How Does the Brain Process Information?

The human brain is a complicated, creative information-processing system. As technology advanced from primitive to modern, the metaphors used to describe the brain also advanced. Initially, it was compared to a wax tablet, then to a sheet of papyrus, then to a book, and most recently, to a computer. As you learn about the brain, keep in mind that the usefulness of these metaphors is limited and can lead to erroneous conclusions. Information processing starts with input from the sensory organs, which transform physical stimuli such as touch, heat, sound waves, or photons of light into electrochemical signals. The sensory information is repeatedly transformed by the algorithms of the brain in both bottom-up and top-down processing. For example, when looking at a picture of a black box on a white background, bottom-up processing puts together very simple information such as color, orientation, and where the borders of the object are - where the color changes significantly over a short space - to decide that you are seeing a box. Top-down processing uses the decisions made at some steps of the bottom-up process to speed up your recognition of the box. Top-down processing in this example might help you identify the object as a black box rather than a boxshaped hole in the white background. Once information is processed to a degree, an attention filter decides how important the signal is and which cognitive processes it should be made available to. For example, although your brain processes every blade of grass when you look down at your shoes, a healthy attention filter prevents you from noticing them individually. In contrast, you might pick out your name, even when spoken in a noisy room. There are many stages of processing, and the results of processing are modulated by attention repeatedly. In order for the brain to process information, it must first be stored. There are multiple types of memory, including sensory, working, and long-term. First, information is encoded. There are types of encoding specific to each type of sensory stimuli. For example, verbal input can be encoded structurally, referring to what the printed word looks like, phonemically, referring to what the word sounds like, or semantically, referring to what the word means. Once information is stored, it must be maintained. Some animal studies suggest that w orking memory, which

stores information for roughly 20 seconds, is maintained by an electrical signal looping through a particular series of neurons for a short period of time. Information in long-term memory is hypothesized to be maintained in the structure of certain types of proteins. There are numerous models of how the knowledge is organized in the brain, some based on the way human subjects retrieve memories, others based on computer science, and others based on neurophysiology. The semantic network model states that there are nodes representing concepts, and that the nodes are linked based on their relatedness. For example, in a semantic network, "chair" might be linked to "table," which can be linked to "wooden," and so forth. The connectionist model states that a piece of knowledge is represented merely by a pattern of neuronal activation rather than by meaning. There is not yet a universally accepted knowledge organization model, because each has strengths and weaknesses. Once stored, memories eventually must be retrieved from storage. Remembering past events is not like watching a recorded video. It is, rather, a process of reconstructing what may have happened based on the details the brain chose to store and was able to recall. Recall is triggered by a retrieval cue, an environmental stimulus that prompts the brain to retrieve the memory. Evidence shows that the better the retrieval cue, the higher the chance of recalling the memory. It is important to note that the retrieval cue can also make a person reconstruct a memory improperly. Memory distortions can be produced in various ways, including varying the wording of a question. For example, merely asking someone whether a red car had left the scene of a hit-andrun can make the person recall having seen a red car during later questioning, even if there was never a red car. Information processing in the brain is the topic of a large, ongoing body of research. Although some people are fascinated by the brain on its own merits, a growing number are looking to psychology in order to better their own study skills and cognitive performance.

What is colour blindness?

There are several forms of colour blindness. The most common form is red/green colour blindness, which involves the confusion of red and green. It's passed on through a faulty colour vision gene on an X chromosome as a recessive disorder, so shows up more commonly in men but often carried silently by women. It has two forms: Different shades of red appear dull and indistinct Greens, oranges, pale reds and browns all appear as the same hue, distinguished only by their intensity In one rare form of colour blindness, blues and yellows can't be distinguished. In another, all colours are seen in black and white. Vision itself isn't affected, only the ability to distinguish between certain colours. The Ishihara test

There are many different Ishihara test plates with coloured dot patterns. In this one, the image on the right shows a background of green dots with two wavy lines made up of red and orange dots. If you're colour blind, you won't be able to see these colours and so you won't be able to pick out the pattern from the dots. This is the most common test used to diagnose colour blindness, but there are others such as versions that uses one colour of dots to spell out numbers that can be read by someone with normal vision, while colour blind people only see a random pattern.

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Causes and risk factors

The retina of the eye has colour-detecting vision cells, called cones, which are necessary to see colour properly. There are three types of cone cell, sensitive to red, blue, or green light. If one or more of these types of cells is faulty, then colour blindness results. Sometimes colour blindness occurs because of diseases such as macular degeneration or from side effects of medicines.
Stop signs

Colour blindness needn't stop someone driving, because traffic lights can be distinguished by the position of the light. However, it can be an obstacle to particular careers where good colour vision is important, including pilots, electricians, train drivers and some jobs in the printing, fashion and design industries. You can't stop colour blindness if it's inherited, but if it's caused by underlying eye disorders or medication then it can sometimes be treated and stopped. If you have always been colour-blind, it isn't necessary to see a doctor unless other eye problems, for example blurred vision, are occurring. However if your vision has changed and you are noticing colour loss or changes you need to get your vision checked. It isn't necessary to see a doctor unless other eye problems, for example blurred vision, are occurring.
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Treatment and recovery

What do the four lobes of the brain do? In: Health, Conditions and Diseases, Human Anatomy [Edit categories] Sestamibi Scans Explained parathyroid.com/sestamibi.htm Learn about Sestamibi scans and what Sestamibi can & can't tell you Brainwave Entrainment www.BrainwaveCollege.com Learn about the science behind brainwaves and entrainment. Ads Answers.com > Wiki Answers > Categories > Health > What do the four lobes of the brain do? Answer:

What do the four lobes of the brain do? In: Health, Conditions and Diseases, Human Anatomy [Edit categories] Sestamibi Scans Explained parathyroid.com/sestamibi.htm Learn about Sestamibi scans and what Sestamibi can & can't tell you Brainwave Entrainment www.BrainwaveCollege.com Learn about the science behind brainwaves and entrainment. Ads Answers.com > Wiki Answers > Categories > Health > What do the four lobes of the brain do? Answer: The frontal lobe is located at the front of the brain and is associated with reasoning, motor skills, higher lever cognition, and expressive language. At the back of the frontal lobe, near the central sulcus, lies the motor cortex. This area of the brain receives information from various lobes of the brain and utilizes this information to carry out body movements. The parietal lobe is located in the middle section of the brain and is associated with processing tactile sensory information such as pressure, touch, and pain. A portion of the brain known as the somatosensory cortex is located in this lobe and is essential to the processing of the body's senses. The temporal lobe is located on the bottom section of the brain. This lobe is also the location of the primary auditory cortex, which is important for interpreting sounds and the language we hear. The hippocampus is also located in the temporal lobe, which is why this portion of the brain is also heavily associated with the formation of memories. The occipital lobe is located at the back portion of the brain and is associated with interpreting visual stimuli and information. The primary visual cortex, which receives and interprets information from the retinas of the eyes, is located in the occipital lobe. Read more: http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_do_the_four_lobes_of_the_brain_do#ixzz1gEkAcz Rt [11.12.11 16:35:17] Valery: What do the four lobes of the brain do? In: Health, Conditions and Diseases, Human Anatomy [Edit categories] Sestamibi Scans Explained parathyroid.com/sestamibi.htm Learn about Sestamibi scans and what Sestamibi can & can't tell you Brainwave Entrainment www.BrainwaveCollege.com Learn about the science behind brainwaves and entrainment. Ads

Answers.com > Wiki Answers > Categories > Health > What do the four lobes of the brain do? Answer: The frontal lobe is located at the front of the brain and is associated with reasoning, motor skills, higher lever cognition, and expressive language. At the back of the frontal lobe, near the central sulcus, lies the motor cortex. This area of the brain receives information from various lobes of the brain and utilizes this information to carry out body movements. The parietal lobe is located in the middle section of the brain and is associated with processing tactile sensory information such as pressure, touch, and pain. A portion of the brain known as the somatosensory cortex is located in this lobe and is essential to the processing of the body's senses. The temporal lobe is located on the bottom section of the brain. This lobe is also the location of the primary auditory cortex, which is important for interpreting sounds and the language we hear. The hippocampus is also located in the temporal lobe, which is why this portion of the brain is also heavily associated with the formation of memories. The occipital lobe is located at the back portion of the brain and is associated with interpreting visual stimuli and information. The primary visual cortex, which receives and interprets information from the retinas of the eyes, is located in the occipital lobe. The Confluence Experts www.clearvision-cm.com/Confluence Exclusive Discounts on Confluence! Licenses, Training, Consulting etc. The DNA Ancestry Project www.DNAAncestryProject.com Discover Your Ancestry with DNA. Find Ethnic and Geographic Origins. Parkinson's disease www.parkinsons-voices.eu Read more: http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_do_the_four_lobes_of_the_brain_do#ixzz1gEkDvk Kf

The brain and its functions It is fascinating how the brain process information, it is one of the most complicated processes. First of all data is gathered by sense organs, which are eyes, ears, nose, skin and tongue. The physical sensations such as smell, sight, hearing, taste and touch are transferred as electrical impulses to the brain. In order the process to continue the data that is gained must be stored in the brain. For example words are saved in the midbrain , but visual images are stored in the back of the brain , which means that memories are found all over the brain. However not all the data is stored, only the one that is interpreted to be important, which may lead to some problems in further steps. Afterwards the memory is retrieved from the brain, which is actually a reconstruction of the data that the brain is able to recall that was seen, heard, etc. Therefore there might be a problem with remembering something, because it may have not been stored in the brain. In conclusion the way the brain process information has three main points, which are very long and complex. Colour blindness is a disease, which has several causes and might be curable. Colour blindness is the inability to distinguish red-green, blue-yellow or in some rare cases you may not see any colours except black and white. In the retina there are cells, which interpret colours called cones. In order to be colour blind these cones must not work good or even at all, causing from medicines, a hard hit or it might be there since birth. If the illness has been since you were born you may not consult a doctor, because there is no way of curing it. However if you notice some changes in the way you see colours you should see a specialist, because it might be curable if it is still occurring and the process has not entirely finished yet. To

sumarise, colour blindness is an illness with three possible inabilities of seeing colour Colour blindness is directly connected with the book The Giver by Lois Lowry.In the book people cannot see colour, which may have several explanation theories , but not an explanation that was said to be true. First of all, scientist may have developed some kind of special cell that they put in women , when giving birth ,so that the child cannot distinguish any colours. Unfortnately this theory doesnt explain why Jonas wasnt injected with this disease. Second of all, there is a possibility that men were mad give sperm for birth mothers and that in fact all children with bright eyes are children of the giver. However the Giver hears beyond and the receivers see beyond. Last, but not least there is a possibility that because birth mothers are colour blind this is transferred to their children. The problem is that it is not said from where did the mothers get colour blind. In conclusion the author of the book has left us wonder and there is no certain explanation of the phenomena.

Unknown words 1. cranical cavity-This is the place where the brain is situated.\ 2. Stimuli- something that incites to action or exertion or quickens action, feeling, thought, etc 3. Cortex- the cerebral cortex is a sheet of neural tissue that is outermost to the cerebrum of the mammalian brain. It plays a key role in memory, attention, perceptual

Works Cited

Hicks, Rob. Colour blindness. BBC. St Marys Hospital. N.D. Web. December 2010 Anonymous. How Does The Brain Process Information. Technology Inc. N.D. Web. N.D http://www.teach-nology.com/teachers/methods/info_processing/

Lowry, Lois. The Giver. New York: Random House Inc., 1993. Print.