Biology & Brain Flashcards
Hypothalamus function
Maintains homeostasis and integrates with the endocrine
Hunger and thirst; emotion
Feeding, fighting, flighting , fucking
Lymbic system function
Emotion & memory
Basal ganglia function
Movement
Cerebral cortex function
Complex perceptual, cognitive and behavior processes.
Determining Intelligence Determining Personality Motor Function Planning and Organization Touch Sensation
Inferior and superior colliculi is found in what major division of the brain and what is the function?
In the mid brain
Sensorimotor reflexes
Cerebellum function
Helps maintain posture and balance and coordinates body movements
Medulla oblongata function
Vital functioning (breathing, digestion)
Reticular formation function
Arousal and alertness
Hindbrain
Controls balance, motor coordination, breathing, digestion and general arousal processes such as sleeping and waking
Hindbrain is also known as
Rhombencephalon
Pons
Lies in the medulla and contains sensory and motor pathways between the cortex and medulla
Midbrain is also known as
Mesencephalon
Midbrain
Deals with involuntary reflex responses triggered by visual and auditory stimuli
Forebrain also known as
Prosencephalon
Telencephalon forms the:
Cerebral cortex
Basal ganglia
Limbic system
Diencephalon forms the
Thalamus
Hypothalamus
Posterior pituitary gland
Pineal gland
Thalamus function
Consciousness, sleep and sensory interpretation
Electroencephalogram (EEG)
Noninvasive mapping procedure
Electric activity generated by larger groups of neurons
Electrodes on scalp
Regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF)
Noninvasive mapping procedure
Detects broad patterns of neural activity based on blood flor to different parts of the brain
Relies on the assumption that when a specific cognitive function activates certain regions of the brain, the blood flow to those regions increase.
Lateral hypothalamus
The hunger center
Has special receptors to detect when the body needs more food or fluids
Ventromedial hypothalamus (VMH)
The “satiety center”
Provides signals to stop eating
Brain lesions in this area lead to obesity
Anterior hypothalamus
Controls sexual behavior
Can also regulate sleep and body temperature
Posterior pituitary
Secretes: Antidiuretic hormone (ADH) and oxytocin
Pineal Gland
Secretes: melatonin
Basal ganglia
Found in the middle of the brain
Coordinates muscle movement
Destructions of portions in the basal ganglia lead to :
Parkinson’s disease
Septal nuclei
Romario pleasure centers in the brain
Mild stimulation leads to intense pleasure
Amygdala
Controls fear and aggression
Hippocampus
Plays a role in learning and memory
Communicates with parts of the Limbic system through an extension called the fornix
Anterograde amnesia
Kind of memory loss
Can’t remember long term memories but could remember events that occurred before brain injury
Retrograde amnesia
Kind of memory loss
Can’t remember events that happened before brain injury
Gyri and Sulci
Bumps found on the cortex
The cerebral cortex provides _________ to the brain
Increased surface area
Visual system DOMINANT hemisphere :
Letters and words
Visual system NONDOMINANT hemisphere :
Faces
Auditory system DOMINANT hemisphere :
Language - related sounds
Auditory system NONDOMINANT hemisphere :
Music
Language DOMINANT hemisphere :
Speech, reading, writing, arithmetic
Language NONDOMINANT hemisphere :
Emotions
Movement DOMINANT hemisphere :
Complex voluntary movement
Spatial processes NONDOMINANT hemisphere :
Geometry, sense of direction
Prefrontal cortex
Reminds the individual that he or she has something to remember (but does not store an memory traces)
Prefrontal cortex communicates with
The reticular formation in the brain stem, telling an individual to wake up or to relax
Prefrontal lesions
A person is more impulsive and in less control of his or her behavior or is depressed
Can make vulgar and inappropriate sexual remarks
Frontal lobe contains
Association area
Brocas area
Projection area
Broca’s area
Important for speech production
Usually found in the “dominant” hemisphere - left hemisphere
Frontal lobe function
Controls executive function, impulse control, long - term planning, motor function and speech production
Parental lobe contains
The somatosensory cortex
Parental lobe function
Controls sensations of touch, pressure, temperature and pain; spatial processing; orientation; and manipulation
Occipital lobe contains
Visual cortex (aka striate cortex)
Occipital lobe function
Controls visual processing
Temporal lobe contains
Auditory cortex
Wernicke’s area
Temporal lobe function
Controls sound processing, speech perception, memory and emotion
Cerebral hemispheres
2 : left and right
For most people, left hemisphere is the most dominant one
Dominant hemisphere
Usually the left one
Language
Logic
Math skills
Broca’s area
Wernicke’s area
Nondominant hemisphere
Usually the right
Intuition
Creativity
Music cognition
Spatial processing
Less prominent role in Language
Interprets language according to its emotional tone
what connects both hemispheres of the brain
Corpus collosum
