1-BRAIN STUFF Flashcards
cerebral cortex
- surface of the brain
- very uneven
- (outer suface of the brain is associated with higher level processes)
- consciousness
- thought
- emotion
- reasoning
- language
- memory
gyri (gyrus)
the meat fingers in brain
sulci (sulcus)
grooves in the brain
longitudinal sulcus
fissure between the two hemispheres
corpus collosum
connects the two hemispheres!
allows the left hemisphere to communicate with the right hemisphere!
contralaterally
DA BRAIN IR ORGANIZED THIS WAY!!
- left body → right hemisphere
- right body → left hemisphere
FRONTAL LOBE
executive functioning
involved in reasoning motor control, emotion, language
extends back to fissure known as central sulcus
has:
-primary motor cortex
-prefrontal cortex
-broca’s area
primary motor cortex
- involved in planning and coordinating movement
- the thick finger at the back of the frontal lobe
prefrontal cortex
- esponsivle for higher-level cognitive functioning
- the front part of the frontal lobe, excluding the primary motor cortex
broca’s area
speech and language production
IN THE FRONTAL LOBE!
parietal lobe
involved in processing information from the body’s senses.
- how we move through space and time!! → perception
has somatosensory cortex
somatosensory cortex
in PARIETAL LOBE!!
- the finger closest to the front of the lobe
- sensory information!!
- touch, temperature, pain
also organized topographically
topographically
organized on brain as you are organized as a person
temporal lobe
on side of head, associated with hearing, memory, emotion, and some aspects of language
has primary auditory cortex and wernicke’s area
occipital lobe
- contains the primary visual cortex, which is responsible for interpreting incoming visual information.
how is the primary visual cortex organized
-
retinotopically,
- how you actually see the thing is mirrored by the brain activity seen!!
Subcortical Areas of the Forebrain
thalamus
hypothalamus
limbic system
- hippocampus
- amygdala
thalamus
- sensory relay for the brain
- All of our senses, with the exception of smell, are routed through the thalamus before being directed to other areas of the brain for processing.
The limbic system
- involved in processing both emotion and memory.
- smell projects directly to the limbic system
limbic system contains hippocampus and amygdala
hippocampus
- emotions, learning and memory
- recipe card for the memory
amygdala
- experience of emotion and in tying emotional meaning to our memories.
- emotion regulation
- especially sensitive to fear and anger
- involved in learning (emotion)
hypothalamus
- regulates a number of homeostatic processes
- interface between the nervous system and the endocrine system
- regulation of sexual motivation and behavior.
endocrine system
creates the hormones
midbrain
neurotransmitters are made in hindbrain!!!!
- substantia nigra
- ventral tegmental area (VTA)
- Raphe Nuclei
- locus coeruleus
ventral tegmental area (VTA) and substantia nigra
- contain cell bodies that produce the neurotransmitter dopamine
- both are critical for movement.
- Degeneration is involved in Parkinson’s disease.
- structures are involved in mood, reward, and addiction
Raphe Nuclei
creates serotonin
locus coeruleus:
creates norepinephrine
HINDBRAIN
unconscious and reflexes!
- reticular formation
- medulla
- pons
-cerebellum
reticular formation
- projects from the hindbrain through the midbrain up into the forebrain
- regulating the sleep/wake cycle, arousal, alertness, and motor activity.
medulla
heart beating, blood circulation, breathing
pons
relays information from cerebellum to the rest of the brain
cerebellum
receives messages from muscles, tendons, joints, and structures in our ear to control balance, coordination, movement, and motor skills; fine motor skills
- movement begins in motor cortex, but when the signal is refined, this goes to the cerebellum
- also thought to be an important area for processing some types of memories.
- procedural memory, or memory involved in learning and remembering how to perform tasks
