Lab 10 - Comparison of Brain Anatomy

Question 1

What are the three main areas the vertebrate brain can be divided into?

Answer 1

Forebrain (prosencephalon), midbrain (mesencephalon), hindbrain (rhombencephalon).

Question 2

What does the forebrain develop into?

Answer 2

The cerebrum, olfactory bulbs, thalamus, and hypothalamus.

Question 3

What does the midbrain develop into?

Answer 3

Contains many important connecting pathways between the forebrain and the hindbrain and also contains the optic lobes

Question 4

What does the hindbrain develop into?

Answer 4

The cerebellum and medulla oblongata

Question 5

What are the five structures we labelled on the Squalus brain?

Answer 5

Olfactory bulbs, optic lobes, cerebrum, cerebellum, medulla oblongata

Question 6

What is the most important sense for the Squalamus, and therefore, has the largest part of the cerebrum?

Answer 6

Smell! Olfactory structures = large!

Question 7

What kind of role does the olfactory structures in the brain play for the dogfish?

Answer 7

It is connected to the cerebellum, so it tells the shark which way to go depending on the odour.

Question 8

What is the most noticeable difference between the dogfish and the mudpuppy?

Answer 8

The size of the cerebellum in the mudpuppy is so much smaller. This is because the mudpuppy evolved from a terrestrial salamander, who wouldn’t have had to have a large cerebellum.

Question 9

Why do sharks have large cerebellums?

Answer 9

Two reasons: They have to coordinate their body in a 3D world (major reason) and that they have sensory structures other animals don’t have (lateral line, ampullae)

Question 10

What is the function of the pons?

Answer 10

Relays information between the cerebrum and cerebellum

Question 11

What is the function of the medulla oblongata?

Answer 11

Controls a number of autonomic functions such as heart rate, blood pressure, breathing, etc.

Question 12

What is the function of the thalamus?

Answer 12

Relays information to different parts of the brain

Question 13

What is the function of the cerebellum?

Answer 13

Coordination of muscle movement

Question 14

What is the function of the cerebrum?

Answer 14

Involved in memory/learning, processing sensory info, etc.

Question 15

What can you notice about the size of the brain structures in the sheep compared to the dogfish and mudpuppy?

Answer 15

Much larger cerebrum, so more intelligent probably.

Also, cerebellum is still relatively the biggest in the shark.

Question 16

What is the function of the frontal lobe?

Answer 16

Reasoning, motor skills, high level cognition.

Question 17

What is the function of the parietal lobe?

Answer 17

Processing tactile sensory information such as pain, touch, and pressure.

Question 18

What is the function of the temporal lobe?

Answer 18

Interpreting sounds and memory

Question 19

What is the function of the occipital lobe?

Answer 19

Interpreting visual stimuli and information

Question 20

How do the brains of intelligent mammals compare to other mammals?

Answer 20

Intelligent mammals brains are larger and are highly folded in comparison.

Question 21

Are there any differences in mammal brains in relation to the size of the animal?

Answer 21

The brains of large animals tend to also be larger by comparison. The size of the brain alone, however, does not tell much about the animal’s intelligence, because it can simply be a large animal.