Part II
Refer to Ch. 2 (pp. 58-78) In Psychology: An Introduction.
Write a 350- to 700-word response identifying the major regions of the brain and what functions of behavior the systems of each region control.
Students examine images of human brains that illustrate that specific regions of the brain regulate specific functions. They extend that knowledge to learn that drugs of abuse activate an area of the brain called the reward system. The same brain region is stimulated in response to basic survival needs to produce feelings of pleasure.
Different Regions of the Brain Regulate Different Functions
The brain splits the larger tasks into smaller ones. The brain will pick a part a process one by one. Seeing, hearing, moving, and so forth. Even those tasks are split into their component parts. One part of the human brain analyzes the movement of objects that we see, while another part is responsible for actually recognizing them. In short, specific parts of the brain carry out specific tasks when movement is needed. Also each part of the brain specializes in a specific kind of task.
The flip side of this organizational scheme is that if a part of the brain is damaged, then the job it used to undertake cannot be done. For example, damage to the occipital lobe at the back of the brain can cause blindness, but it has no effect on a person's ability to hear or move. Because the job of seeing is highly compartmentalized, individuals who have lost one aspect of sight, such as the ability to see colors or to recognize faces, may still be able to do other visual tasks. Imagine being able to recognize someone by hearing his or her voice, but not being able to recognize his or her face when you see it. This is the function of the brain and everything needs to be in sync with one another.
The advantage of this localization of function is when larger jobs are parceled out throughout the brain; they all can be done at once. This adds great speed to our ability...