(BBB) the Brain Flashcards
week 3
Central Nervous System (CNS)
Involves the brain - complex behaviours and experiences
and the spinal cord - reflexes.
Both are made of both gray matter (nerve cell bodies) and white matter (axons, nerve cell ‘tails’)
Cortex - outer layer of the brain
Gyrus (gryri) - folds of the cortex
Sulcus (sulci) - grooves of the cortex
Fissures - deep grooves of the cortex
Landmarks and lobes
‘continents’ of the brain
Frontal, parietal, temporal, occipital.
Frontal lobe is in front of the central sulcus, forehead.
Parietal lobe is behind the central sulcus, top back of the head.
Temporal lobe is around the ears, lower/back of the head.
Occipital love is at the base of the skull.
Corpus callosum
a tract of fibres in the white matter of the brain that connects the two hemispheres of the brain.
Dorsal/ventral
refers to the
top/bottom of the brain
Superior/inferior
refers to
top/bottom of the brain
Anterior/posterior
refers to
front/back of the brain
Rostral/Caudal
refers to
front/back of the brain
often used in animal neuronatomy
Coronal cross section
Cross section vertically across the hemispheres.
Sagittal cross section
Cross section vertically in the direction of dividing the hemispheres.
Horizontal (axial) cross section
Cross section horizontally
Ventricles
4 chambers deep in the brain filled with cerebro-spinal fluid (scf) and act as shock absorbers.
Meninges - three additional layers between the skull and the brain
Outermost layer - Dura mater
Middle layer - Arachnoid membrane
innermost layer - pia matter
you can find the same meninges in the spinal chord.
Blood vessels - key for bringing nourishment to the brain.
The brain is enveloped in blood vessels. when people suffer a stroke, the blood vessel vursts and stops the blood supply to a certain part of the brain, and the the neural cells in that region of the brain would gradually die.
Three key areas of the brain
forebrain, midbrain, hindbrain
Hindbrain: vital bodily functions
consists of the cerebellum, pons, and medulla. some of the key functions of these areas are breathing, heart rate, motor control.
Midbrain: smaller area that connects the hindbrain to the forebrain.
2 key regions -
Colliculi (sensory relay stations): superior colliculi (vision) & inferior colliculi (audition)
Substantia Nigra (motor control)
The forebrain consists of
Diencephalon and telencephalon
both of these then consist of various other components.
Diencephalon
has two key structures, deep inside the brain
Thalamus: sensory switchboard - directing sensory information to different areas of the cortex
Hypothalamus: hormone control, sexual behaviour, hunger, thirst.
Telencephalon
3 key components
Basal ganglia: consists of the Putamen, Globus pallidus, and caudate. key role of Basal ganglia is voluntary motor control, learning and memory (particularly for things like playing an instrument and riding a bike). Some disorders like parkinsons are also related to this area of the brain.
Limbic system: 3 main structures; cingulate cortex, amygdala (both responsible for our emotional life) and the hippocampus (memory, very active during sleep especially when learning new vocabulary).
**Cortex **:
Occipital cortex
Primary Visual cortex/system
Parietal lobe/cortex
- attention
- spatial perception
- number processing
mental rotation (Kosslyn et al., 1998), visual neglect: stroke in parieto-temporal region. (McFie & Zangwill, 1960)
Temporal Lobe
- auditory cortex (hearing)
- language (Wernicke’s area)
- memory (hippocampus)
Frontal Lobe
This is the area of the brain that develops well into our 20s
- attention
- planning
- decision making
- emotion regulation
- language (Broca’s area)
Planning; emotion regulation: Phineas Gage 1848
