroscience combines cognitive psychology and neuroscience. This term came into being when two psychologists, Michael Gazzaniga and George Miller were on their way to a dinner for scientists. They were riding in the back seat of a taxi cab discussing the concept and decided to name this newly developed science cognitive neuroscience.

2a) The next thing I found interesting was the section on the Central Nervous System.
2b) I really enjoyed this section, mainly because it was a nice refreshing review from last year when I took anatomy and physiology. The central nervous system is composed of the spinal cord and the brain. The basic building block of this is the neuron which transmits information throughout the CNS. Humans are born with billions of different types of neurons which are composed of four parts. Dendrites, receive neural impulses, and are the branches off of the cell body. The cell body receives and stores nutrients and eliminates waste. The axon, transmits signals, and is the long pathway connecting the cell body to the presynaptic terminals, which creates a synapse (where chemical information is exchanged from neuron to neuron in the form of neurotransmitters).

3a) One last thing I found interesting was the section on localization, and pseudoscience.
3b) I enjoyed this sections because it is all things I have learned about in before, but it built off of my existing knowledge even further. I remember reading about phrenology in history and systems and being fascinated by it. They didn’t talk much about phrenology in this section but they went on tell how it is a pseudoscience, a false science, and gave some more examples of these that I found interesting especially aromatherapy because one of my friend’s mothers is a doctor and she highly believes in this. Next, the story of Phineas Gage never gets old, but this was a great way to introduce the concept of localization. Phineas had a piece of tamping iron go through his frontal cortex. This left Phineas with a very condescending personality, so people associated this part of the brain with temperament. This notion led to the development of psychosurgery: damaging portions of the brain to see the effects. This fits right in with what I wrote my topical blog on last week: the trans orbital lobotomy.

4a) One section of this chapter that I didn’t particularly enjoy reading about was: The Neuroscientists’ Toolbox.
4b) This wasn’t interesting basically because of the format it was presented in. Each subject heading was the title of the tool used, and then they went on and listed the definitions of each and explained them more in detail. This is an important concept, and it is cool to see how we’ve advanced over time, but I would much rather discuss these different types with pictures in a lecture, or read briefly about them in Table 2.2.

5) I think that section on the anatomy of the brain will be most useful in understanding cognitive psychology because it is important to understand the roles of different parts of the brain. Although it is hard to remember all of the different areas and what they do, I believe that this class will be discussing a lot of this type of information throughout the semester so it was a good introduction.

6) The last chapter basically covered what cognitive psychology is, how it came to be, what it entails, and it went over some of the different research methods involved within it. This chapter builds off of this because it gives examples of different studies done to within this area of psychology (lobotomies, split brain research, psycho surgery, eye movements and hemispheric processing, etc.) and it also builds on the idea of neuroscience and cognitive science which were mentioned in the last chapter.

7a) I would like to learn more about Phineas Gage.
7b) The book touches on this subject briefly but I want to find out more in detail how his life was effected by this incident, and also to learn more about how and why his temperament changed so much.

8) While I was reading through this chapter I was thinking about whether or not lower developed countries are as up to date psychologically as we are in the United States. Like I was wondering if they are still using lobotomies as a technique, or what kind of technologies they use to scan the brain, do they understand the different areas of the brain and their functions, do they even care as much as we do about what the brain entails?

9) Terms: cognitive neuroscience, Michael Gazzaniga, George Miller, Central Nervous System, neuron, dendrites, axon, cell body, presynpatic terminals, synapse, neurotransmitters, localization, pseudoscience, phrenology, aromatherapy, Phineas Gage, frontal cortex, temperament, transorbital lobotomy, psychosurgery, split brain research.

1a&b) What did you find interesting? Why was it interesting to you?
The first thing that I thought was interesting is the study of localization. I have always been interested in the use of lobotomies throughout the history of psychology as well as its use in psychosurgery. Lobotomies were used at times to try and stop bad behavior and aggressiveness by surgically drilling holes in people’s frontal lobes. Today that sounds completely crazy and ridiculous, but back then they really thought they were doing what was right. I think what interests me the most is that back then if they thought what they were doing was right and we are now able to look at it objectively and realize it wasn’t, then what are we doing now that we believe is right that we will realize later was completely off? That is always a question that plays in the back of my head and I’m always hoping that we don’t continue to replay history.

2a&b) What did you find interesting? Why was it interesting to you?
The second thing that I thought was interesting was the discussion about our Central Nervous System. I guess I have always found the CNS to be interesting because it connects our brains to the rest of our body and is the main communication system. Almost everything our brain does goes through our CNS to then be carried out in the proper places. I have learned about our CNS in other psychology classes like Biopsychology, etc., but it still fascinates me. This section discusses how our dendrites receive neural impulses, the axon transmits signals, and is the pathway created to connect the cell body to something called the presynaptic terminals which then create a synapse where information is shared. That entire process is a miracle in itself and it happens billions and billions of times every day.

3a&b) What did you find interesting? Why was it interesting to you?
I also enjoyed learning about the origin of cognitive neuroscience. It was interesting to learn the story behind the name. The chapter discussed how the two psychologists Michael Gazzaniga and George Miller decided in the back seat of a taxi cab to name their newly developed science “cognitive neuroscience.” It is one of those stories that stick with you because it’s so random. I feel like understanding and learning the background knowledge to any given concept can help to give what you’re learning a meaning. When you are learning something that has a meaning and a use to you, you tend to learn it better because you care more about it. I feel like by giving us a story, I will always remember the origin of cognitive neuroscience.

4a&b) What one (1) thing did you find the least interesting? Why wasn't it interesting to you?
I didn’t really enjoy reading about the split brain research. I think part of that is just because I feel as if I have a decent idea of the basic functions of our brain and while that is usually an interesting subject to me it does tend to get a bit mundane at times. Most of the information that was talked about was a bit repetitive. It is still very important, just probably the more boring information if I have to choose.

5) What did you read in the chapter that you think will be most useful to in understanding Cognitive Psychology?
I think the section about our Central Nervous System will be most useful in understanding Cognitive Psychology because it discusses how our brain connects to the spinal cord and then communicates to the rest of our body. I think that is extremely important to know and understand in cognitive psychology. I believe that it gives you a good idea of how our bodies operate and just how intricate and incredible our bodies truly are.

6) How, in what ways, does this chapter relate (build on) to the previous chapters?
This chapter continues to build on the foundation that the first chapter set. It expands on subjects like localization and it builds on our brain functions to stretch further into our CNS and the biological functions of that system. This chapter also builds on the areas of neuroscience and cognitive science which were touched on briefly in chapter one.

7a&b) What topic would you like to learn more about? Why?
I would personally like to learn more about lobotomies and psychosurgery. I have always been fascinated in the horror stories of the times when lobotomies were considered helpful. I think it would be really interesting to dig deeper into the history and learn more about what mistakes were made and what we can do to prevent similar mistakes from happening in the future.

8) What ideas related to what you were reading (what did you think about) did you have while reading the chapter?
I think as I was reading this chapter I was in awe yet again of how tremendously amazing our brains and bodies are. We are pieced together so perfectly and our brains do so much more than we are ever able to be aware of. The very concept of our brains and what they are capable of doing is crazy to me and I can’t wait to learn more about it.

9) Terminology:
localization, psychosurgery, lobotomies, Central Nervous System, neural impulses, biopsychology, axons, presynaptic terminals, Michael Gazziniga, George Miller, cognitive neuroscience, split brain research, biological functions

1a) What did you find interesting?

I liked the entire chapter, because neuroscience is just an extremely interesting field. But a specific section I found interesting was the part about neurons.
1b) Why was it interesting to you?
In other classes we looked at a model of a neuron to identify its main parts (axons, dendrites, cell body, myelin sheaths, axon terminals, etc.) but we used the same model all the time. I forgot not all neurons looked like that and it was cool to see models of other types of neurons and it was particularly nice to the drawings of Ramon y Cajal depicting them.
2a) What did you find interesting?

I liked an example that was used when talking about split brain patients.
2b) Why was it interesting to you?
The book talked about epileptics who had to have cerebral commissurotomies. These people had their corpus callosum severed to reduce the activity that led to seizures, but it made it so that the two hemispheres of their brain could no longer communicate. Because of the specialization of functions in the brain, the left side of the brain can do things that the right can’t, and visa versa. The interesting example the book used was referring to a study where they showed a chimeric stimuli (two faces merged into one separated down the middle) to a split-brain patient. As language is centered in the left-brain, and that half of the brain perceives the right visual field, the patient could verbally describe a normal face based off of the half on the right. However, when the patient had to choose what face he saw out of a selection of photos, he chose a photo of a woman characteristic of the left half of the chimeric stimuli. This was one of the more interesting studies based on split-brain patients, in my opinion.
3a) What did you find interesting?

Throughout the chapter they kind of talked about the lasting debate regarding the localization/ mass action of the brain.
3b) Why was it interesting to you?
This was interesting, because I knew that the brain had a mix of localized and holistic processes, but recently I’ve become very interested in the brain trying to memorize sections that are associated with other functions, in an attempt to basically make my own mental brain map. This was nice to read because it reminded me not to try to get sucked into this view of neglecting the aggregate field theory view of the brain. It also stressed just how confusing the brain is.
4a) What one (1) thing did you find the least interesting?
I wan’t that interested to review things that I’ve read in other classes.

4b) Why wasn't it interesting to you?
Although repetition is key to memory, I had already read a lot about split-brain patients, and phrenology, and the reflex arc, and so many other things in my other classes. It is good to help my overall understanding of everything, but it gets a little boring when you’re reading it again.
5) What did you read in the chapter that you think will be most useful to in understanding Cognitive Psychology?
I actually think that reading about the different imaging techniques used (EEG, CT, PET, MRI, fMRI, etc.) will be the most useful, because understanding the importance of these highlights all of the findings in the field. These imaging technologies are largely responsible for neuroscience actually being neuroscience and not simply neurospeculation.
6) How, in what ways, does this chapter relate (build on) to the previous chapters?
Whereas the last chapter talked about the history of cognitive psychology developing and what it is, this chapter looked at the contributing area of neuroscience and how it developed with cognitive psychology to make cognitive neuroscience, and then it elaborated on what that is and what research we have done regarding it.
7a) What topic would you like to learn more about? 

I would like to learn everything there is about neuroscience.
7b) Why?
It is the most interesting thing I have learned about. I could see myself researching this stuff for a profession and I would love to be a leading mind in the field of research that focuses on the mind (or brain, rather, if you focus on the distinction).
8) What ideas related to what you were reading (what did you think about) did you have while reading the chapter?
I was continuously amazed by the complexity of the brain, as well as the controversies that arise resulting from the sometimes ambiguous findings in the research.
9) Once you are done with your post make list of the terms and terminology you used in your post.

Neuroscience, neurons, axons, dendrites, cell body, myelin sheaths, axon terminals, cerebral commissurotomies, corpus callosum, aggregate field theory, reflex arc, phrenology, cognitive neuroscience

1. One thing that I found to be interesting in this chapter was the mind-body issue that has proceeded to be a debate throughout time in the field of neuroscience. I was unaware that there are some that argue that only the physical world or only the mind truly exists with the other being a byproduct. Within their arguments I learned that there is a distinct difference between the brain and the mind. The brain is the physical thing inside of our skulls while the mind contains the processes of thought and cognition. I found this interesting because I have never thought of one or the other not being truly real. There are also dualist that believe that the physical world and the mind coexist together. This is how I have always perceived things. Even those that are dualist still question how the two are connected and work together. This is one thing that neuroscience works to answer.

2. Another thing that I found interesting in this chapter was that for lateralization studies of patients with intact corpus callosum they only include right handed males in the study. The corpus callosum is what shares information from one hemisphere of the brain to the other. I was unaware that women tend to have thicker corpus callosums which would make it more difficult to control stimuli from crossing over into the other hemisphere. I found it interesting that only right handed individuals were used in this study because it has been shown that some left handed individuals can have language areas in the right hemisphere unlike right handed individuals. Using left handed individuals would require previous tests before the study such as fmris to show where active language areas are located in the brain for those individuals which would add a lot of time and money needed for the experiment. I found this especially interesting being a left handed individual myself as well as a female who would not be an appropriate candidate for these studies. This leads me to wonder if the findings in the study can be generalized to myself.

3. I also found it interesting that there are so many different types of neurons within the brain. I have taken a biopsychology course here at UNI where I learned about all of the basics of a neuron and a neurotransmitter as the book discussed. I did not learn in that class that there that many different neurons that had specific functions. I also was unaware that different neurons have different axon lengths which effects how fast neurotransmission occurs for that neuron. Understanding that there are different types of neurons it allows for one to understand how different areas of the brain function and what processes areas are involved in by identifying the specific types of neurons that occupy that area. It is understood now that there are areas of the brain that are responsible for specific functions but that there are also processes that include multiple areas of the brain and therefore those particular neurons can be found in a number of different areas of the brain.

4. The section that I found the least interesting in this chapter was the section covering why the field of cognitive psychology and the field of neuroscience joined together to create cognitive neuroscience. I feel as though the reasons were those that a reader could have come up with alone without having it included int the chapter. I found the rest of the chapter to be very interesting, especially because one of my major interests is biopsychology. I understand why this section is important, but I found it to be far less interesting that then rest of the material. I feel as though many of the points where made elsewhere in the text as well and may not have needed their own section as the other intext information would have sufficed.

5. I think that the section which described the different types of technologies that have been developed and used in studies of cognitive neuroscience. Understanding the different tools involves understanding what the data that is collected means for each of them. This is important when understanding different studies in cognitive psychology. It is good to know what technologies generate brain structure, such as an MRI, which technologies show the different functions of the brain, such as fMri, and those that show neuron activity, such as EEGs. When reading that these types of tools are used we will then know what they are testing for which allows for a better overall understanding of a study.

6. This chapter directly ties into the research methods chapter because it gives detailed descriptions of imaging studies which were briefly covered in the previous chapter when discussing different ways to measure a response to the physical world. This chapter also directly builds off of the previous chapter as it is centered around the topic of neuroscience which is briefly described as one of the main perspectives of cognitive psychology. The chapter goes into specifics of how the field has developed over the years moving from phrenology, to the aggregate field theory, to what is being studied today.

7. I would like to learn more about what areas of the brain are involved in different cognitive processes. I have a basic understanding of language areas and higher cognitive function areas of the brain, but I would like to have a deeper understanding of specific processes and how they work within the brain. I have a deep interest in neuroscience and find it extremely helpful to know how the mind works in order to understand many other areas of psychology. Understanding how cognitive processes work through the brain is just as important as understanding what the processes produce in the end. Being able to incorporate information from other classes into this one allows for me to not only have a better understanding of cognitive psychology but those other areas of psychology as well.

8. I brought in a lot of information from my previous biopsychology class making some of the chapter review and other parts of the chapter adding to the knowledge that I already had. Reading about the differences in the brains of some left handed individuals made me think about how my brain may be different in processing stimuli than what was shown in the tests discussed in the chapter. This chapter made it clear that normal functioning brains are not all the same in their make up and that findings from studies can only be a generalization rather than being a guarantee for all people.

Terms used- neuroscience, mind-body issue, cognition, lateralization, corpus callosum, brain hemisphere, fmri, neuron, neurotransmission, cognitive psychology, cognitive neuroscience, MRI, EEG, imaging studies, phrenology, aggregate field theory,

1a) What did you find interesting?
Neurogenesis
1b) Why was it interesting to you?
Neurogenesis first interested me because it seemed like a term that I would have read in a science fiction novel. As I read and found out neurogenesis is something of a futuristic and theoretical field. What I found most interesting when reading this section and others before it was most of the sciences agree, we are born with a set number of neurons and lose them over the course of our lives. Even more interesting was, others believe neurons could possibly be regrown to improve mental capabilities. Neurogenesis was briefly discussed in the section but was an interesting section.
2a) What did you find interesting?
Phrenology and Lobotomy
2b) Why was it interesting to you?
These topics were covered briefly in the chapter but were of great interest due to their unusual approach. Phrenology as the book says is portrayed as being scientific but has no research to back it up. While lobotomies and phrenologist were way off on their method, they were close in the sense they believed in the localization of functions in the brain. The brain was such a mystery to people up until recently, today some of the methods and techniques used to “treat” patients may seem barbaric to us but interestingly many were considered common practice.
3a) What did you find interesting?
Split-Brain Research
3b) Why was it interesting to you?
The topic of split-brain research was interesting to me first of all because I find it fascinating each side of our body is run by the opposite side of the brain. The massive bundle of nerves that binds the two hemispheres, the corpus callosum, is essential for passing information back and forth between the two. The interesting part about the split brain research are the patients abilities after having their corpus callosum severed. Roger Sperry and his colleagues were able to demonstrate split-brain research which allowed him to figure out many functions and which hemisphere they are associated with.
4a) What one (1) thing did you find the least interesting?
Neuroscientists’ toolbox.
4b) Why wasn't it interesting to you?
It was interesting finding out how they worked but it was just a boring read with very technical terms.
5) What did you read in the chapter that you think will be most useful to in understanding Cognitive Psychology?
A lot of what I read in this chapter really interested me into wanting to google some of the topics like lobotomies, neurogenesis and split brain research. Also having a good understanding of the biology of the brain is a good ground work to understanding the functions.
6) How, in what ways, does this chapter relate (build on) to the previous chapters?
This chapter built on the previous chapter by explaining how many of the cognitive psychologist began measuring what they were researching and how the localization of functions became more accepted.
7a) What topic would you like to learn more about?
Neurogenesis
7b) Why?
It seems like an interesting topic and something that wasn’t discussed in very much detail in the book.
8) What ideas related to what you were reading (what did you think about) did you have while reading the chapter?
I remember my biopsychology class when reading this chapter because of how hard the chapter hit on the biology of the brain. I also couldn’t help but wonder how many people had to get a lobotomy before it was considered inhumane.
9) Once you are done with your post make list of the terms and terminology you used in your post.
-localization, phrenology, lobotomy, neurogenesis, corpus callosum, hemisphere, neuron, Roger Sperry

1)One thing that I found interesting was the section on the Central Nervous System. I guess I have always found the central nervous system to be interesting because it connects our brain to the rest of our body, and just how fast the signals from the brain get sent to every part of the body. I have taken other classes either psychology or anatomy classes that explain how the central nervous system works. Dendrites, receive neural impulses, and are the branches off of the cell body. The cell body receives and stores nutrients and eliminates waste. The cell body also decides if there is enough information to send them down the axon terminal. The axon is the long part of the cell that is almost touching but not touching the other cell bodies, which is know as a synapse. The Synapse is also the other part of how nerves really interest me because the synapse is not touching. Which makes me wonder just how the chemicals can jump from one neuron to another neuron. It just makes me think why is there gap between the neurons and it is not just all connected.

2)The story of Phineas Gage has been one major case study that I have always found interesting no matter how many times I hear about the story. Gage was a railroad worker, and made a bad decision around some dynamite. Dynamite exploded when Gage was very close to it, and the explosion sent a spike through Gage's head. The spike went through his brain, and with such extensive damage to the brain most people will die, especially during the time period Gage was injured. Gage on the other hand survived the injury, but had changed drastically from his usual self. I have heard from other psychology teachers that Gage was a very nice guy, but after his accident he would swear or be angry all the time. After the incident many believed that the frontal lobe was developed to control our emotions.

3) I looked at several of the figures in the chapter and the figure of the neurons that are present from birth to two years of age. Children as stated in the explanation in the figure mentions that children have almost all the neurons in the brain already, but they develop many different connections to other neurons. The reason I found this interesting is because even though I have known about how children already have all the neurons an adult has, but they are just not fully developed. Being able to see the pictures from birth to two years show a drastic difference in how many neurons create connections with other neurons, and this change is done so fast it's fascinating.

4) The section of the chapter that I did not find to be very interesting was of Cognitive Psychology and Cognitive Neuroscience. The reason for why I found this to not be very interesting is because it just listed off why contemporary psychologists used neuroscience to help them learn. This section mainly just bored me very much even though it was very short.

5) I think that the section of the central nervous system is most useful in understanding cognitive psychology. The reason for why I believe this is because our thoughts, emotions, memories, and other cognitive psychology related topics have to start somewhere and the central nervous system sends and receives signals from the brain.

6) This chapter relates to the previous chapter by talking more about neuroscience. The previous chapter briefly mentions about how neuroscience came to be, but chapter 2 focused more on what makes up neuroscience.

7) The topic that I would like to learn more about would be of the split brain. The reason for why I would like to learn more of this is from previous classes explaining split brain surgery. In my previous classes I had learned of a couple studies that a person with a split brain was to see if they could recognize an object, and then write it or draw it down on a piece of paper.

8) The main thing I thought about were of previous studies I have heard about relating to some of the studies or topics in the chapter. A couple studies or stories I remembered was of the Gage story, and of the study with people who had split brain surgery.

Terms: Central Nervous System, dendrites, neural impulse, cell body, neurons, axons, synapse, frontal lobe, neuroscience, split brain.

1) The first thing I found interesting was the section Early Studies in Localization. In this section it talked about how phrenologists thought that the brain was like a muscle and that you could exercise it. I found it interesting that they also believed that persons personal characteristics were figured out by looking at the indents on the outside of the scull. It was explained in the text that the spots of the brain that were less developed were the “valleys” of the brain, which dipped in. In my Memory and Language class we talked about how this is how people in society who aren’t as knowledgeable about the brain view it, that the brain is like a muscle.
2) Another thing I always find interesting even though I have read about it and learned it in multiple classes was where it talked about Phineas Gage. He was a man who worked on the railroads and when dynamite went off and a tamping iron was sent right through his jaw, through the frontal cortex, and exited his head landing a good distance away from him. The crazy thing is he survived after the spike when through his brain. This lead researchers to believe that the frontal lobe was responsible for a persons temperament, because after this accident Gage was not himself and he was a completely different person to those who were even his friends. This occurrence lead to the development of psychosurgery. Antonio Moice noticed that ruining a portion of the frontal love in a monkey can make them more calm, this is how the lobotomy technique came to be. The aggregate field theory supported the view that the brain was a holistic organ rather than localization.
3) The third topic I found to be interesting was the topic on imaging techniques. I have had a few imaging tests done on myself such as CT scan, MRI, EEG’s, and x-ray’s, and I think it is way cool how we are able to see the inside of our bodies that way/activity of the brain. These imaging tools all work in different ways. EEG’s record activity from the neurons in the brain, CT scans show three dimensional images of the structure of the brain, PET scans scan for glucose usage in the brain and they measure the radioactive particles, MRI’s show images of structures of the brain using electromagnets.
4) Over all I liked the whole chapter so it was hard to find a spot that I didn’t like, but I guess the least interesting part of the book for me was the mind-body issues. Not that I didn’t like it, but I just found the rest of the chapter more interesting compared to this.
5) One thing I think that helps understand cognitive psychology is the image testing, because we can see how people brains are working, and they help doctors learn more about the brain and can better find ways to treat their patients who may have some sort of brain damage or tumor they may be suffering from.
6) This chapter builds on from the previous, because it continues to discuss neuroscience, by talking about brain imaging and the different scans that are out there to look at the brains functions.
7) I would like to learn more about is psychosurgery, I really liked that section and how it brought on lobotomy, so I think it would be interesting to find out how other procedures came about and what they were and if they would be considered to be “inhumane” now like with the icepick in lobotomy.
8) I was thinking about how far research and the medical field have come compared to what it used to be while reading about lobotomy. Also how they brain works, we have come so far from when it was thought the brain was a muscle.
9) Phineas Gage, frontal cortex, frontal lobe, psychosurgery, Antonio Moice, lobotomy, aggregate field theory, CT scan, MRI, and EEG.

1. I found the section discussing the early studies in localization. One of the reasons I found this section to be interesting is because it was one of the topics brought up in chapter one that I wished to learn more about. The case of Phineas Gage, which the chapter brings up in its discussion of localization, is something that has come up in a number of my classes and has always interested me. The subject of lobotomies are also something that I have found interesting and encountered many times in my various psychology classes. The impact that these procedures had on the advancement of knowledge of the human brain and effective ways to treat various mental disorders is something I consider very important and entertaining to learn about.

2.The second thing that I found interesting in the chapter was the discussion on split-brain research and the differing functions of the two hemispheres of the brain. One of the things I found most interesting in this section was the statement that the purpose of contralaterality and the exact functions of each hemisphere of the brain still aren't completely understood. I was unaware that there was still a good amount of knowledge about the hemispheres of the brain that we haven't uncovered. Another thing that was interesting was the discussion of research on the hemispheres of the brain involving participants with intact corpus callosums. The distinctions that they laid out for the participants were interesting but also made sense to me. Some of these distinctions were handedness and gender, with only right-handed males being accepted for the study. Figure 2.11 was also interesting and helped diagram a good example of how the research was carried out and what participants would be seeing and interpreting.

3. The third thing that I found interesting was the discussion of the various tools neuroscientists use in order to study the brain in the modern age. I have always found it interesting how technology allows us to view the brain and its activity while remaining unintrusive to the participant being studied. I have been to hospitals and seen the various machines that are used for MRI/fMRI, PET, EEG and so on but I have never actually had to receive any of said scans. The way that these scans function and measure brain activity has always astounded me. It's one of the things that I've always wondered how someone came up with the idea originally and I always enjoy it when the topic comes up in classes.

4. The thing that I found to be the least interesting in the chapter was the section discussing the anatomy of the brain. I didn't find this section to be uninteresting because of the subject matter but instead because I have already discussed it to death in my previous classes, particularly biopsychology. I also didn't learn anything new in this section so it was entirely review for me and therefore less interesting than the rest of the chapter.

5. I think that the information laid out in the section involving the differing functions of the two hemispheres of the brain will be the most useful in understanding cognitive psychology. To me, this section is a good example of what I primarily view the subject of cognitive psychology to be. The individual functions of either hemisphere of the brain and how they work together in order to interpret stimuli is very interesting and seems like it will relate to many other things we will be talking about over the course of the semester, particularly sensation and perception.

6. This chapter builds on the understanding of cognitive psychology and methods that have been used to study the brain over time and also helps lay more of the groundwork for understandting the subject, such as outlike the anatomy of the brain. It also builds on some of the research methods outlined in chapter 1, such as lateralization.

7. I would like to learn more about the various functions of both hemispheres of the brain and how they interact with each other. As I said previously, this has always interested me and I would like to know how me being left-handed may have an impact on the way my brain functions when compared to the common right-handed person.

8. The main thing that came to mind while reading the chapter is how my being left-handed might have an impact on the various things the chapter discussed when talking about the brain hemispheres. One of the studies mentioned controlled for the handedness of the subjects and I wanted to know more about how different handedness could effect cognitive functions in the brain.

Terms: localization, Phineas Gage, lobotomy, split-brain research, brain hemispheres, contralaterality, corpus callosum, handedness, neuroscientists, MRI/fMRI, EEG, PET, biospychology

1a. The first thing that caught my attention in the chapter was the small piece on smoking addiction and it being related to a specific structure in the brain, the insula. In a small study researchers found that smokers who had suffered a stroke and had sustained damage to their insula no longer felt the urge to smoke. Without any will power or desire to stop smoking the damage to the insula resulted in the smoker no longer wanting to smoke.
1b. I find this interesting because I am a smoker. I never knew that addiction had a related LOCALIZED area in the brain. I would be interested to see if they could adapt a medication or procedure to affect the insula to produce this cessation of smoking without having to have a stroke.
2a. Another interesting thing I came across was the section on PHRENOLOGY. When I first read the section I was confused as to what exactly phrenology was. I actually had resort to google for a formal definition. Phrenology is a PSUEDOSCIENCE that made inferences (non-factual ones) about certain characteristics of a person’s being (emotions, intelligence, etc.) from the protrusions and indentions on a person’s skull.
2b. Phrenology and other pseudoscience’s are intriguing because they give insight on how people of the past thought things worked. Often times the ideas behind these pseudosciences were on track and brought about ideas which spurred on factual findings that helped advance actual scientific findings.
3a PSYCHOSURGERY and more specifically LOBOTOMYS are always interesting to read about. Psychosurgery was a common practice in years past. While rare today, these surgeries were used to alleviate such psychological ailments such as severe depression. Today they are used in extreme cases of OCD and sever seizures. Lobotomies are a type of psychosurgery affecting the frontal lobe. It was thought that by damaging the frontal lobes in this way the patient would have a reduction in aggressive impulses.
3b. I found this section interesting because it is a gruesome part of psychology history. At a glance it seems like these surgeries were nothing but an inhumane and dangerous attempt to make the aggressive more docile, but the findings and knowledge we gained from this time period is extremely valuable.
4a. I found the whole section on NEUROTRANSMISSION pretty boring.
4b. I found it boring because I have reviewed this material in many other classes, after a while it seems redundant (which I’m sure is the point). I could draw the anatomy of neuron blindfolded, which is actually pretty cool because I remembering struggling to memorize back when I took my first psych class.
5. CONTRALATERALITY is a concept that I believe will be very useful to know going forward. The whole concept took a couple reads to fully grasp but I believe I understand it now. For example, in the VISUAL FIELD when sensory information enters the left eye the information gets sent to right side of the brain and vice versa with sensory information entering the right eye. This is a common theme with many processing mechanisms in the brain.
6. This chapter builds upon the starting foundation of chapter 1. It does so by elaborating on what exactly certain physical structures of the brain do, such as the CORPUS CALLOSUM which connects both hemispheres of the brain and allows the hemispheres to communicate with one another. It also elaborates on ways the brain processes information, which can either be localized in certain areas or spread across many different areas depending on the process.
7a. I would like to know more about visual processing.
7b. Seeing our physical world is a process that most people take for granted. The process of viewing things is actually a really complicated process to describe and synthesize and I although I have had some classes that have dealt with the topic I am nowhere close to understanding the cognitive processes behind it.
8a. While reading the chapter I thought a lot about the history of cognitive psychology and what it actually took to get us to our current understanding. From the reading it seems we have come such a long way in our understanding and it all stretches back to the myriad of experiments and research we have done over the past century. It really sunk in how complex the history of cognitive psychology really is.
9. Localization, phrenology, pseudoscience, psychosurgery, lobotomy, neurotransmission, contralaterality, visual field, corpus callosum.

Chapter 2:
The first thing in chapter 2 that I found really interesting was the topic of lobotomy. It seems like such a cruel and unethical procedure, but it used to be wildly used. Walter Freeman was the one who created the procedure. The technique was used to do a sort of surgery on the frontal lobe. They inserted a rod into through the eye sockets. After they inserted the rod, they would scramble parts of the frontal lobe. In doing this, they found out that the frontal lobe was the part of the brain that controls a person’s personality. I think that this is all really interesting because it seems like such an awful procedure. I’m not sure why you would ever want to change someone’s personality. A frontal lobotomy is a form of psychosurgery. It states in our book that it is still used today in very severe cases in order to control certain mental disorders. This is still very baffling to me. I can’t imagine that someone would be okay getting this procedure done. And I can’t imagine someone wanting this procedure done on their loved ones. The entire concept just seems very unethical to me.
The second thing that I found interesting from chapter 2 is the section on the two different hemispheres of the brain. This is really interesting to me for 2 reasons. The first is that the different sides of the brain control the opposite sides of the body. For example, the left side of the brain controls the right side of the body. And the right side of the brain controls the left side of the body. The second thing that I found interesting about the 2 sides of the brain is that someone can be left-brained or right-brained. I find this interesting because I am left handed. I write with my left hand, but everything else I do is right handed. I throw a ball with my right hand, I swing a bat right handed, and I kick a ball right handed. I’m not really sure how that happens and I would like to look into that further sometime. It would be interesting to know why I strictly write with my left hand and I do everything else right handed. What does that mean for my brain? What side of my brain do I use? It’s all very interesting.
The third thing I found interesting about chapter 2 was all of the information about localization. I think it’s really cool that different parts of the brain control different functions of the human body. There was a lot of information about the frontal lobe and how it controls your personality. This also all ties into the frontal lobotomies. I really enjoyed reading the information about Phineas Gage. I have heard about him in many of my other psychology classes. Phineas Gage was injured at work one day. A large iron rod went through his head and put a hole in his frontal lobe. It is very surprising that he survived and lived for many years after that. This is very fascinating that he turned out to be okay. The only thing that was different about him was his personality. He used to be a very nice, friendly person. And after his accident, he was rude and he mistreated other people around him. This was a really big discovery for the world of neuroscience.
I think the information that I found the least interesting was the information on the neurons. I have been taught this stuff in many of my classes and I have known this information for many years. I like the study of anatomy. But I have always been really bad at the parts of the brain. There are just so many parts of the brain and they all do different things. Then you get down to the smaller parts. The smaller parts are the neurons. And then you can get into the chemicals and neurotransmitters. There are just so many parts to the brain, and I’ve never been able to soak it all into my memory.
I would love to learn more about lobotomies. I think that they are so interesting. I have always been really interested in ethics. I think that there has to be some sort of ethics involved in frontal lobotomies. I’m sure that ethics are the reason that the psychosurgeries stopped. I don’t think that it’s right to get into someone’s brain. I don’t know why people thought that these types of procedures were okay. Even back then when the procedures were more widely done, people had to have thought that it was bad.
I will take many things from this chapter. I think that I learned a lot from chapter 2. There is a lot of good information about neuroscience. There was a lot of good information about the parts of the brain and the functions that they hold. There was good information about the history of neuroscience. I will remember all of the information about frontal lobotomies. I will also remember the information about Phineas Gage.
Terms: Neuroscience, Lobotomy, Psychosurgery, Brain, Phineas Gage, Frontal Lobe, Neurons, Brain Hemispheres, Left-brain, Right-brain

1.when i was reading this section the early stuff in localization was pretty neat. the whole reason for this is when they talked about phineas. it is a topic that i think is pretty neat in how he had that rod go through is head.then cutting in to the brain and doing the lobotomies. i don't know if i am just weird but cutting in to things and looking at them is neat. not saying that i want to cut open people and animals but just seeing how things work.by these early pioneers in the field did it because maybe they were just as curious as i am kinda lead to treatments and things we know today about the brain.
2.split-brain research and the differing functions of the two hemispheres of the brain i think is neat.contralaterality and the exact functions of each hemisphere of the brain and how they still aren't completely understood. another thing that was interesting was the discussion of research on the hemispheres of the brain involving participants with intact corpus callosums. what was laid out for some of the participants was interesting but also made sense to me. some of these distinctions were handedness and gender, with only right-handed males being accepted for the study.

3. the way that we study the brain now and all of the different tools. even though cutting in to it is cool but this other stuff is more exceptable. it is really neat that you can lay down on a bed or have this thing put on your head and you can see what the brain looks like and how it works.

4. nothing really here

5. i don't really know right now i think that it all will be useful to me in one way or another. i will know better when i am sitting there and i have that moment of great thought and it all just comes together

6. i think that it builds on by telling us some of the methods that have been used. how we perceive things and a little on our sensory stuff.

7. i want to know more about what comes from which side of the brain.
8. one thing is how people are left and right handed and how the brain is different but the same. how different functions come from different parts and how if you cut the brain in half it effects some but not others.