How do celebrities think, and what parts of their brain shape their behavior?

Concordia Advanced Placement (AP) Psychology students are learning about portions of the brain by analyzing the personalities of celebrities, and what parts of their brains make them act the way they do.

The Bolt spoke with students about the project. 

“We have learned a lot from the brain project. We have learned that different parts of the brain trigger specific actions or movements. Our favorite part about the brain project was researching actual examples of specific behaviors that correlate to the functions of our brain. For example, our silly actions are mainly dependent on the prefrontal cortex.” Hye In (G9) and Na Hyeon (G9)

“Working on this project was a real fun experience. I got to learn all about the parts of the brain and how they affect the functions and personalities of beings, in this case Snoopy the dog.” Danny (G11)

"I really enjoyed this project as we were allowed a lot of creativity and freedom with its process and design. Through this project, not only was I able to study the different parts of the brain, but I also had a fun time working with my friends." Mai Anh (G11)

Some of areas of the brain about which students are learning include:

Prefrontal Cortex: Regulates our thoughts, actions and emotions through extensive connections with other brain regions; helps accomplish executive brain functions. The development and maturation of the prefrontal cortex occurs primarily during adolescence and is fully accomplished at the age of 25 years. Therefore, as our students were working on this project, their prefrontal cortices were not even fully developed.

Hippocampus: Connected to learning and memory. Students' hippocampuses would be very active during the process of learning about parts and functions of the brain.

Wernike's & Broca's Areas: Wernicke's area controls the ability to understand the meaning of words, Broca's area, in conjunction with the motor cortex, controls the ability to speak those words. Students would need to use these parts of the brain in order to communicate clearly with one another during this group project.

Advanced Placement (AP) is a United States program created by the College Board which offers university-level curricula and examinations to high school students. The program is widely recognized by US universities as well as universities throughout the world. Most US universities offer placement and course credit to students who score a three to five on the examinations.

Learn more about Concordia’s high school program.