Chapter 3 - brain parts

Question 1

central nervous system (CNS)

Answer 1

processes incoming information and sends commands to the rest of the body.

Question 2

peripheral nervous system (PNS)

Answer 2

links the brain to the organs and muscles of the body and carries information between them.

Question 3

somatic nervous system (SNS)

Answer 3

convey information to the brain about the state of the body and the environment.

Question 4

autonomic nervous system (ANS)

Answer 4

controls the smooth muscles in the body (heart, lungs, stomach).

Question 5

sympathetic nervous system

Answer 5

coordinates arousal and readies an organism to cope with an emergency.

Question 6

parasympathetic nervous systems

Answer 6

tends to relax the organism.

Question 7

Describe the spinal cord and consider examples of reflexes under spinal cord control:

Answer 7

the flexible cylinder of nerve tissue that runs inside the backbone or spinal column from the medulla of the brain.

ex. goose bumps
ex. knee tap
ex. dilation of eyes
ex. hand touching stove

Question 8

What is the cerebral cortex?

Answer 8

the convoluted, crumpled up, pinkish-gray surface of the brain itself.

Question 9

What are the four lobes? Describe what each control:

Answer 9

1. occipital lobes: concerned entirely with different aspects of vision.
2. temporal lobes: involved in processing sound entering new information into memory, storing visual memories, and comprehending language.
3. parietal lobes are involved in registering spatial location, body position, movement, senses of touch and pain, and skin temperature.
4. frontal lobes are involved in speech, the search for specific memories, reasoning, abstract thinking, planning, judgment, emotions, and a significant portion of our personalities.

Question 10

What is the corpus callosum?

Answer 10

connects two halves of brain together.

Question 11

What is the last part of the brain to develop?

Answer 11

orbitofrontal cortex. part of brain behind eyes. developed around age 22.

Question 12

What function does the orbitofrontal cortex primarily serve?

Answer 12

impulse control.

Question 13

What part of the brain is severed in split-brain operations?

Answer 13

corpus callosum.

Question 14

What is the medulla?

Answer 14

lowest part of the lower brainstem, plays a central role in automatic control of heart rate, breathing, swallowing, and blood circulation.

Question 15

What is the cerebellum?

Answer 15

controls sense of balance. One of the first parts of brain affected by alcohol.

Question 16

What is the thalamus?

Answer 16

receives inputs from most sensory systems.

Question 17

What is the hypothalamus?

Answer 17

the body’s “thermostat” to all sorts of vital processes: hunger, body temp., blood pressure.

Question 18

What is the hippocampus?

Answer 18

to create and integrate new memories.

Allows people to insert new info into the brain’s memory banks.