Overview

Students will be given an overview of how the brain works in the context of mental well being. The focus will be on understanding that different parts of the brain communicate and interact, and that these are important to understanding how people become mentally ill. The goal is not to provide a comprehensive overview of neuroanatomy, but to help students understand some of the biology behind mental illness.

Teaching Outcomes

• Have an understanding that brain functions are often specific to different brain regions
• Name select regions of the brain and their functions
• Debunk some common myths about the brain

Theory and Background Information

The brain is a remarkably complex organ, comprised of three very gross distinct regions:

• The forebrain, responsible for thinking, feeling and creating memories
• The midbrain, responsible for aspects of vision and keeping awake
• The hindbrain, responsible for controlling our breathing, heart rate, and other non-conscious processes

These regions are based on how babies develop within the womb. The forebrain is unique in that it possesses many of the brain regions which make humans unique from other species, including advanced sites for thinking, feeling and creating memories. Some of the brain areas there do contribute to mental illness.

Brain areas do not work in isolation – that is, they communicate with one another, constantly exchanging information. This process occurs using chemicals called neurotransmitters, which act messengers between different brain areas and between the brain and the body.

Having an understanding of some major brain areas allows us to understand why errors in the communication between brain areas is known to be such a large contributing factor to mental illness.

The Cortex – Where We Think

The cortex (or cerebral cortex) makes up the largest part of the brain that we can see, and contains the characteristic folds that people often associate with when they think of the brain. The cortex is divided up into four main lobes, each with separate jobs. This concept is known as the localization of function, and describes how different aspects of the cortex’s responsibilities are split up amongst different anatomical regions.

The four regions are:

• The frontal lobe, responsible for thinking, decision making, planning, and motor control. The complexity of this lobe and what tasks it is involved is one of the brain-related aspects that makes humans unique amongst other animals with respect to brain function. Many of these aspects of neural control are referred to as executive functioning
• The parietal lobe, which is responsible for many aspects of our sense of feel
• The occipital lobe, which receives and interprets visual information
• The temporal lobe, which receives and interprets sound information

Some mental illnesses like schizophrenia may be the result of cellular-level problems in the a part of the frontal lobe, which yields symptoms like a decreased desire to be active in regular activities.

The Limbic System – Where we Feel

The limbic system is a collection of brain regions which contribute to two important parts of our experience: emotion and learning/memory. The amygdala is the centre of this emotion system, and is responsible for both our feelings of excitement and joy, but also fear and anxiety. Is is no surprise that some differences in the way the some peoples’ amygdalas handle and interpret information can lead to people being more susceptible to disordered anxiety.

The Hippocampus – Where We Remember

The hippocampus (in red) is responsible for many aspects of learning (acquiring new information) and memory (the storage and retrieval of information). Some neurodegenerative disorders like Alzheimer’s dementia are known to affect this brain region, and thus cause problems with memory.

The Brainstem – What Keeps Us Alive

The brainstem is a collection of three brain regions which are responsible for keeping us alive by monitoring and controlling things we are not aware of, like our heart beating, or ensuring that we breathe when we do not think about it. Its control of basic functions needed to live is present in most other animals as well, including those very different and with much less intelligence than us. Damage to it physically or by drugs can cause many problems with these processes needed to sustain life.

Common Myths:

“We only use 10% of our brain”

We use parts of our brain more actively than others while performing different tasks, but the complexity of what the human brain is capable of requires the use of the entirety of its size. Keeping in mind the localization of function, it is easy to see how thinking about something we are seeing, and trying to memorize it, uses much more than 10% of our brain, notwithstanding that our hindbrain is constantly active to keep us alive.  

“Someone being left brained or right brained”

Some parts of our cerebrum are more strongly localized to one side than the other, like the left part of the brain being more involved in language function than the right, and the opposite for nonverbal reasoning. This does not mean that they exclusively reside in one side of the brain, however.

“We only have five senses”

Humans have many more than five senses. In addition to seeing, touching, hearing, smelling and tasting, our bodies are also able to relay information about the position of our limbs relative to our body, our blood pressure, our muscle stretch, and our blood acidity. The latter may seem confusing, but it is actually our body’s way of receiving information about if we are breathing enough.  

Preparations

• If you are able to access a projector load up this interactive brain model from BrainFacts.org to show students the location of the brain regions discussed

• Access to an anatomical model brain would also suffice, but would require the educator to familiarize themselves with the locations of specific regions discussed

• Familiarize yourself with the neuroanatomical concepts provided here

Activity

• Hand out this document, and allow the students to complete the worksheet with the aid of the Internet, this document, or a textbook
• Supervise your students while they use the Internet, and make sure they are getting information from a reputable source
• The solutions to the handout are here

Activity Accommodations and Extensions

• More advanced students should be directed to Neuroscience for Kids where they can learn some more advanced concepts

Resources: Content

Silverthorn 6

Abnormal Psych 4

Gagnog 24

From Neuron to Brain 4

Resources: Images

Cortex, Amygdala: OpenStax A&P

Limbic: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Blausen_0614_LimbicSystem.png 

Hippocampus: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Hippocampus_image.png 

Resources: Handout Images

Cortex: https://pixabay.com/p-1007686/?no_redirect 

Sagittal section: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6e/Density_of_moral_neuroscience_studies_fnint-07-00065-g001.jpg