Name______
Date ______Period______
Human Body Pushing the Limits: Brainpower
Exercise for Your Brain
Answer #1 through 29 as you watch and listen to the video.
Segment 1. Can the Brain Slow Down Time? [06:53], #1-5
1. How heavy is the brain?
2. How many instructions can the brain process in one second?
3. What does the “disaster” part of the brain trigger the release of?
4. How does the brain make time run slower?
5. How did the firemen survive the fire storm?
Segment 2. The Ultimate Nutritionist : Controlling the Body's Need for Nutrients [06:56], #6-11
6. Where is the urge to eat found in the brain?
7. List some of the fish parts Steve ate to stay alive.
8. How much vitamin C does a Chili contain?
9. Why do people enjoy eating chili peppers?
10. How did Steve’s brain trick him into eating the fish parts?
11. For how many days was Steve stuck at sea?
Segment 3. The Brain' s Strategies to Fight Starvation [07:58], #12-16
12. How does the pleasure center response to chocolate versus kissing?
13. What part of the brain controls hunger?
14. What is the effect of the hormone “orexin” on the human body?
15. How does the brain change your body during starvation?
16. After 3 weeks of no food, what does the brain tell the body to do?
Segment 4. The Brain' s Cooling System [06:10], #17-20
17. How fast does the brain heat up?
18. How quickly will you die if the brain cannot cool itself?
19. How hot is the cockpit of a race car?
20. What is one possible way the brain stays cool?
Segment 5. The Need for Sleep [06:27], #21-24
21. How does the brain put us to sleep?
22. What does the brain do every night?
23. What were some of the side effects of David not sleeping?
24. What part of the brain does not shut off when we sleep?
Segment 6. The Amazing Power of the Sleeping Brain [07:19], #25-29
25. What part of the brain shuts down while dreaming?
26. Why do we not move while dreaming?
27. Do we dream the entire night?
28. What occurs to our memories during sleep?
29. What is lucid dreaming?
Answer #30 through 35 after you watch and listen to the video.
30. What happens to your own body when you go without sleep?
31. The brain is the control center for animals, and its purpose is to keep the body alive. There are times when the brain must act fast and respond without thought, such as in the fight-or-flight response. This automatic inborn response causes the body to "fight" or "flee" from perceived attack, harm, or threat to our survival. What fight-or-flight scenarios confronted the people in the video, and how did they react?
32. Think of and write down another situation that could cause a person to go into fight-or-flight mode.
33. Have you ever been in a situation where your body went into fight-or-flight mode? If so, explain the experience. If not, make up a credible one and explain it.
34. Create a scenario that would catch a person off guard but would not necessarily cause her/him to go into fight-or-flight mode. Example: You lock your keys in your car. This is a situation that is stressful but would not cause you to react without thinking, as a fight-or-flight response would.
Brainpower Answer / Spelling Bank
Choose from these correct answers for #1-29.
Segment 1. Can the Brain Slow Down Time? [06:53], #1-5
· 100 trillion
· The brain speeds up, takes in more information, so time seems to slow down.
· 3 pounds
· Their brains sped up. They acted without thinking (pondering)—they fled.
· adrenaline
Segment 2. The Ultimate Nutritionist : Controlling the Body's Need for Nutrients [06:56], #6-11
· skin, spine, eye, liver, gut, roe (eggs)
· the walnut-sized “want” center (primarily the amygdala)
· 76 days
· Four times that in an orange
· The brain transformed the disgusting parts into delicious treats
· Our brains override discomfort of burning so that pain-killing endorphins will be released
Segment 3. The Brain' s Strategies to Fight Starvation [07:58], #12-16
· To slow down metabolism, slow growth of cells, then finally to eat (digest) muscle tissue
· The “want” center.
· The brain makes us slow down, cuts off energy to non-essential processes.
· It makes us more alert, improves muscle efficiency, improves problem-solving skills
· Eating chocolate gives more intense, longer-lasting stimulation of the pleasure center than kissing does.
Segment 4. The Brain' s Cooling System [06:10], #17-20
· 1 degree every 5 minutes
· 125-140 degrees Farenheit.
· After 50 minutes, as follows:
o 10 minutes: disorientation;
o 20 minutes: permanent damage;
o 50 minutes (10 degrees hotter): death.
· By selective cooling of circulating blood at forehead
Segment 5. The Need for Sleep [06:27], #21-24
· Hearing
· David made silly mistakes, his thought center shut down, he talked to a rubber duck, eventually he was shut down.
· It releases melatonin.
· It slows us down. It shuts down some cells so they can be chemically repaired. It grows some new cells.
Segment 6. The Amazing Power of the Sleeping Brain [07:19], #25-29
· During REM sleep, the brain protects us from acting out our wild dreams.
· They are cleaned up and stored.
· The logic center
· Learning to control your dreams
· No. In bursts, a few minutes at a time.