Lesson 6: Brain Anatomy (cont.) Flashcards
How is the brain initially formed?
Neural tube (first month of human development)
- Symmetrical cell division: until day 40. One progenitor cell splits into two new progenitor cells
- Asymmetrical cell division: until day 125. Neurogenesis: progenitor cell splits into one progenitor cell and one neuron/glial cell
- Apoptosis: after day 125. A process of programmed cell death.
What are the brain structures of the hindbrain?
Medulla oblongata, pons, cerebellum
What is the medulla oblongata?
Contains a collection of brain nuclei that regulate different autonomic (involuntary) functions, such as heart rate and blood flow, breathing, vomiting, sneezing, etc.
- area postrema: blood-brain barrier is weak here
- reticular formation: sleep and arousal
What is the pons?
Relays information between the cerebrum and cerebellum
- contains reticular formation
What is the cerebellum?
Motor control
- does not initiate movement, but contributes to its coordination, precision, and accurate timing
- makes movements look smooth and natural
What are the brain structures in the midbrain?
Tectum and tegmentum
What is the tectum?
Top 2 bumps are the superior colliculi: orienting to things seen in peripheral vision
Bottom 2 bumps are the inferior colliculi: orienting to unexpected sounds
What is the tegmentum?
Processing pain and recognizing threats
What are the relays in the brain structures?
Cerebral cortex and cerebellum
Thalamus and pons
Hypothalamus and medulla oblongata
What are the brain structures in the forebrain?
Cerebral cortex, basal ganglia, limbic system, thalamus, and hypothalamus
What is the hypothalamus?
Bilateral structure which regulate autonomic nervous system activity
- survival (four F’s)
- body temperature, sleep-wake cycles, hunger, sex, aggression, etc.
- links the nervous system to the endocrine system (via the pituitary gland)
What is the thalamus?
Relay ascending sensory information to different regions of the cerebral cortex
What is the cerebral cortex?
6 layers in mammals: neurons are interconnected between layers in a way that gives rise to cortical columns
- largest site of neural integration in the central nervous system
- attention, perception, awareness, thought, memory, language, decision-making, and consciousness
What are the names of the grooves and/or fissures in the cerebral cortex?
Sulci: small grooves
Fissures: large or major grooves
Gyri: ridges between sulci or fissures
What are the two important fissures and the sulcus of the brain?
Lateral fissure: separates frontal and temporal lobe
Longitudinal fissure: separates the left and right hemisphere
Central sulcus: separates rostral and caudal
What unifies the two cerebral hemispheres of the brain?
Corpus callosum
What are the 4 lobes of the cerebral cortex?
Frontal lobe: motor information
Parietal lobe: touch information
Occipital lobe: visual information
Temporal lobe: auditory information
Where are taste and smell processed in the brain?
Taste: insular cortex
Smell: piriform cortex
What are the parimary cortical areas and which lobe are each associated with?
Frontal lobe: primary motor cortex
Parietal lobe: primary somatosensory cortex
Occipital lobe: primary visual cortex
Temporal lobe: primary auditory cortex
Where are the prefrontal and premotor cortexes?
Frontal lobe
What is the basal ganglia?
Regulate intentional movements, motivation, reinforcement learning, and habits
- Parkinson’s disease
- formation of habits: gets information on movement and context and sees if it was successful or unsuccessull. If it was successful, reinforces learning the movement
What brain structures are in the limbic system?
Hippocampus: explicit memory formation
- damage: won’t know you learned something
Amygdala: feeling and recognition of emotions (fear)
- damage: no fear
Cingulate cortex: interconnects limbic areas of the brain
