Brain structure Flashcards
How many components is the spinal cord made up of?
3
What are the 3 types of neurons in the spinal cord?
Sensory neurons, motor neurons and interneurons
sensory neurons?
These send messages to the brain from the body (eg. Temperature, pain) and are located in the dorsal spine
Motor neurons?
Send messages from the brain to the body such as actions and changes in organ function. These are located in the ventral spine.
Interneurons?
Sensory and motor neurons at the spinal level allowing for reflexive movement.
Forms a connection switching nerves off and on to allow for movement/reflex. Neurons that send messages to other neurons located nearby.
What is the forebrain/cerebrum
Largest and most complex part of the brain - comprised of the cerebral cortex and sub cortical structures
What is the cerebral cortex?
Outer convoluted layer of the brain (3mm thick)
Largest component of the forebrain
What function is the cerebral cortex responsible for?
Full control neuron layer Of all processes
Explain the hills and the valleys
Hills - gyri
Valleys - Sucli
What are the 4 lobes the cerebral cortex is divided into?
Occipital lobe
Temporal lobe
Parietal lobe
Frontal lobe
What are the frontal lobes responsible for?
Cognitive function and voluntary movement
Higher thinking skills
What function is the prefrontal cortex responsible for?
Where is it located?
Located at the front of the frontal lobe
Involved in planning and hugely contributes to personality
What is broca’s area?
involved in speech production
What is the motor cortex?
programming and execution of movement. Each part of the motor cortex controls a specific part of the body.
What are the parietal lobes responsible for?
Processes info about taste touch and movement
processing of somatic sensations and perceptions.
involves the somatosensory cortex that registers tactile sensations from the body (temp, pressure and pain).
Damage to the frontal lobes?
Damage in this are leads to executive function deficits such as an inability to plan, loss or change in motivation, social inappropriateness and a reduced flexibility of thinking. (Case study: Phineas Gage, metal bar through his head – survived yet his personality changed and he became ill-mannered and inappropriate)
Damage to the parietal lobes?
Damage to this area causes left-right confusion (often neglect to the opposite side), problems integrating sensory information, visuo-spatial and constructional problems
What is the function of the temporal lobe?
Processing auditory information: site of hearing and understanding language.
What is the temporal lobe made up of?
Primary auditory cortex
auditory association cortex
wernickes area
What is the primary auditory cortex?
receives incoming sound, analyses according to frequency/tone.
what does the auditory association cortex do?
applies meaning to sound.
What is the function of wernickes area?
Speech comprehension
Damage to the temporal lobes?
leads to auditory problems, impaired language comprehension (Wernicke’s aphasia), poor memory, auditory and visual recognition problems.
What is the function of occipital lobes?
Visual processing
What is the primary visual cortex?
receives visual information from eyes via the optic nerve
What does the visual association cortex do?
organises these simple features into more complex maps of features and their position in space to form an image.
What happens if there is damage to the occipital lobes?
leads to cortical blindness (see shapes but cannot recognise objects), problems with vision and reading problems.
Where is the frontal lobe located?
The front of the brain, forehead region
Where is the occipital lobe located?
the base of the brain near the back of neck
Where are the parietal and temporal lobes located?
they are both located between the occipital and frontal lobes - the temporal lobe is closer to the base of the brain and the parietal is above this close to the top of the head
What regions are considered subcortical structures
Limbic system
Basal Ganglia
What is the limbic system and what does it consist of?
Is the interconnected brain regions involved in emotional processing, basic drives, control of the autonomic nervous system, learning, memory and smell
Thalamus, hypothalamus, the amygdala and hippocampus
what does the thalamus do?
receives/transfers incoming sensory information to the cortex (relay station).
From spinal cord, eyes, ears etc. info comes in, initial processing occurs and then travels to cortex
What is the hypothalamus?
located below the thalamus and regulates autonomic nervous system and endocrine system via the pituitary gland.
Involved in basic drives and homeostasis
What is the amygdala?
learning, recognising and responding to emotion (fear in particular).
Plays a key role in conditioning
What does the hippocampus do?
encodes new long term memories and spatial memories
What is the basal ganglia?
Is inside the cortex and has control in movement (initiating and inhibiting).
- May initiate actions for reward. Making sure our movements help us to gain reward eg. Drug addiction that stimulates this part of the brain
- Some memory processes (habit formation and procedural learning
What is the brain stem and what does it consist of?
The brain stem connects the brain (forebrain) and spinal cord whilst regulating basic bodily function
Nerve pathway
Consists of the midbrain, pons and medulla
Pons?
Sight, taste and breathing
Medulla?
Breathing and heart rate
Midbrain?
movement control, orienting to sensory stimuli
What is the reticular activating system (RAS)?
consciousness and arousal (runs through the brain stem area) damage can lead to a coma
What is the cerebellum responsible for?
balance, motor coordination, learning motor skills
50% of neurons are located here. Damage leads to serious balance problems
What are cerebral ventricles?
- Are cavities within the brain and spinal cord that contain cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). Nourishes and protects the CNS from trauma – cushions the brain and is an opportunity for molecular movement. If there are blockages or too much fluid the ventricles will swell and can be dangerous
What is the corpus callosum?
Band of neurons that connects and transfers the information between the left and right hemispheres - allows the two hemispheres to communicate and share information
How does processing work in relation to lateralisation?
All sensory input is largely processed by the opposite hemisphere.
Meaning, the left hemisphere receives info from the right and controls the right side of the body. The right hemisphere receives sensory information from the left and controls the left side of the body.
Where is the cerebellum located?
Lower back of the brain
What is the left hemisphere specialised in
Motor control of the right side Fine tuned language skills Speech comprehension Speech production Reading and writing Voluntary facial expressions and motor detection
What is the right hemisphere specialised in
Motor control of the left side Coarse language skills
Simple speech
Writing and tone of voice
visuospatial skills: perceptual grouping and face perception
What is the prefrontal cortex?
Located in frontal lobes
Function, a variety of complex functions
