I. Topic: Damage to the Brain and its Effects on Behavior

II. Purpose: To aid student understanding of the strong links between brain structure and function and behavior.

III. Description: Handout/Worksheet

This worksheet contains 3 short problems for students to solve. Each problem describes a specific brain injury and its effects on behavior. The student's task is to identify the brain area correlated with the injury and those effects.

Answers to problems: (1) cerebellum; (2) hippocampus; (3) Broca's area (frontal lobe of left hemisphere)

IV. Procedure:

1. Have students work through each problem. When they are finished with all the problems, have students share their answers. Open discussion to the connection between damage to specific brain areas and its effects on subsequent behavior.

Instructions. Below are 3 problems. Each describes a brain injury and its effects on behavior. Your task is to identify the precise area of the brain that has been damaged.

1. Linnea fell while skiing this past winter. When she fell, she hit the back of her very sharply against the ice on the slope. She now has difficulty moving about; her movements are jerky and she has to concentrate hard to make even the simplest of movements.

Answer:____________

2. Kip was in car accident recently. He seems okay except that he has a very difficult time remembering things. He can remember things that happened in his life prior to the accident; his difficulty appears to be in forming new memories.

Answer:____________

3. To pay her way through college, Shawna took a part-time job in the evenings working in a small factory. While she was working, the factory caught fire and there was an explosion before she could escape to safety. The explosion caused a small piece of metal to lodge deeply in her left frontal lobe. Although she made a complete recovery otherwise, her ability to use language was forever changed; she could not express herself at all--she could only utter one or two words.

Answer:____________