Chapter 2 pt. 3 Flashcards
Exam 1
Sulcus and gyrus
- plural is sulci and gyri
- sulcus=a groove in the cerebral cortex
- gyri=matter between two grooves/wrinkles
- These increase the surface area of the brain, allowing it to process more info
- Increases how much info can be packed in the skull
Gray and white matter
- In an image gray is darker than white matter
- Gray matter contains cell bodies and dendrites (no myelin)
- White matter contains axons w fatty white myelin sheath
Axon tracts
- When lots of myelinated axons travel together, they appear white due to the myelin sheath
- Multiple axons traveling form a tract (called a tract in the CNS + a ganglia in the PNS)
- Cortical and subcortical regions communicate with one another via these tracts
Corpus collosum
Axon tract that joins the two hemispheres
Cerebral cortex parts and landmarks
- frontal lobe, parietal lobe, temporal lobe, occipital lobe
- central sulcus, sylvian fissure, and longitudinal fissure
cerebral cortex
frontal lobe
front of the brain, makes decisions
cerebral cortex
parietal lobe
- middle of the brain on top
- associatiion cortex that takes info from multiple locations, crunches it up, and then determines what to do
- Hand-eye coordination and other complex functions rely on the parietal lobe
- Integrates visual info
cerebral cortex
Occipital lobe
- At the very back of your brain (cerebellum sits underneath)
- primary visual cortex
cerebral cortex
temporal lobe
- right behind your ears
- primary auditory cortex is a part
- visual association cortex, helps you to identify objects
- primary olfactory cortex
Central sulcus
- central grove that is very big and expands from the middle all the way down
- divides frontal from parietal lobe
Sylvian fissure
- Fissure is a slightly larger sulcus
- divides the frontal lobe and parietal lobe from the temporal lobe
Longitudinal fissure
divides the two hemispheres of the brain
Sensory cortical region of cerebral cortex
- involved in processing sensory input. recieves strong input from sensory organs
- Primary sensory cortex
- visual cortex- within occipital lobe
- auditory cortex-part of the temporal lobe that allows auditory processing
Motor cortical region of the cerebral cortex
- invloved in driving movements or generating motor responses
- makes strong connection to the spinal cord
- primary motor cortex is one of the most important areas in driving movement (in the frontal lobe)
Associative cortical region of the cerebral cortex
- involved in cognitive operations that are intermediate between sensing stimuli and acting upon them
- parietal lobe, temporal lobe, and prefrontal cortex are associative
Homunculus
- primary motor cortex is in front of the central sulcus
- primary sensory cortex is behind the central sulcus
- area devoted to each body part is determined by the amount you use something
Functional neuroanatomy
- The cerebral cortex is made up of many different sub-regions that have distinct functions but have surprisigly simmilar structure (cytoarchitecture)
- cortical regions are largely defined by what they are connected with and their sub-regional cellular architecture
6 layers of the cortex
- cortical regions generally have 6 layers
- layers 5 and 6 consist of pyramidal cells (cell bodies of pyramidal neurons reside here- are major output layers)
- Apical (top) dendrites (go up straight mostly) and basal (bottom) dendrites (go out horizontal) recieve information from layer 4 which is a major input layer
- pyramidal neurons are projection cells that project information to other cortical and subcortical regions
Basal ganglia
- found in the basal part of our brain in the ventral part
- Caudate nucleus, putamen, globus pallidus, subthalamic nucleus, substantia nigra
- Caudate=habit formation
- substantia nigra=consists of cell bodies of neurons that produce dopamine. involved in movement continuation
Limbic system
- Processes emotion
- cingulate gyrus- involved in attention processing
- amygdala- fear processing, appetitive behavior (behavior people like to perform), emotion center
- Hippocampus- learning and memory formation
- Stria terminalis- sex and threat responses, integration of hormonal signals, basal part involved in appetitive behavior (motivation to do sometion) and emotion regulation
oflactory bulbs
helps w smell
Optic chiasm
crossing of the optic nerves from your eyes
singulate gyrus
- involved in autism, pain processing, and emotion processing
- located around the corpus callosum
Thalamus, Hypothalamus, and Pituitary gland
- Thalamus: major relay station for sensory information coming into the cerebral cortex
- Hypothalamus + Pituitary Gland: neurohormone center, biological rhythms, hunger/thirst, body temp, sexual drive