1. What is the brain stem and what critical functions does the medulla oblongata control?

2. How do the pons and midbrain contribute to brain function, and what role does the midbrain play in connecting sensory and motor information?

1. What is the reticular formation and how does it help people focus on important sensory information while filtering out unnecessary stimuli?

2. What is the reticular activating system (RAS) and how does it regulate wakefulness and alertness?

3. What is the brain's reward center and what role does dopamine play in this system?

1. What are the primary functions of the cerebellum and why is it significant that it contains about half of the brain's neurons?

2. What problems can result from cerebellar damage, and how does the cerebellum contribute to both motor and cognitive functions?

1. What structures make up the limbic system and what is its primary role in emotional processing?

2. How does the thalamus function as a relay station in the brain, and what analogy helps explain its role?

3. What is the hippocampus and what happens when it is damaged, as illustrated by Clive Wearing's case?

4. How does the amygdala respond to threatening situations and what happens when the amygdala is damaged?

5. What role does the hypothalamus play in regulating survival drives, and how do the lateral and ventromedial hypothalamus differ in their functions related to eating?

6. What is the nucleus accumbens and how does it relate to pleasure, motivation, and addiction?

1. What is the relationship between the two hemispheres of the brain, and why is the popular concept of being 'right-brained' or 'left-brained' inaccurate?

2. How does the structure of the cerebral cortex (its folds and wrinkles) relate to brain function and computational power?

3. What are association areas and what types of higher-order functions do they process?

1. What is brain lateralization and how does it demonstrate that the two hemispheres have specialized functions?

2. What is the corpus callosum and what happens when it is severed in split-brain patients?

3. How does the visual system's contralateral organization explain why split-brain patients can see information in one visual field but not report it verbally?

4. What are Broca's area and Wernicke's area and how do the types of aphasia resulting from damage to each differ?

1. What is a hemispherectomy and how does the recovery of children who undergo this surgery demonstrate brain plasticity?

2. How does brain plasticity change across the lifespan and why do older adults often have more difficulty recovering from strokes?

1. What are case studies and how have they contributed to understanding brain function, as illustrated by Phineas Gage and Clive Wearing?

2. What is electroencephalography (EEG) and what information can it provide about brain activity and disorders?

3. How do CT scans and MRI differ in their capabilities for imaging the brain and other body structures?

4. What is functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and why is it unique among brain scanning techniques?

5. How do PET scans work and what information can they provide about brain activity and energy use?

6. What is electromyography (EMG) and what conditions can it help diagnose?

7. What is a prefrontal lobotomy and what were its effects on patients?

8. How does deep brain stimulation differ from older surgical methods like lobotomy, and what conditions can it treat?

9. What is transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) and how is it used in treating depression?

10. How is autopsy used to study the brain and what conditions can only be definitively diagnosed through autopsy?

11. What is lesioning and how has it been used as a research tool in nonhuman subjects?