Areas and Function Flashcards
Cerebral cortex
Outer layer of cerebrum, overlying deep nuclei
- frontal lobe
- occipital lobe
- parietal lobe
- temporal lobe
Primary cortical areas
receive sensory information from peripheral receptors or execute motor tasks; little interpretation of the meaning of the information
- eg., primary motor/somatosensory/visual/auditory/gustatory areas
Association areas
receive input from primary area
involved in higher order processing, integrating, and interpreting information
associate simpler elements of cognition
tune sensory expectation based on expectations, needs, etc.
- eg., premotor/somatosensory/visual/auditory/frontal association areas etc.
- prefrontal cortex
Brain stem (3 structures)
midbrain
pons
medulla oblongata
Brain stem function
basic vital functions (heart rate, breathing, sleeping/alertness, digestion)
transfers information between body and cerebrum and cerebellum
Thalamus function
relay station - integrates sensory information and projects to cerebral frontal lobes
limbic system
50ish nuclei subdivisions have multiple function specializations
Hypothalamus function
controls autonomic functions
sets appetite drives and reproductive behaviour
participates in emotional responses
secretes ADH, oxytocin, releasing hormones for anterior pituitary regulation
Cerebrum (Telencephalon) function
contains cerebral cortex
motor area (voluntary muscle movements)
sensory cortex (conscious perception of touch, pressure, vibration, pain, temperature, taste)
association areas (sensory data integration and processing)
Cerebellum function
balance
coordination
voluntary and involuntary movement
Pons function
connects cerebellum to other brain centres, medulla, and spinal cord
modifies output of respiratory centres in medulla
Medulla oblongata function
regulates heart rate and contraction force
vasomotor control (blood vessel diameter)
sets breathing rate
relays information to cerebellum
Cerebral commissures
type of white matter tract that crosses midline; connects same cortical area in opposite hemispheres
Sulci
large fissures in cortex
major ones:
- central fissure (separates frontal and parietal lobes)
- lateral fissure (separates frontal and parietal from temporal
- longitudinal fissure (longest fissure)
Gyri
ridges between fissures in cortex
major ones: precentral gyrus; postcentral gyrus; superior temporal gyrus; cingulate gyrus
Corpus callosum
largest/most significant commisural fibers tract
connects left and right hemispheres
Parietal lobe function
sensory processing (touch, pressure, heat, cold, pain)
spatial coordinate system
perception of body awareness
topographically ordered
Occipital lobe function
vision
retinotopically organized
Temporal lobe function
auditory reception
affect/emotion processing
language processing
memory encoding
learning
FFA (fusiform face area); Wernicke’s area (speech comprehension)
Frontal lobe function
movement
planning
motivation
motor cortex (works with sensory cortex but in different lobe)
premotor cortex
prefrontal cortex (PFC)
Broca’s area (language production)
Premotor cortex function
storage of motor patterns
Prefrontal cortex sub-regions (5)
orbitofrontal cortex
ventrolateral pfc
dorsolateral pfc (DLPFC)
dorsomedial cortex
ventromedial cortex
Prefrontal cortex (PFC) function
high order cognition (planning, emotion regulation, abstract thinking, attention, inhibition)
Orbitofrontal cortex function
understanding the relationship between action and result given situation
(if damaged: difficulty applying reasoning to actions and making appropriate decisions)
Ventrolateral PFC
inhibits inappropriate actions and unhelpful thoughts
Dorsolateral PFC
working memory (holding and manipulating multiple things in mind)
abstract thought (eg holding and maintaining complex sets of rules)
Limbic system function
emotion processing
learning/memory encoding
motivation
regulating autonomic/endocrine function
Limbic system structures
limbic lobe
hippocampus
amygdala
hypothalamus
fornix; cingulate cortex; septum; mammilary bodies
Basal ganglia structures
(subcortical)
striatum (caudate, putamen, nucleus accumbens)
globus pallidus
substantia nigra
subthalamic nucleus
Basal ganglia function
voluntary motor movement
procedural learning
habit learning
eye movements
cognition
emotion
motivation and reward
Pituitary gland function
“master gland”
produces, stores, and releases hormones
controls autonomic nervous system
Hippocampus function
navigation
memory (cognitive mapping)
ie., time and space
Amygdala function
fear and threat detection
processing positive stimuli
emotional memory consolidation
Key subcortical systems (4)
Thalamus
Basal Ganglia
Hippocampus
Amygdala
Key cortical systems (3)
somatosensory cortex
motor cortex
association areas
Somatosensory cortex function
somatic sensation processing (touch, proprioception, nociception, temperature)
somatotopic arrangement
Motor cortex regions (3 main regions)
primary motor cortex
supplementary motor cortex
premotor cortex
Primary motor cortex function
contains homunculous
sends movement related signals to spinal cord (body movement; through corticospinal tract) and brainstem (head/neck/face movement; through corticobulbar tract)
Supplementary motor cortex function
execution of sequences of movement
attainment of motor sikills
movement selection
Premotor cortex function
movement planning
Blue
Frontal lobe
Yellow
Parietal lobe
Pink
Occipital lobe
Green
Temporal lobe
