Final Assignment

1. Everyday Neurobiology Final
Taylor Swift's Music Video: We Are Never Getting Back Together
Link: https://youtu.be/WA4iX5D9Z64
For my final assignment I will be:
● Identifying the parts of the nervous
system that are active in Taylor Swift
throughout the music video
● Describing the functions of the nervous
system that are apparent in Taylor
Swift
● And finally, I will explain in details
how this course has allowed me to
better analyze the events and
phenomena around me

2. Brain Stem:
● We know that Taylor Swift does not have
a damaged brain stem. If she did she
would have an impairment with her
memory, hearing, speech, and
homeostasis
● We can see in the video that she is
perfectly using all of these when:
○ Memory: as the lyrics say, “I remember when
we broke up, the first time.”
○ Hearing: she heard someone at the door so she
went to open it.
○ Speech: her singing and talking to her boyfriend

3. Spinal Cord
● Taylor Swift uses her spinal cord all
throughout the video as she is
moving around
○ She is able to move her arms and legs
● If the spinal cord were damaged it
would cause impairment to
homeostasis and voluntary
movement of the arms and legs
○ As we can see in the video her spinal
cord is not damaged as she is able to
move around perfectly fine.

4. Forebrain
● The Forebrain is responsible for
speech, homeostasis, hearing, and
memory
● If damaged it could cause impairment
to speech, homeostasis, hearing, and
memory
● Taylor Swift uses her forebrain when:
○ Saying “ We are never getting back
together”
○ Pointing for him to get out of her house
○ Listening to his excuses

5. Midbrain
The midbrain is responsible for controlling the
movement of the eye, connecting the forebrain
and the hindbrain, processing sound and sights,
and transmitting information.
● If the midbrain were damaged there would
be impairments with the list above and
there could be trouble with
○ Hearing
○ Vision
○ Memory
● Taylor uses her midbrain when
○ She is looking around and looking at her boyfriend

6. Hindbrain
● The hindbrain is responsible for
respiration, heart rate, arousal and muscle
movement.
● If the hindbrain were damaged there
would be impairments to everything listed
above and would cause problems with
balance.
● In the music video Taylor Swift uses her
hindbrain when:
○ She is breathing
○ When her heart rate goes up after arguing
with her boyfriend over the phone

7. Sympathetic Nervous System
The sympathetic nervous system is responsible for
your fight or flight. Your fight or flight increases
when you are in danger (fear), stressed or
exercising.
● If the sympathetic nervous system were
damaged it could cause an impairment to your
fight or flight which can affect how you react
to certain situations.
● Taylor uses her sympathetic nervous system as
she is
○ Dancing around with her friends
○ Stressed about her boyfriend

8. Parasympathetic Nervous System
The parasympathetic nervous system
conserves energy, relaxes your body, and it
helps in the process of digestion and
urination.
● If the parasympathetic nervous system
were damaged the list above would be
impaired and some examples could be:
○ Anxiety disorders
○ Sexual problems
○ Heart rate issues
○ Irritable bowel syndrome
● Taylor Swift is seen using her
parasympathetic nervous system when:
○ She is relaxing looking out the window

9. Hemispatial Neglect
● If someone has this condition, they are
not able to see the left side of the world.
● In the music video we can see Taylor is
able to see the left side of the world as
she is able to greet her boyfriend while
he is approaching from the left and
right side of her, therefore this is not
applicable to her.
We can see he is in
the left side

10. Episodic Memory
Episodic memory is abundant in
sensory detail, you can tell if it is
really episodic memory if you are
able to go back in time in that
memory and remember the sensory
details you felt that day
● An example of episodic memory
in the music video would be
when Taylor Swift kisses her
boyfriend.
○ She could later have flashbacks to
how that kiss felt and what she felt
during that time

11. Broca’s Area
● Broca’s area is responsible for
speech production
● Taylor Swift can be seen using
her Broca’s area as she is
singing since that is involved in
speech production

12. Wernicke’s Area
● Wernicke’s area is responsible for
making sure the language makes sense.
(language comprehension)
● If Wernicke’s area were damaged it
could cause impairment to to speech
and language
○ Aphasia
● We can see Taylor using her Wernicke’s
area as she is understanding what her
boyfriend is telling her over the phone.

13. Voluntary Movements
● Voluntary movements are movements we are aware of, we move using our
brain.
● Taylor swift does voluntary movement as she:
○ Breathes
○ Laughing as she dances with her friends
○ Smiling when looking at her boyfriend

14. Conclusion
This course has helped me better analyze the
events and phenomena around me in many ways.
First and foremost, taking this course has helped
me understand why people think and act the way
they do. Whether that is understanding why
people with different diseases are different than
others who do not have diseases. I have learned
how many parts of the brain function and its
mechanisms. This course has taught me to better
understand the behavior of people as well as their
emotions. For example, I now know that many
people behave differently and react differently to
situations. This can be influenced by many things
in the brain, so I find it very interesting. Overall it
was an enjoyable and informative course.