What’s on your mind? 5.

____________is the way that someone acts,

performs, or functions.
The human brain contains roughly 100 billion cells
(neurons), each having more than 10,000
connections. We now know that different parts of
Write the heading A-E in the blanks below to give
the brain specialize in different functions. This
titles to the sections of the article
brain scan shows four areas. The prefrontal cortex
(1) is key to an individual's self-awareness. The A) Why do I have emotions? B) Who am I?
hippocampus (2) enables people to recall long-
C) Can I control how I feel? D) How do I
term memories. The amygdala (3) helps to
remember?
process emotional memories, and may be
related to social behavior. The temporal lobe (4) Article
is associated with speech and perception.
The ancient Egyptians thought so little of the
The underlined words are parts of the brain brain that when a king died, they removed the
marked in the diagram on the screen. brain from his body and threw it away. The
Egyptians presumed, like many people before and
Matching. Read the information above. Use the
after them, that consciousness existed in the
words in bold to complete the definitions.
heart.
1. If you have ____________it means you are
Today, we know that the mind is a product of the
conscious of your own identity.
brain, but how exactly does this 1.5-kilo (three-
2. If you are in a(n)_______________ mental state, pound) piece of flesh create a mind that allows
you display strong feelings. you to think about yourself, experience happiness
and anger, or remember events that happened 20
3. If you are able to _____________ something, you
minutes or 20 years ago? This isn't a new
can remember it.
question. Today, however, powerful new
4. _____________ is the recognition of things using techniques for visualizing the sources of thought,
your senses, especially sight. emotion, behavior, and memory are transforming
the way we understand the brain and the mind it scientists define it as a stored pattern of
creates. connections between neurons in the brain. Every
feeling you remember, every thought you think,
alters the connections within the vast network of
1) __________________________________________ brain cells, and memories are reinforced,
weakened, or newly formed.
Have you ever stopped and thought, "What's
wrong with me today? I just don't feel like Most people's earliest memories date back to
myself"? Perhaps you were more tired or worried around age three. Very few individuals recall
than usual—but somehow, you knew that anything before this time because the part of the
something was different about you. This self- brain responsible for forming long-term
awareness—the ability to think about yourself memories—the hippocampus—is not yet mature
and how you're feeling—is an important part of at that age.
being human.
This doesn’t mean earlier memories don’t exist in
This part of your mind has its origins in the your mind. Some scientists believe that highly
prefrontal cortex—a region of your brain just emotional memories, especially those associated
behind your forehead that extends to about your with intense fear, might be stored in another
ears. Before this area began to function (around brain structure, the amygdala, which may be
age two), you didn’t understand that you were a functional at birth. Although these memories are
separate entity with your own identity. In time, as not accessible to the conscious mind, they could
this part of your brain developed, you became still influence how we feel and behave, even into
more aware of yourself and your thoughts and adulthood.
feelings.
3) __________________________________________
2) __________________________________________
Where do our emotions come from, and how do
Perhaps one of the most important factors they shape the people we are and the way we
involved in shaping our identity is memory—the perceive the world?
ability to retain and remember facts, faces, and
experiences. What exactly is a memory? Most
Forty years ago, psychologist Paul Ekman that people who experience negative emotions
demonstrated that facial expressions associated display increased activity in their right
with certain emotions are universally recognized prefrontal cortex, while those with a more
by people everywhere. Ekman suggested that positive perspective show activity in the left
these emotions and their corresponding facial prefrontal cortex. Davidson wondered: Could
expressions evolved to help us quickly respond to we control this activity and shift our mental state
situations that could affect our welfare. away from negative feelings toward a calmer,
more positive state of mind?
While humans may share certain emotions and
recognize them in others, we don’t all have the To explore this, Davidson conducted a study with
same emotional response to every situation. Most volunteers in the United States. One group
emotional responses are learned and stored in received eight weeks of training in various
our memories. For example, the smell of freshly meditation and relaxation techniques, while
cut grass might evoke happy feelings in someone another group did not. By the end of the study,
who enjoyed childhood summers in the those who meditated accomplished their goal:
countryside but could bring negative feelings to they showed a clear shift in brain activity toward
someone who was forced to work long hours on a the "happier" left prefrontal cortex.
farm.
For centuries, people have studied the brain, but
Once an emotional association is made, it can be only in recent years have we begun to truly
very difficult to reverse. "Emotion is the least understand how it works. Even so, there is still a
flexible part of the brain," says Ekman. However, long way to go before we fully grasp the
we can learn to control our emotions by complexities of the human mind.
becoming consciously aware of their underlying
A. Multiple Choice
causes and by resisting automatic reactions to
Choose the best answer for each question.
things in our environment.
1. What is this reading mainly about?
4) __________________________________________
a. How memory works c. Mind reading
But is it really possible to control our emotions? b. How the mind works d. Our emotions are
Researcher Richard Davidson has demonstrated
2. In paragraph 2, "piece of flesh" refers
to the:
a. Heart b. Mind c. Brain d. Body

3. Which of these statements is NOT true?

a. The prefrontal cortex affects a person's
emotions.
b. Self-awareness develops around the age
of two.
c. The prefrontal cortex is located at the
back of the brain.
d. The prefrontal cortex is not fully
developed at birth.

4. The word "corresponding" in section 3

means:

a. Sending b. Changing c. Powerful d.

Related

5. Why do most people not remember

what happened before they were three
years of age?
a. The prefrontal cortex is not developed at
this stage.
b. Early memories disappear soon after they
are formed.
c. The part of the brain that forms memory
is not fully developed at this stage.
d. People tend to forget emotional
memories.