Brain Functions Flashcards

1
Q

What are the 5 different structures in the limbic system?

A
  1. Thalamus
  2. Hypothalamus
  3. Amygdala
  4. Hippocampus
  5. Septal nuclei
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2
Q

What are the 3 different parts of the cerebrum (=forebrain)?

A
  1. Limbic system
  2. Cerebral cortex
  3. Basal ganglia
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3
Q

What are the overall 4 functions of the hypothalamus?

A
  1. homeostatic functions 2. emotional experience during high-arousal stages
  2. aggressive behavior
  3. sexual behavior
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4
Q

What are the 3 parts of the hypothalamus and their function?

A
  1. Lateral: hunger
  2. Ventromedial: satiety
  3. Anterior: sex, sleep (suprachiasmic nucleus), body temp
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5
Q

What are the 3 functions of the amygdala?

A
  1. Fear
  2. Aggression
  3. emotional implicit long term memory
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6
Q

What part of the brain is affected in Parkinson’s disease?

A

Basal ganglia: substantia nigra

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7
Q

What are the 4 parts of the cerebral cortex?

A
  1. Frontal
  2. Occipital
  3. Temporal
  4. Parietal
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8
Q

What are the 2 overall functions of the parietal lobe of the cerebral cortex?

A
  1. somatosensory processing

2. spatial processing

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9
Q

What are the 4 overall functions of the temporal lobe of the cerebral cortex?

A
  1. auditory processing
  2. memory processing
  3. emotional control
  4. language
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10
Q

What are the 2 parts of the brainstem?

A

The midbrain and the hindbrain

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11
Q

What is the role of the septal nuclei?

A

feelings of pleasure, pleasure-seeking behavior, and addiction

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12
Q

What are the 4 functions of the basal ganglia?

A
  1. Coordinate muscle movements
  2. Smoothen movements
  3. Maintain posture
  4. Routes info from the cortex to the brain and spinal cord
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13
Q

What is the role of the reticular formation?

A

Pain

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14
Q

What are the 3 functions of the pons?

A
  1. relays information between the cortex and medulla
  2. regulates sleep
  3. carries some motor and sensory info from the head and neck
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15
Q

What are the 4 parts of the hindbrain?

A
  1. Medulla oblongata
  2. Cerebellum
  3. Reticular formation
  4. Pons
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16
Q

What are the 3 functions of the medulla oblongata?

A
  1. Breathing
  2. Heart rate
  3. BP
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17
Q

What are the two main roles of the limbic system?

A
  1. Emotion

2. Memory

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18
Q

What are 3 parts of the frontal lobe of the cerebral cortex?

A
  1. Prefrontal cortex
  2. Motor cortex
  3. Broca’s area
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19
Q

What is the role of Broca’s area?

A

Speech production

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20
Q

What is the role of the occipital love of the cerebral cortex? What part of it carries this function (2 names)?

A

visual cortex=striate cortex: controls visual processing

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21
Q

What are the 3 parts of the temporal lobe and each of their functions?

A
  1. Auditory: sound processing
  2. Medial temporal lobe: explicit long term memory
  3. Temporal gyrus: Wernicke’s area: language processing
22
Q

What are the 2 roles of the hippocampus?

A
  1. Storage of the declarative long term memory

2. communication with other parts of the limbic system

23
Q

What are the 2 brain parts that have to do with aggression?

A
  1. Amygdala

2. Hypothalamus

24
Q

What are the 3 parts of the prefrontal cortex?

A
  1. Dorsal
  2. Ventral
  3. Ventromedial
25
Q

What are the 2 functions of the dorsal prefrontal cortex?

A
  1. Attention

2. Cognition

26
Q

What is the definition of cognition?

A

the mental process of acquiring knowledge and understanding through thought, experience, and the senses.

27
Q

What are the 2 functions of the ventromedial prefrontal cortex? What is another name for it?

A
  1. Decision making
  2. Long-term planning

= orbitofrontal

28
Q

What is the function of the ventral prefrontal cortex?

A

connects with regions of the brain responsible for experiencing emotions

29
Q

What are the 3 main functions of the prefrontal cortex?

A
  1. Working memory
  2. Decision making
  3. Long-term planning
30
Q

What are the 2 main functions of the frontal lobe of the cerebral cortex?

A
  1. Executive functions

2. Impulse control

31
Q

What are the 5 main functions of the hindbrain?

A
  1. Balance
  2. Motor coordination
  3. Breathing
  4. Digestion
  5. General arousal processes
32
Q

What is the role of the cerebellum?

A

Muscular coordination

33
Q

What is the main function of the motor cortex (part of the frontal lobe)? What is it a part of?

A

initiates voluntary motor movements

part of precentral gyrus

34
Q

What part of the motor cortex is somatotopically-mapped? What does this mean? Example?

A

homunculus is somatotopically-mapped: point-for-point correspondence of an area of the body to a specific point on the central nervous system
Ex: right footed person would have a larger allocation of cortical volume to the right foot in the LEFT primary motor cortex

35
Q

What part of the brain is affected by alcohol the most?

A

Cerebellum

36
Q

What is the main role of the thalamus?

A

relay and sorting station for sensory information to be transmitted to the cerebral cortex

37
Q

What parts of the brain are responsible for procedural memory?

A

the cortex-basal ganglia-thalamus-cortex loop

38
Q

What are the 2 main functions of the midbrain? What are its 2 parts?

A
  1. manages sensorimotor reflexes to visual and auditory stimuli
  2. gives rise to some cranial nerves

inferior and superior colliculi

39
Q

What is the cerebral cortex?

A

outer covering of the cerebral hemispheres

40
Q

Which cerebrum hemisphere is the dominant one?

A

The left one

41
Q

What are the abilities of the dominant hemisphere?

A

analytical functions = language, logic

42
Q

What are the 4 abilities of the non-dominant hemisphere?

A
  1. intuition
  2. creativity
  3. musical cognition
  4. spatial processing
43
Q

What is the role of the pineal gland?

A

produces melatonin

44
Q

What are the sulci and gyri of the cerebral cortex?

A

a sulcus is a groove in the cerebral cortex. It surrounds a gyrus, creating the characteristic folded appearance of the brain in humans and other mammals.

45
Q

Where does the vagus nerve lead to in the brain?

A

Medulla oblongata

46
Q

What are the roles of the superior and inferior colliculi?

A

superior colliculus: saccadic movements of the eye (without moving your head)
inferior one: head is moving, but eyes are staring at one point

47
Q

What is the one sense that is not first processed by the thalamus?

A

Olfactory

48
Q

What is the gate theory of pain? What does it explain?

A

There is a special “gating” mechanism that can turn pain signals on and off
Explains why rubbing an injury seems to reduce the pain

49
Q

What is the mesolimbic reward pathway? What is it made of? What does it affect?

A

It is 1 of 4 dopaminergic pathways in the brain
Parts: nucleus accumbens, ventral tegmental area, and medial forebrain bundle (connecting the 2 others)
It affects motivation and emotional response, substance addiction, gambling, and falling in love

50
Q

What is the corpus callosum?

A

broad band of nerve fibers joining the two hemispheres of the brain