brain Flashcards
brainstem
where spinal cord enlarges and enters the skull and becomes the brain
manages life sustaining functions
medulla
base of brainstem
- heartbeat, respiration, blood pressure
- swallowing, coughing, blinking
pons
relays info to cerebellum
- movement; sleep/wake/dreaming/relaxation; breathing
thalamus
top of brainstem
- directs/transmits sensory messages (except smell) to the cortex. control centre.
- learning and language
- turns off to sleeo
reticular formations
- nerve network through BS and thalamus
- filters and relays info
- important role in controlling arousal
- name
cerebellum
- back of brainstem
- coordinates voluntary movement, coordination, balance, posture
- processing sensory input
- non-verbal learning and memory
- tipsy
limbic system
border/margin between old and new brain areas
primitive: emotions, motivation, memory, houses pleasure/reward centre
learned fear responses; unpleasant, painful, dangerous, aversive stimuli
amygdala
small neural clusters that enable aggression, fear and linked to emotion
hypothalamus
regulates functions, drives (hunger, thirst, sex) + maintenance of endocrine system via pituitary gland
- reward centers, biological clock, temperature control
- picks up thoughts from cerebral cortex, will get glands to release hormones
hippocampus
helps process conscious, explicit memories of facts and events
forming and retrieving memories, sense of direction
cerebrum
logic, problem solving, higher cognitive functions, 85% of brains weight
covered by cerebral cortex
cerebral cortex
language memory + thinking
covers cerebrum
what’s grey matter?
somas
conducts, processes and sends into to various parts of the body
what’s white matter?
axons
interprets sensory info
convolutions
2/3 of surface area of brain is hidden in convolutions