What part of the brain is it?!

What part of the brain is responsible for your safety and emotions?

• Prefrontal Cortex

• Hippocampus

• Amygdala

What part of the brain is responsible for your memories?

• Prefrontal Cortex

• Hippocampus

• Amygdala

You touch a hot stove and quickly pull your hand away when you feel how hot it is. What part of your brain did you just use?

• Prefrontal Cortex

• Hippocampus

• Amygdala

Answer explanation

Your Amygdala (guard dog) is responsible for keeping you safe! Signals would be sent to your brain as soon as you touch a hot stove to ALERT you that you're in danger for burning yourself.

You're playing outside but it starts to rain, lightening strikes nearby, and thunder gets really loud so you run to the house to play inside.

• Prefrontal Cortex

• Hippocampus

• Amygdala

What part of the brain is responsible for making smart decisions?

• Prefrontal Cortex

• Hippocampus

• Amygdala

Someone is making fun of you at lunch because they heard you failed your math test. You decide it's not worth it to give them attention and just keep eating. What part of your brain did you just use?

• Prefrontal Cortex

• Hippocampus

• Amygdala

Answer explanation

Your Prefrontal Cortex, or "wise owl," is responsible for thinking before you act! It's wise to not engage in the negative conversation and just ignore the drama :) Or another wise decision would be to tell an adult!

What part of the brain is this? Remembering all of the information for a science test because you studied really hard the night before.

• Prefrontal Cortex

• Hippocampus

• Amygdala

Is it ever a good thing for your amygdala to be in control?

• Yes

• No

Answer explanation

Yes! Your amygdala (guard dog) alerts you when you're in danger! It is a very necessary part of the brain that helps to keep us safe. However, if there aren't any dangers around us and we are responding purely out of emotion - it could mean we are feeling overwhelmed, stressed, or angry about something. In those moments it is good to practice some self-regulation skills (breathe, count to ten, go for a walk, read, talk it out).

This type of response could mean you physically and mentally “shut down”. It might mean your body is stuck and you can’t move, or it could mean your brain has stopped understanding what’s going on.

• Fight

• Flight

• Freeze

True or false. It would be considered flipping your lid if... you are crossing the road and you notice a car driving quickly toward you. You scream and run as fast as you can to get to the other side of the road.

• True

• False

Answer explanation

It's natural to scream in that scenario!! A car is coming toward you! However, you weren't flipping your lid - your amygdala was alerting you that you were in danger so you got out of the way! Good job Guard Dog! :)