5.2: Brain Control Flashcards
What is the old brain wired for?
Survival
What does the old brain regulate?
Basic survival functions (breathing, moving, resting, and feeding)
What is the oldest and innermost region of the brain?
The brain stem
What does the brain stem control?
The basic functions of life, including breathing, attention, and motor responses.
What is the medulla?
The area of the brain stem that controls heart rate and breathing.
What part of the brain can be severed while still allowing animals to eat and breathe?
The medulla
What are pons?
A structure in the brain stem that helps control the movements of the body, playing a particularly important role in balance and walking
What is the spherical shape above the medulla?
The pons
What is the reticular formation?
It filters out some of the stimuli that are coming into the brain and relays the remainder of the signals to other areas of the brain.
It is also involved in walking, eating, sexual activity, and sleeping.
What is the cerebellum?
Consists of two wrinkled ovals behind the brain stem.
It functions to coordinate voluntary movement.
What part of the brain functions to coordinate voluntary movement?
The cerebellum
What happens to people who have damage to the cerebellum?
They have difficulty walking, keeping their balance, and holding their hands steady.
Why do people who are drunk have trouble walking in a straight line?
Alcohol influences the cerebellum
What does the limbic system do?
Governs emotion and memory
Where is the limbic system located?
Between the brain stem and the two cerebral hemispheres
What does the thalamus do?
Filters sensory information that is coming up from the spinal cord and through the reticular formation.
Where is the thalamus located?
It is an egg-shaped structure above the brain stem.
What does the amygdala do?
Regulates our perceptions of, and reactions to, aggression and fear. It is two “almond-shaped” clusters.
What does the hippocampus do?
Stores long-term memory. It has two horns that curve back from the amygdala.
What is the hypothalamus?
Contains small areas that perform a variety of functions, including the regulation of hunger and sexual behaviour, as well as linking the nervous system to the endocrine system via the pituitary gland.
Where is the hypothalamus located?
Under the thalamus
What is key to the advanced intelligence of humans?
The size of our cerebral cortex.
What is the cerebral cortex?
The outer, bark-like layer of our brain that allow us to use language, acquire complex skills, create tools, and live in social groups.
What is the folding of the cerebral cortex called?
Corticalization
How does corticalization affect humans?
These folds in the cerebral cortex allow for increased surface area, and thus allow for increased mental capabilities.
What are gyri?
Ridges/hills of the brain.
What are fissures?
Deep grooves in the brain.
What are sulci?
Shallow grooves (valleys) in the brain.
How many nerve cells does the cerebral cortex contain?
About 20 billion
How many synaptic connections does the cerebral cortex contain?
300 trillion
How thick is the cerebral cortex?
About one-tenth of an inch thick
How much of the brain’s weight does the cerebral cortex make up?
More than 80%
What are glial cells?
They surround and link to the neurons, protecting them, providing them with nutrients, and they absorb unused neurotransmitters.
How many hemispheres is the brain divided into?
Two
How many lobes is the hemisphere divided into?
Four
What separates the lobes of the brain?
Fissures
What is brain lateralization?
The idea that the left and right hemispheres of the brain are specialized to perform different functions.
What is the corpus callosum?
The region of the brain that normally connects the two halves of the brain and supports communication between the hemispheres.
What are the four brain lobes?
- Frontal lobe
- Parietal lobe
- Occipital lobe
- Temporal lobe
What does the frontal lobe do?
It is responsible for thinking, planning, memory, and judgment.
What does the parietal lobe do?
It is responsible for processing information about touch.
What does the occipital lobe do?
Processes visual information
What does the temporal lobe do?
It is responsible for hearing, language, and object recognition.
Where is the motor cortex located?
The frontal lobe
What does the motor cortex do?
It controls and executes movement of the body by sending signals to the cerebellum and the spinal cord
What is contralateral control?
The left hemisphere receives sensations from and controls the right side of the body, and vice versa.
Where is the somatosensory cortex?
In the parietal lobe, just behind the motor cortex
What does the somatosensory cortex do?
Receives information from the skin’s sensory receptors and the movements of different body parts
Why are some body parts more sensitive than others?
They have more cortical space allocated to processing them.
What does the visual cortex do?
Processes visual information
What does the auditory cortex do?
Processes hearing and language
What does the olfactory cortex do?
Processes smells
What does the gustatory cortex do?
Processes tastes
What are association areas?
Where sensory and motor information is combined and associated with our stored knowledge.
What is neuroplasticity?
The brain’s ability to change its structure and function in response to experience or damage.
Why can we learn and remember new things and adjust to new experiences?
The brain constantly creates new neural communication routes and rewires existing ones.
If someone loses a finger, what happens to the adjacent fingers?
They become more sensitive to touch due to neuroplasticity
What is neurogenesis?
The forming of new neurons
Where does neurogenesis occur?
New neurons originate deep in the brain, and they may then migrate to other areas.
