lesson 1: the brain: the control center 1ecole edward schreyer school

Ecole Edward Schreyer School 1

Mental and Emotional HealthLesson 1: The Brain: The Control Center


The Brain is Our #1 Organ The Brain Controls:

▪ Thinking ▪ Feeling ▪ Behavior

Changes in the brain’s activity result in changes in each of these responses.

Why is their change in brain activity? Mental illness is a

health condition that changes:▪ Thinking (worthlessness)▪ Feelings (sick)▪ Behavior (spending

uncontrollably) This will cause:▪ Distress ▪ Difficulty with every day

functions.


Activity 1

Step 1: Read the following email. Step 2: How did you react to the video?

Jumped, increased heart rate, screamed, nervous, laughed, wondered, yelled, concentrated, afraid, scared, anxious (these are some examples)

Step 3: Group the responses into three categories. Look for similarities. Category 1: Behaviors or actions. Category 2: Feelings or emotions. Category 3: Thoughts

http://science.education.nih.gov/supplements/nih5/Mental/activities/lesson1.htm


Activity 1 - Continued

Questions to consider? Do your muscles

make you jump for no reason? What controls whether your muscles cause you to jump?

What caused your voice box to become active and make you scream?

The brain regulates all of these responses. Muscles control

jumping while the voice box controls screaming.

All of this is controlled by the brain.

Now that the video is over, what do you think of it now? How do you feel?


Activity 1 - Concluded

The video caused you to think, behave, and feel something different. Are there things that might cause the

brain to work differently for a long period of time? (hours, weeks, months or years)


Activity 2

What do you know about mental illness? You will be handed a worksheet that

contains open ended questions. These questions will provide you with an

opportunity to express what you may already know about mental illness.

There are many misconceptions about mental illness, and this activity will draw your conceptions to the surface. (10 min.)


Activity 3

This activity reinforces the idea of mental illness, which is a health condition that changes the way a person thinks, feels, or behaves, is tied to changes in the way the brain works. What would it be like if you were thinking,

feeling, or acting like you did during the surprise event for weeks, months, or years instead of just a few seconds or minutes?

Would you be able to live your life as normally as you do?


Activity 3 Cont.

Mental Illness could be one type of long-term change in the functioning of the brain.

Mental illness by definition: Health condition that

changes a person’ thinking, feelings, or behaviour (or all three) and that causes the person distress and difficulty in functioning.▪ This does not mean that

mental illness is long term or short term. It will depend on the individual.

Short term, instantaneous events can change a person’s thinking, feeling, and behaviour.

Eg Heartache and loss brought on by a break up in a marriage or death of a loved one.


Activity 3 Cont.

What are some ways scientists might investigate changes in the brain that happen with mental illness? electrodes to

measure electrical activity in the brain, use of imaging techniques such as MRI or CT scans.

One technique that is used is called PET Positron Emission

Tomography Scientists are the

only people allowed to use these machines.

It is an optical slice through the brain.


Activity 3 Conclusion

PET Exercise Watch the animation and respond to the following questions. What is happening in image 2 of the PET scan?▪ Is this long term or short term brain function?▪ The second image is of someone with schizophrenia at

resting point. Conclusion to the activity:

Color is added to the images. Dark areas mean low brain activity. PET images are at the given time, not over time. During a surprise event, activity changes.

http://science.education.nih.gov/supplements/nih5/Mental/activities/lesson1_pet.htm


Activity 3 – Conclusion

Mental illness actually changes something about how the brain works.

PET images of a person who has a mental illness show that the activity in the brain is different. Some areas may be higher while others

are lower as that compared to a healthy brain.


Assignment

You are required to keep a journal for this module. This journal will become part of your portfolio. Be sure to indicate Module C – Lesson 1 – Date in your journal as well as writing out the question below. Question #1▪ Write a paragraph to summarize what you

believe are the major ideas conveyed in the activities in this lesson.

lesson 1: the brain: the control center 1ecole edward schreyer school

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