Brain Regions/Functions – Cerebral Cortex Flashcards
Cerebral Cortex Structures
Frontal Lobe
Temporal Lobe
Parietal Lobe
Occipital Lobe
Frontal Lobe Structure
Broca’s Area
Prefrontal Cortex (PFC)
Supplementary Motor Cortex
Premotor Cortex
Primary Motor Cortex
Broca’s Area
Located in the dominant (usually left) frontal lobe, responsible for language production. Damage causes Broca’s aphasia, characterized by slow, labored speech primarily consisting of nouns and verbs, impaired repetition, and anomia.
Prefrontal Cortex (PFC)
Controls executive functions such as planning, decision-making, and emotion regulation. Damage results in dysexecutive syndrome, disinhibited syndrome, or apathetic-akinetic syndrome depending on location.
Supplementary Motor Cortex
Involved in planning and coordinating self-initiated complex movements
Premotor Cortex
Executes movements by sending signals to muscles, with damage leading to weakness or paralysis in contralateral muscles.
Temporal Lobe Structure
Auditory Cortex
Wernicke’s Area
Auditory Cortex
Processes sound, with damage potentially causing auditory agnosia, auditory hallucinations, or cortical deafness.
Wernicke’s Area
Major language area located in the dominant (usually left) hemisphere, responsible for language comprehension. Damage results in Wernicke’s aphasia, characterized by impaired comprehension, repetition, and anomia.
Parietal Lobe Structure
Somatosensory Cortex
Somatosensory Cortex
Processes sensory information related to touch, pressure, temperature, pain, and body position. Damage can lead to various agnosias, neglect syndromes, or apraxias.
Occipital Lobe Structure
Visual Cortex
Visual Cortex
Processes visual information, with damage potentially causing visual agnosia, achromatopsia, or cortical blindness.
Brain Lateralization
Lateralization of the brain hemispheres refers to a functional dominance of one hemisphere over the other, in which one is more responsible or entirely responsible for control of a function in comparison to the other.
Left Hemisphere:
Brain Lateralization
Dominant for language, logical thinking, and positive emotions in the majority of people.
Right Hemisphere
Brain Lateralization
Dominant for holistic thinking, intuition, creativity, and negative emotions in a significant portion of individuals.
Dominant Hemisphere:
Brain Lateralization
Refers to the hemisphere dominant for language, typically the left hemisphere.
Nondominant Hemisphere:
Brain Lateralization
Refers to the hemisphere not dominant for language, usually the right hemisphere.
Frontal Lobe
Cerebral Cortex Disorders:
Broca’s Aphasia
Dysexecutive Syndrome
Disinhibited Syndrome
Apathetic-Akinetic Syndrome
Temporal Lobe
Cerebral Cortex Disorders:
Wernicke’s Aphasia
Auditory Agnosia
Cortical Deafness
Parietal Lobe
Cerebral Cortex Disorders:
Somatosensory Agnosias
Hemispatial Neglect
Ideomotor Apraxia
Ideational Apraxia
Gerstmann’s Syndrome
Occipital Lobe
Cerebral Cortex Disorders:
Visual Agnosia
Achromatopsia
Prosopagnosia
Broca’s Aphasia
Damage to Broca’s area in the frontal lobe results in Broca’s aphasia, characterized by slow, labored speech with impaired repetition and anomia.
Wernicke’s Aphasia
Damage to Wernicke’s area in the temporal lobe leads to Wernicke’s aphasia, which involves impaired comprehension of written and spoken language, impaired repetition, and anomia. Speech is fluent but contains many word substitutions and errors, lacking meaning.
Anomia
Damage to various brain regions, including Wernicke’s area, can result in anomia, an inability to recall the names of familiar objects.
Dysexecutive Syndrome
Damage to the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex in the frontal lobe can lead to dysexecutive syndrome, characterized by deficits in working memory, impaired judgment and insight, lack of planning ability, perseverative responses, and disinterest and apathy.
Auditory Agnosia
Damage to the auditory cortex in the temporal lobe can result in auditory agnosia, an inability to recognize or comprehend sounds despite intact hearing.
Somatosensory Agnosias
Damage to the parietal lobe, particularly the somatosensory cortex, can lead to various somatosensory agnosias, including tactile agnosia (inability to recognize objects by touch).
