Lobes and Reflexes

Today’s class started with a review of the lobes of the brain using the brain hats the monks made yesterday.  We discussed the functions of the temporal, frontal, parietal, and occipital lobes and used the brain hats to show the relative locations of the different areas.  We moved on to other areas of the brain including the thalamus, brain stem and cerebellum and then briefly talked about the spinal cord.

As an activity, the monks tested their 12 cranial nerves starting with the olfactory nerve.  I asked the monks to sniff “smell cards” that they were given to see if they could identify the odors.  For the optic nerve, the monks just looked around the room.  For the nerve that controlled movement of the eye, the monks looked up and down, and left to right.  We continued to test all of the other nerves, except for the vagus nerve (the nerve that connects to our internal organs).

When I stopped for questions, one monk asked if all behavior needed the brain and thought.  I replied that he was one step ahead of me and that reflexes do not require thought and some reflexes do not require the brain.  First, we tested the blink response.  I made a loud noise and most (not all) of the monks blinked.  Then I had the monks test their pupillary response by using a flashlight or the light from their smart phones (most of them have smart phones).  They could see how the pupil got larger when light shined into their eyes. 

Finally, I asked for a volunteer so I could demonstrate the knee-jerk response.  One monk sat on a table while I tapped just below the knee cap.  All of the monks laughed with they saw the other monk’s leg kick out.

As the lesson ended and the monks went for tea, I told them they could come back to class early and give the reflex hammer a try.  And many of them gave up some tea time to try it out on their fellow monks.