College 1 The what, why and which Flashcards
Limbic system
regulates emotions and memory
affectuve and motivated behaviors
amygdala, hippocampus and angulate cortex
Cranial nerves
- Are located in your face
- Afferent: sensory input to the brain from the nose, ears, eyes and mouth
- Efferent: motor control of facial muscles
Afferent
Sensory input to the brain from the senses (nose, mouth, ears, eyes and touch
Efferent
Motor control from the brain to the muscles
Spinal cord
- Controls most of the body movements, usually following instructions of the brain
It can however act independantly of the brain –> via SNS - It is segmented into …
Again devided into afferent (incoming) and efferent (outgoing to muscles)
Basal Ganglia
Three layer protective tissue that encases the brain and the spinal cord
Autonomic Nervous System (ANS)
- Collection of mini brains within the body
- Acts outside of conscious awareness
Devided into: - Sympathetic
~ arouses the body for action
~ mediates the body’s fight or flight response - Parasympathetic
~ regulates the rest and digest
~ can reverse the fight and flight response
Sympathetic
- arouses the body for action
- mediates the body’s fight or flight response
Parasympathetic
- regulates the rest and digest
- can reverse the fight and flight response
Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF)
A mixture of sodium chloride and other salts
- Fills ventricles in the brain
- Acts as a air bag, cushions the brain and gives space for slight swelling or expansion of the brain
Neocortex
consists of six different layers of grey matter
- different areas have different functions
Frontal lobe
On the front side of the brain (face side)
- Is involved in:
- speech
- initiates muscle movement
- planning
- involved in decision making
- executive functions
Temporal lobe
- Understanding language and learning
- remembering (non)verbal information
- Sensory integration
- visual
- auditory
- taste
- memory
Corpus Calossum
- 200 million nerve fibres
- Visible in a medial view of the brain
- connects the two hemispheres of the brain
- Sometimes cut in halve as a treatment for epilepsy
Neurons
Carry out the brains communicative and information processing functions
- Are connected to one another through axons
Glial cells
aid and modulate the neurons activity
make sure the communication between neurons is quick and effective
Occipital lobe
sits in the back of the brain and is responsible for visual perception, including colour, form and motion.
Parietal lobe
- Located near the back and top of the head
- cognitive and sensory integration for touch and body position (proprioception)
- are important in processing and interpreting somatosensory input
- attention
- tactile function
Enteric Nervous System (ENS)
Is connected to the ANS and the ANS to control the gut function
Does so by interacting with bacteria in the gut
Nuclei
Group of neurons froming a cluster that can be identified using special stains
Forms functional units inside the brain
Diencephalon
Structure in the brain containing to sub structures: hypothalamus and thalamus
Hypothalamus
Controls:
- hormone function and production
- feeding
- sexual behavior
- agressive behavior
- sleeping
- temperature regulation
- emotional behavior
THALAMUS
- information for all sensory systems is organised, integrated and projected into the appropriate region of the neocortex
- functions as a relay station for sensory input
- integrates sensory and motot information while on their way to cerebral cortex
Hypothalamus
Controls:
- hormone function and production
- feeding
- sexual behavior
- agressive behavior
- sleeping
- temperature regulation
- emotional behavior
Thalamus
Information for all sensory systems is organised, integrated and projected into the appropriate region of the neocortex
- functions as a relay station for sensory input
- integrates sensory and motot information while on their way to cerebral cortex
Brainstem
Located at the bottom of the brain, connects to the spinal cord
- consists of three regions
- Diencephalon (hypothalamus and thalamus)
- Midbrain
- Hindbrain
Recieves incoming informatio from the senses and sends information out to control the muscles
Midbrain
Sensory functions
- hearing
- seeing
- orienting movement
consists of tectum and tegmentum
Tectum
Sensory component of the midbrian
- recieves massive amounts of information from the eyes and ears
Devided into two structures
- Superior colliculus (on top) –> visual information
- Inferior colliculus (on the bottom) –> auditory information
Orienting movements
When you see something out of the corner of your eye –> turn your head to look at it
or
Turn your head towards a sudden sound
Tegmentum
Consists of three structures
Red nucleus
Substantia nigra
Periaqueductal grey matter
Red nucleus
controls limb movements
Substantia nigra
Initiaites movement together with the basal ganglia and forebrain
Periaqueductal grey matter
Cell bodies surrounding ventricles --> control species typical behavior Different for different species Dog: barking Bird: flying etc
Hindbrain
Consists of three structures
- Reticular formation
- Pons
- Medulla
Reticular formation
Stimulates the forebrain
contriols sleep/wake function as well as fight or flight response
Pons
- Connects the cerebellum to the rest of the brain
- Controls important movement of the brain
Medulla
Vital functuions
- breathing, heartrate, etc.
Cerebellum
Controls complex movements and cognitive functions
- contains MORE neurons than the rest of the brain
- size increases with physiscal speed
Example: cerebellum is bigger in a jaguar compared to a turtle
Ventricles
There a 4 in the brain
- Cavities in the brain that contain spinal fluid (CSF)
Spinal nerves
Part of the body that is controlled by only one nerve
Dorsal
Superior
on top
Ventral
Inferior
on the bottom side
Ventral stream
Leads from the occipital lobe to the TEMPORAL LOBE
object identification
the WHAT stream
Dorsal stream
Leads from the occipital lobe to the PARIETAL LOBE
Guide movements to relative objects
WHERE pathway
Axon fibres running together
Are called:
Nerve when in CNS
Tract when outside the CNS
Hippocampus
Structure mbedded deep into temporal lobe.
It has a major role in learning and memory.
Representation of episodic memory
some of these become semantic memories (can operate without hippocampus)
Central sulcus
Partition between frontal and temporal lobe
Amygdala
Forms emotional associations
- colours/stamps all perceptual information with emotional significance
- involved in processing fearful and threatening stimuli, including detection of threat and activation of appropriate fear-related behaviors in response to threatening or dangerous stimuli.
Angulare cortex/Angular gyrus
Region of the brain in the parietal lobe, that lies near the superior edge of the temporal lobe.
It is involved in a number of processes related to language, number processing and spatial cognition, memory retrieval, attention
Fore brain
Contains the entire cerebrum and several structures directly nestled within it - the thalamus, hypothalamus, the pineal gland and the limbic system Higher order conscious behavior Two almost identicle hemospheres Layer over the brain --> Neocortex - 6 layers of nerves - Gyri --> bumps - Sulci --> grooves Cortex decides what and when to move
Allocortex cortex
Old part of the brain
3-4 layers of nerve cells
spread over the cingulate cortex, hippocampus and amygdala –> same type of cells
- also related to the olfactory system (smell)
Sympathic nervous system (SNS)
- Sensations
- Produces movement
- ‘doorgeefluik’ between muscles and spinal cord
- Cranial nerves
- Spinal nerves
Cooperates with spinal cord
Central Nervous System (CNS)
Controls behavior
- Brain and spinal cord
Spinal Cord
Nerves
in and outgoing (afferent and efferent) messages between brain and body
Also involved in reflexes
