Name ______
Critical Thinking Activities for Structure and Function of the Brain
Read the following brief summaries of individuals exhibiting specific brain disorders of malfunctions. Analyze the part of the brain involved in the malfunction. Answer the following questions to demonstrate knowledge of brain structure and function.
- Jim is an obese middle aged man who experiencing increased thirst. He takes long naps in the middle of the day and is wide awake at night. He has also noticed that he is sweating more lately and has gained 30 pounds in the last six months due to constant hunger.
What part of Jim’s brain is causing the change?
What are the functions of this part of the brain?
- Sam is a four year old boy who has been acting strangely, his mother says he seems “afraid of everything”. He has suddenly become very frightened of his family’s dog when they used to play together often. He has also been asking his parents to leave a light on at night when he has never been afraid of the dark prior to this.
What area of the brain working improperly?
What are the functions of this part of the brain?
What system is this part of the brain a part of?
- Paulina is an Olympic gymnast. During a complicated routine, she fell from the uneven bars directly onto her head. Paulina was slightly confused and disoriented after the fall but recovered after resting several minutes. Over the next few weeks, Paulina noticed she was unable to do much of her choreography especially her world famous balance beam routine.
What part of Paulina’s brain was damaged in the fall?
What type of movement does this part of the brain control?
- George is a professional hockey player. During a game, he was struck in the back of the head with a hockey puck and fell immediately to the ice. The team physician rushed out to the ice and noticed that George’s breathing and pulse have become dramatically slowed.
What area of the brain was damaged?
What functions does this part of the brain perform?
- Sarah is a healthy middle aged woman who has recently noticed a change in her sleep. Up until a few weeks ago she regularly slept eight or more hours a night. Over the last two months, she has been sleeping half that time or less. She has tried drinking tea, buying new pillows, etc. but nothing has helped. She states she does not feeling excessively tired during the day but she is worried that sleeping so few hours a night is not healthy.
What part of her brain makes chemicals that help regulate sleep?
Where is this part of the brain?
- Bill is a young man who has noticed lately that he cannot remember new information. He forgets the names of people he just met, is constantly losing his keys and is having trouble at work as an accountant because he cannot remember information his clients tell him. This has not been a problem until very recently and he is not having trouble remembering other older memories such as his families’ names and his address.
What is the name of the part of the brain that is not working?
What other important function does the part of the brain control?
- Martha is a busy mother of four but her family has noticed some very strange changes this week. She had previously been a very organized person but has stopped doing the housework and cooking. She does not care for her children anymore. She also has trouble paying attention even during short conversations with others. Her husband remembers that she hit her head on a kitchen cabinet about a week ago.
Where did Martha hit her head and what part of the brain did it affect?
What functions does this part of the brain perform?
- Julie is a high school softball player and in her last game she was struck in the head by a wild pitch. She blacked out and her coach called 911. In the ambulance, Julie complained that the paramedics were yelling at her and the sirens must be broken because they seemed very noisy. She wanted to know if there was cotton she could put in her ears because everything was so loud.
Where was Julie hit?
What is the function of this part of the brain?
- After a fall while ice skating, Susan experienced a strange feeling of electric shock accompanied by flashes of blue light. She is also having poor vision and is bumping into furniture in her house.
What part of her head did she hit after she fell on the ice?
What sense does this part of the brain take part in?
- Adam’s wife is concerned about his recent behavior. He wanders from room to room in their home and often has difficulty finding the front door, yet his vision seems fine. He complains that he feels odd sensations on his skin like bugs landing on him but when he goes to brush them off there are no bugs.
What part of the brain is damaged?
What functions does this part of the brain perform?
- Carl took his wife on an anniversary date for a steak dinner and then to watch the opera. After a huge dinner, the couple made their way to the opera. Once seated and the opera began, Carl began to feel drowsy. At intermission, Carl’s wife had to wake him up due to his loud snoring.
What part of the nervous system is helping Carl digest his meal?
What other functions does this system perform?
- Steve is an avid hunter and during a recent trip he was surprised to come upon a black bear outside his tent. Immediately, he felt his heart rate increase, he was breathing quickly and he began to sweat. He threw a forty pound stone to distract the bear and ran six miles to town before he looked back to see if the bear had followed him.
What part of Steve’s nervous system helped him escape the bear?
What functions does this system perform?
Reference: Allison Davidson, original work