Assignment requirements: Answer one of the following three questions in as much detail as possible using specific examples and definitions. Be sure to justify your responses with information from class or from the text. Please be sure your answer is no less than 1 full page and no more than 2 full pages of type-written text. If you choose to complete this assignment it must be emailed to me before the beginning of class on February 17th.

1. Although the functioning of the brain can be localized to specific regions, there is also considerable overlap in function. Therefore, many behaviors and abilities are represented in several locations within the brain. Below are 2 lists. One is a list of brain structures, the other a list of common activities.
   Choose 3 activities, and for each activity, choose 3 brain structures and explain how they might be involved in that activity.

Activities:

Watching a horror movie	Giving a speech
Asking a question in class	Being caught speeding
Driving a car	Talking on the phone
Preparing your own lunch	Dancing
Reading your textbook	Going to a concert
Playing your favorite sport	Writing an essay

Brain structures:

Broca’s area	Amygdala
Corpus callosum	Frontal lobe
Hypothalamus	Medulla
Sympathetic nervous system	Cerebellum
Temporal lobe	Parietal lobe
Hippocampus	Occipital lobe
Thalamus	Wernicke’s area



2. What's going on in the brain in response to drugs? To find out, complete the following activity and write a summary of the information describing how it extends your knowledge of drug use/abuse or how it relates to information that we covered in class. Read the entire article, but focus your response on either depressants or stimulants for the active drug portion, all other material in the article is relevant to both types of drug. This is an activity included in the Website for your textbook:
   PsychQuest Modules: How Do Psychoactive Drugs Affect Us?
   OR
   Read the Brain Breifing entitled Young Brains on Alcohol published by the Society for Neuroscience.
   
   
3. The pscyhological effects of child abuse have long been known and often treated. However, evidence now suggests that child abuse actually damages the development of the brain leaving the child with more than just the psychological scars. Read Child Abuse and the Brain published by the Society for Neuroscience and write a summary of the information describing how it extends your knowledge of brain development and trauma, expands upon issues we have discussed in class or a portion that was of particular interest for you.
   
   
4. Interested in how genetics might influence drug use, specifically alcoholism? Check out this site that asks that exact question.
   Why do some people become alcoholics? Is it their upbringing or their genes? Complete the activity they provide on analyzing research studeies and hypotheses and write a summary of the information describing how it extends your knowledge of drug use/abuse and genetics and also experimental design.
   For a little background reading check out: Searching for Genes