A Tour Through the Brain

Question 1

Components of the brain stem are…

Answer 1

• pons
• medulla
• reticular activating system (RAS)

Question 2

Function: pons

Answer 2

-involved in sleeping, waking, dreaming, and others

Question 3

Function: medulla

Answer 3

-responsible for body functions that are not consciously willed (breathing, heart rate..)

Question 4

Function: reticular activating system (RAS)

Answer 4

• a dense network of nerons in the core of the brain stem

- arouses the cortex and screens incoming information

Question 5

What is atop the brain stem in the back part of the brain?

Answer 5

cerebellum

Question 6

Function: cerebellum

Answer 6

• sense of balance
• coordinates muscle movement
• remembering simple skills and acquired reflexes
• plays a part in complex cognitive tasks

Question 7

What is deep in the brain’s interior, roughly in the center?

Answer 7

thalamus

Question 8

Function: thalamus

Answer 8

-relays sensory information to higher areas (cerebral cortex)

Question 9

What is the only sense that bypasses the thalamus?

Answer 9

smell

Question 10

What is the switching station for smell?

Answer 10

-olfactory bulb (lies near areas involved in emotion)

Question 11

What lies beneath the thalamus?

Answer 11

hypothalamus

Question 12

Function: hypothalamus

Answer 12

• involved in emotions and drives vital to survival
• controls Autonomic Nervous System
• contains biological clock

Question 13

What is hanging down from the hypothalamus, cherry sized, and connected by a short stalk?

Answer 13

pituitary gland

Question 14

Function: pituitary gland

Answer 14

• body’s “master gland”

- releases many hormones and regulates other endocrine glands

Question 15

What causes the pituitary gland to “talk” to other endocrine glands?

Answer 15

-the pituitary gland follows strict orders from the hypothalamus

Question 16

Define: Limbic System

Answer 16

-a group of brain areas involved in emotional reactions and motivated behavior

Question 17

Part of the “limbic system”, what does the amygdala do?

Answer 17

• evaluates the emotional importance of incoming sensory information
• makes initial decision to approach or withdraw from a person or situation
• also involved in retrieving emotional memories

Question 18

Part of the “limbic system”, what is involved in the storage of new memory and experience?

Answer 18

hippocampus

Question 19

What is the largest part of the brain, where higher thinking takes place?

Answer 19

cerebrum

Question 20

The cerebrum is divided into two cerebral hemispheres. How are the two halves connected?

Answer 20

corpus callosum

-large band of fibers

Question 21

Define: Lateralization

Answer 21

-the phenomenon of the different tasks and talents of the 2 cerebral hemispheres

Question 22

What is the collection of thin layers of cells covering the cerebrum, and contains 3/4 of all cells in the brain?

Answer 22

cerebral cortex

Question 23

Which lobe is located in the lower back part of the brain…

-contains the visual cortex

Answer 23

occipital lope

Question 24

Which lobe at the top of the brain…

-contains the somatosensory cortex

Answer 24

parietal lobe

Question 25

Which lobe is involved in…

• memory
• perception
• emotion
• contains auditory cortex

Answer 25

temporal lobe

Question 26

Which lobe is involved in…

• voluntary movement
• speech production
• contains motor cortex

Answer 26

frontal lobe

Question 27

Where is Broca’s Area (speech production)?

Answer 27

-left frontal lobe

Question 28

Which part of the frontal lobe is involved in…

• reasoning
• planning
• decision making
• emotion

Answer 28

prefrontal cortex

Question 29

Which parts of the brain play a part in personality?

Answer 29

-frontal lobe and prefrontal cortex