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What The Brain Does (1956-11-14)
About this film
Dr. Boring reminds his audience that Psychology One is a course, which looks ahead on other things. He shows a model of the brain and explains the levels of the brain: cortical, thalamic, medullar, and spinal. Then he talks about the centers of the brain and their projections: motor, touch, vision, hearing, and frontal. Three more diagrams are shown, including a topological projection of the areas of brain responsible for face, tongue, hand, arm, trunk. Dr. Boring explains the visual cortex, right/left side of the brain. Then he shows linear projection of the front and back of the brain, and explains equipotentiality and mass action, when different parts of brain can learn to compensate for injured parts and more brain produces better functioning. He focuses on the frontal lobe and tells a story of Phineas P. Gage, who had injured his frontal lobe in a quarry incident, but did not lose functions of the brain. Lobotomy - cutting through the lobe. Experiments with animals showed that without parts of the front lobe, they lose the ability to plan ahead. He concludes his lecture with the explanation of the encephalization, corticalization, specific projections, and unilateral dominance…
Directors & creators
WGBH Educational Foundation
Subjects
public broadcasting, AAPB, Psychology, Edwin G. Boring, Harvard University, Brain function, Nervous system, Cerebral cortex, Cerebrum, Medulla, Thalamus, Spinal cord, Neurons, Synapses, Sensory receptors, Motor response, Physiological psychology, Biological psychology, Neuroanatomy, Brain structure, Psychology education, History of psychology
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