exam 1: diencephalon

Question 1

what are the two major structures of the diencephalon?

Answer 1

thalamus and hypothalamus

Question 2

t or f: the thalamus consists of two halves, one in each hemisphere of the brain

Answer 2

true

Question 3

often thought of as the relay station for “primary” cortices and prefrontal lobe

information comes up from spinal cord and has to travel through here to get to the brain

Answer 3

thalamus

Question 4

what are all the areas concerning the thalamus?

Answer 4

lateral geniculate nucleus, medial geniculate nucleus, ventral posterior nucleus, ventral lateral nucleus

Question 5

part of the thalamus that is responsible for some visual processing and sends it to the occipital lobe

Answer 5

lateral geniculate nucleus

Question 6

part of the thalamus that is responsible for some auditory processing and sends the information to the superior area of the temporal lobe

Answer 6

medial geniculate nucleus

Question 7

part of the thalamus that handles some processing of the somatosensory information and sends that to the primary somatosensory cortex

Answer 7

ventral posterior nucleus

Question 8

part of the thalamus that concerns motor control information and projects to the primary motor cortex

Answer 8

ventral lateral nucleus

Question 9

classified as the head of the autonomic nervous system

the head of all our basic drives (also life-giving drives like hunger), needs, and desires

Answer 9

hypothalamus

Question 10

why is the hypothalamus called the head of the nervous system?

Answer 10

because it controls the lower parts of the brain that then control or send the commands to slow down heart rate for the parasympathetic nervous system

Question 11

controlled by the pituitary gland which is in turn controlled by the hypothalamus

Answer 11

endocrine system

Question 12

t or f: the hypothalamus is known as the head of the autonomic nervous system AND the endocrine system

Answer 12

true

Question 13

t or f: a small part of the hypothalamus controls the desire for sex and if something were to happen to it, there would no longer be that desire

Answer 13

true

Question 14

what parts of the brain does the hypothalamus communicate with?

Answer 14

cortex (pre-frontal cortex

nucleus accumbens

cingulate gyrus

limbic system

basal ganglia

lower brain

Question 15

classified as the top of the brainstem

Answer 15

thalamus