UNIT 1. THE BRAIN

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THE BRAIN AND ITS FUNCTION

Did you know that your brain

is the size of a small cauliflower? weighs about 1.5 kilograms? is 80% water? consists of (probably) 100 billion neurons?

Did you know that it takes your brain about

1/10,000th of a second to respond to a stimulus? 90 seconds to decide whether you like someone or not? 20 minutes to realise that you feel full? 0.1 to 0.3 seconds to recognise familiar music?

The brain is the most complex and the least understood organ in the body. While we've learned a lot about it, much of what we assume "we have always known" wasn't actually discovered until quite recently. Take dopamine, an important neurotransmitter, for example. Until the 1950s, scientists thought it had little significance. And how about the hippocampus? Up until the 1950s, its exact function remained unknown. Similarly, no distinction had been made between different memory systems. When you think about it, you may realise that these remarkable discoveries were made in your grandparents' or even parents' day!

Neuroscience is a fast-developing field, but despite new discoveries, we still have a long way to go. We may learn how to effectively treat brain diseases, including mental and neurodegenerative disorders, when we ever get there.

The architecture of the human brain

Over the course of evolution, the human brain has tripled in size and developed three distinctive layers. The reptilian brain (brainstem, cerebellum and basal ganglia) evolved first. It has the most basic functions, such as breathing, heart rate, swallowing and balance. The limbic system (consisting of a set of brain structures associated with memory, emotions and arousal, such as the thalamus, hypothalamus, hippocampus, amygdala and olfactory bulbs) developed next. The neocortex was the last to develop. It is involved in higher brain functions, such as language, thought, attention, imagination and consciousness.

The brain is a delicate organ protected from injury by the skull, meninges and cerebrospinal fluid flowing from four ventricles. It comprises the cerebrum, the cerebellum and the brainstem. There are two main types of cells: glial cells and nerve cells, also called neurons, which form the nervous system. Glial cells are supporting cells that provide neurons with nutrients, protection and physical support. Neurons are considered the most important cells in the brain. They are each connected by synapses to thousands of other neurons, forming neural networks.

The cerebrum is the largest portion of the human brain. It consists of the cerebral cortex (also known as grey matter) and several subcortical structures, including the amygdala, the hippocampus, the thalamus, the hypothalamus and the olfactory bulbs.

Another group of subcortical structures is the basal ganglia. The basal ganglia (hidden underneath the cortex) are involved in controlling and executing movement, procedural learning and habit formation.

The cerebrum is divided into two hemispheres joined together by the corpus callosum. The right hemisphere controls the left side of the body, and the left hemisphere controls the right side. The hemispheres are in turn divided into four lobes: frontal, parietal, occipital and temporal.

Deep within the brain lie four large cavities called ventricles. They are filled with cerebrospinal fluid, which provides protection to the brain, nutrients and waste removal.

The cerebellum (the little brain) lies at the back of the brain and like the cerebrum has two hemispheres that are connected by the vermis. The cerebellum is essential for the regulation of posture and movement.

The brainstem, the part of the brain with the longest ancestry, is made of the midbrain, the pons and the medulla oblongata.

Exercise 1

Choose the correct answer.

Which of the following is the oldest region of the brain? brainstem limbic system cerebrum cerebral cortex Which of the following brain structures is not located in the limbic system? hypothalamus pons amygdala hippocampus Which of the following is a set of structures associated with movement? basal ganglia brainstem cerebellum limbic system Which of the following is a set of structures associated with procedural learning? brainstem basal ganglia limbic system cerebellum Which of the following parts of the brain enables communication between the left and right hemispheres? cerebral aqueduct midbrain corpus callosum vermis Which of the following is a set of structures associated with emotions and memory? limbic system basal ganglia hippocampus brainstem Which of the following is true for ventricles? There is cerebrospinal fluid in them. They are located in large cavities. They cleanse the brain of toxins. They protect the brain from mechanical injury. Which side of the body is affected if a person suffers a stroke in the brain's left hemisphere? left right either

BRAIN HEMISPHERES AND LOBES

As it has already been mentioned, the brain is divided into two hemispheres joined by the corpus callosum: right and left. Although they look the same, each hemisphere specialises in different tasks. The specialisation of the hemispheres is called brain lateralisation. The best example of brain lateralisation is language, which is typically processed by the left hemisphere. Lateralisation, however, isn't the same in every person - in about one in ten people, language skills are in the right hemisphere and in another one in ten in both hemispheres. Lateralisation appears not to be fixed either. If a specific part of the brain is injured, its functions can be taken over by another part in the same or opposite hemisphere.

Each hemisphere is divided into four lobes: frontal, temporal, parietal and occipital.

The frontal lobe contains the motor cortex, which is essential for initiating movement; the prefrontal cortex involved in higher-level cognitive functioning; and Broca's area related to speech production.

The parietal lobe contains the somatosensory cortex, which processes and interprets sensory information from various body parts.

The temporal lobe includes the auditory cortex responsible for processing auditory information and Wernicke's area essential for language comprehension.

The occipital lobe contains the visual cortex, the area responsible for processing visual information.

Whilst each lobe is involved in different functions, they work together as a single unit.

The brain lobes and their main functions

Frontal

Temporal

Parietal

Occipital

movement

hearing, smell

integration of sensory information (e.g. touch, temperature, and pain)

vision

speech production

language comprehension

reading, writing, maths computation

interpretation of visual information

cognitive functions (e.g. thinking, planning, problem-solving, decision-making)

memory, learning, emotion

recognition of the size, shape and texture of objects

-

regulation of emotions and social behaviour

object recognition

spatial orientation

-

Exercise 2

The picture below is a sagittal view of the human brain with some important parts numbered. Write their names in the spaces below.

__________ __________ __________ __________ __________ __________ __________ __________ __________ __________ __________ __________

Exercise 3

Decide if the following sentences are true (T) or false (F).

The two hemispheres function independently of each other. Each hemisphere specialises in different things. Language functions are typically lateralised to the right hemisphere. The frontal lobes specialise in vision. The temporal lobes allow you to feel the sun's warmth on your face. Thanks to the frontal lobes, you can refrain from pushing a person stand­ing in your way. Without the parietal lobes, you wouldn't be able to make sense of what you are hearing.

Exercise 4

Match the following parts of the brain to their functions.

hippocampus, ventricles, cerebellum, basal ganglia, hypothalamus, thalamus, amygdala, cerebrum, pituitary gland, brainstem

__________ controls several basic body functions, such as respiration, digestion, heartbeat, blood pressure, sleep, swallowing, sneezing, vomiting and coughing. __________ controls voluntary movements such as posture, balance, and coordination, resulting in precise and balanced motor activity. __________ secretes hormones into the bloodstream and regulates other important endocrine glands. __________ are filled with cerebrospinal fluid (CBF), which helps to protect the brain from trauma, provide nutrients to the brain and remove waste products. __________ plays the role of converting information from short-term memory to long-term memory, and in spatial memory that enables navigation. __________ is responsible for the formation and storage of memo­ries associated with emotional events. __________ regulates many complex functions of the organism, such as sleeping, eating, drinking, memorising, and body temperature; it stimulates or inhibits the secretion of hormones from the pituitary gland. __________ relays motor and sensory information (except smell) to the cerebral cortex; it regulates sleep, alertness and wakefulness. __________ regulates cognitive functions like speech, planning, reasoning, problem-solving, emotions and memory; it interprets sensory information like vision or hearing and controls voluntary movement. __________ plays an important role in non-declarative memory, such as procedural or habit learning, and involuntary motor movements.

Exercise 5

A group of people with brain injuries are gathered in the neurologist's waiting room. Before they are diagnosed, which area of their brain do you think could be damaged? Choose the correct option.

Paul has staggered into the waiting room, trying not to lose his balance. thalamus medulla oblongata cerebellum amygdala Kate's got lost on her way to the clinic, although she lives a short distance away. pituitary gland hippocampus thalamus pons Harry is eating his third hamburger because he is always hungry. midbrain thalamus hippocampus hypothalamus Steve, once a kind man, is very rude to everyone in the waiting room. frontal lobe temporal lobe parietal lobe occipital lobe Hannah is complaining of losing feeling in her left leg. right sensory cortex right motor cortex left sensory cortex left motor cortex Irene can't move her right arm and says she has difficulty in everyday activities, such as showering or dressing. right sensory cortex right motor cortex left sensory cortex left motor cortex Tanya has difficulty in getting the words out. Broca's area Wernicke's area occipital lobe parietal lobe Jack has breathing and swallowing difficulties and is lucky to be alive. basal ganglia pituitary gland medulla oblongata amygdala Beth's speech is fluent but makes no sense to others. Broca's area Wernicke's area frontal lobe parietal lobe 11-year-old Mike stands a head taller than the next tallest person in the waiting room. thalamus cerebellum medulla oblongata pituitary gland Mr Stevens doesn't even remember who he is waiting for. basal ganglia medulla oblongata hippocampus thalamus

UNIT 2. SLEEP AND DREAMS

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Exercise 1

Match the dreams 1-3 with the people who are dreaming them a-c. See the answer at the end of the unit.

WHAT ARE DREAMS?

Dreams are mental experiences, typically in the form of images, ideas, and sensations that come about involuntarily during REM sleep. Dreams can be vivid or vague, realistic or bizarre. They can be pleasant or disturbing, and most people have had at least one episode of waking up in the middle of the night, all drenched in sweat.

While it is easy to define a dream, why we actually dream remains one of science's greatest unanswered questions, though it has been a topic of study dating as far back as 4000 B.C. Early civilisations saw dreams as messages from the spiritual world filled with revelations about the future and giving guidance to people. An example can be found in the Bible's Book of Genesis, in the Pharaoh's upsetting dream of seven lean cows devouring seven fat cows, which Joseph interpreted as seven years of plenty followed by seven years of famine.

Several theories have been put forward as to why we dream. They span scientific fields from neurobiology to psychology, but none is yet definitive. For some researchers, dreams are random and meaningless. For others, they serve particular functions, such as memory consolidation, information processing and threat simulation. Although many scientists are busy working on discovering why we really dream, there may never be one single theory.

One of the first theorists in modern times to consider dreams was Sigmund Freud. He believed that dreams were the "royal road to the unconscious", representing "disguised fulfilments of repressed wishes". To help people understand the meaning of their dreams, he developed the concept of two types of content: manifest and latent. The manifest content is the literal plot of the dream, whereas the latent content is what the manifest content symbolises.

Although his dream theories have been largely disproved, they still provoke scientists into heated debates, and some people still believe that dreams are messages from the unconscious mind and look into them to gain insight into their own lives.

Exercise 2

Match the adjectives in the columns to form opposites.

A

B

latent asleep vague logical random sleeping universal repressed lucid recurrent/recurring

a) meaningful

b) uncommon

c) waking

d) recovered

e) unconscious

f) one-off

g) vivid

h) awake

i) manifest

j) bizarre

Exercise 3

Complete the sentences with the adjectives from exercise 2.

Mike had a dream last night that a giant bird was chasing him. He was told that this dream reflected his anxiety about meeting new people. This interpretation represents the __________ content of the dream. After a visit to a psychoanalyst, Joe felt that his __________ memories were finally coming up to the surface of his consciousness, and he began to understand why he was the way he was. I had a most __________ dream last night in which I was saved from a shark attack by a creature that kept changing its appearance. One moment it was an ordinary cat and the next a hairless werewolf. I have one __________ dream that comes to me at least once a month. In this dream, I'm on a beach and I'm tossing stricken starfish back into the sea, but I always wake up before saving the last one. Brenda tends to have __________ dreams, and once she wakes up, she can only recall disjointed floating images that don't add up to any story at all. Peggy was telling her friend about a __________ dream in which she was travelling through a desert on a giant camel. "While it was happening, I knew that it was a dream. I didn't like the direction it was taking, so I started it over." During his therapy sessions, Luke told his therapist that he often has a dream in which he grows angelic wings on his back and flies around the world watching over people. According to Freud's theory, the wings, flying and watching over the people are the dream's __________ content. Yesterday I had a dream that all of my front teeth fell out. I know it's a __________ dream, but it sends chills down my spine.

SLEEP DISORDERS

Everyone wants to get a good night's sleep, and while many people do sleep well, many can't fall asleep, stay asleep for way too long or do strange things when they sleep, such as shouting, muttering gibberish or wandering outside.

There is no single disorder responsible for all types of sleep problems. Actually, there are many of them, each with different causes, characteristics, treatments and different impacts on people's lives. They fall into two major types of sleep disorders: parasomnias and dyssomnias.

Parasomnias are disruptive sleep disorders that can happen when a person falls asleep or at any point in the sleep cycle. NREM-related parasomnias include night terrors, sleepwalking (also known as somnambulism) and sleep-related eating disorder (SRED), whereas REM-related parasomnias include nightmare disorder, sleep paralysis and REM sleep behaviour disorder.

Dyssomnias are those sleep disorders that cause either the inability to get to sleep, remain asleep or excessive sleepiness, such as insomnia, restless legs syndrome, narcolepsy, sleep apnoea, hypersomnia or circadian rhythm sleep disorders.

Some sleep disorders, if untreated, are more dangerous than you think. Insomnia or narcolepsy can disrupt all aspects of a person's life, including his/her physical and emotional well-being. Adult sleepwalking may be even more dangerous. Many sleepwalkers do things that, although benign when a person is awake, are potentially harmful to them and other people, such as climbing out of a window or sleep-driving. People with REM sleep behaviour disorder may also harm themselves and others, especially when they act out violent dreams. The same is for SRED. Sleepeaters may injure themselves while preparing dishes. Another thing is the consumption of strange combinations of food and non-food items, such as laundry starch, cigarettes or cleaning liquids. Sleep apnoea, another dangerous disorder, may lead to sudden death due to an interrupted heartbeat.

WSTĘP

Trzecie wydanie książki Psychology Vocabulary in Use. Angielski w psychologii zostało kompletnie przepracowane. Na dobrą sprawę jest to w zasadzie nowa publikacja. Te daleko idące modyfikacje nie są rezultatem mód czy nowinek glottodydaktycznych, lecz doświadczenia związanego z nauczaniem i popularyzacją angielskiej terminologii psychologicznej. Jedno z nas (Anna Treger) od wielu lat prowadzi lektorat dla studentów psychologii na Akademii Pedagogiki Specjalnej im. Marii Grzegorzewskiej w Warszawie. Ciekawe i pomocne były także uwagi i rady lektorek i lektorów z innych uczelni (nie tylko polskich) korzystających z książki naszego autorstwa. Dużo inspiracji i pomysłów dostarczył również prowadzony przez nas blog "English for Psychology" pod adresem: https://www.englishforpsychology.eu/. Nie zmienialiśmy natomiast poza jednym wyjątkiem struktury pracy. Tytuły i kolejność rozdziałów pozostały bez przekształceń, natomiast problematyka rozdziału pt. "Personality" została rozparcelowana i przeniesiona do innych części niniejszej publikacji.

Podręcznik Psychology Vocabulary in Use. Angielski w psychologii został napisany z myślą o tych wszystkich, którzy powinni doskonalić swoją znajomość słownictwa, stylistyki i umiejętność wnikliwego, analitycznego czytania różnych odmian angielskiego dyskursu psychologicznego: artykułów i monografii naukowych, fachowych podręczników - ale też szkiców popularyzatorskich czy publicystycznych. Jako grupę docelową braliśmy pod uwagę zwłaszcza studentów kierunków, na których psychologia jest liczącym się przedmiotem. To nie tylko - co oczywista - specjalności dedykowane tej właśnie dziedzinie, lecz także pedagogika, socjologia, filozofia i rozmaite dyscypliny medyczne. Uwzględnialiśmy także tych miłośników wiedzy psychologicznej, którzy z czystej ciekawości i pasji chcą pogłębiać swoją wiedzę, sięgając do anglojęzycznych źródeł. To również ze względu na nich podręcznik został opracowany w taki sposób, aby mógł być pożyteczną pomocą zarówno do nauki w grupie pod opieką lektora, jak i dla preferujących samokształcenie. Autodydaktom test sprawdzający, a także dokładny i szczegółowy klucz znajdujące się na końcu książki będą pozwalały na weryfikację postępów w opanowaniu materiału.

Książka zawiera dwanaście rozdziałów ogniskujących się na wybranych zasadniczych obszarach psychologii. Oprócz tekstu wprowadzającego każdy z nich mieści w sobie zestaw ćwiczeń pozwalających na opanowanie i utrwalenie kompetencji językowej w zakresie terminologii psychologicznej. Ćwiczenia są zróżnicowane. Jedne z nich sprawdzają rozumienie tekstu czytanego (pytania typu prawda/fałsz, quizy), inne to zadania wielokrotnego wyboru, uzupełnianie luk własnymi odpowiedziami, ćwiczenia ze słowotwórstwa, dopasowywanie słów do definicji/opisów i zastępowanie wyrażeń z języka potocznego terminami naukowymi. W każdym z tekstów wprowadzających i niektórych ćwiczeniach wytłuszczone zostały terminy mające kluczowe znaczenie dla danej problematyki psychologicznej.

W książce przyjęte są zasady pisowni brytyjskiej. Z podręcznika w największym stopniu skorzystają osoby, które opanowały kursy General English na poziomie średnio zaawansowanym i wyższym.

Nagrania mp3 wybranych tekstów z książki (oznaczonych ikoną słuchawek) są dostępne gratis na stronie internetowej wydawnictwa. Kod do pobrania nagrań znajduje się na ostatniej stronie książki.