Macroanatomy Flashcards
What is the function of the frontal lobe?
Motor and executive function, decision-making, planning, impulse control, etc.
What is the function of the occipital lobe?
Visual functions and contains the first and second cortices.
What is the function of the parietal lobe?
Tactile function, sensory & motor information processing.
What is the function of the temporal lobe?
Auditory, visual, gustatory, emotion, and memory.
What is the cerebrum?
- Forebrain structure.
- Has two identical hemispheres.
- Responsible for most conscious behavior.
What is the cerebellum?
- Control and coordination of fine motor skills;
- Does not initiate movements, but coordinates the timing, precision, and accuracy of movements.
What is the brainstem?
- Responsible for unconscious behaviors;
- Structurally continuous with the spinal cord.
What are the gyri?
Bumps & ridges of the cerebral cortex.
What are the sulci?
Cracks & valleys of the cerebral cortex.
What are fissures?
Deep sulci.
What is the larger cortical surface area?
Combination of gyri and sulci. Having a larger surface area means greater cognitive function.
What is white matter?
-Nerve fibers with fatty coverings.
-Forms connections between cells.
What is grey matter?
-Largely composed of cell bodies and capillary blood vessels.
-Process information and supports behavior.
How many ventricles are there?
4 cavities.
What are the ventricles filled with?
Cerebral spinal fluid (CSF).
What produces CSF?
Cells that line the walls of the ventricles called ependymal cells.
What is the corpus callosum?
-Over 200 million nerve fibers that connect the 2 hemispheres.
-Divides brain into cortical & subcortical regions.
-Split brain personality.
-Part of the sagittal section.
Signaling in the brainstem?
-Receives afferent nerves from all the body’s senses.
-Sends efferent nerves to the spinal cord.
What are the three regions of the brainstem?
- Hindbrain
- Midbrain
- Diencephalon (L. between brain)
Parts of the Hindbrain?
- Cerebellum
- Reticular Formation
- Pons
- Medulla
The function of pons?
Connects cerebellum to the rest of the brain.
The function of the medulla?
Controls breathing & cardiovascular system.
What are the parts of the midbrain?
- Tectum
- Tegmentum
What is the tectum?
-Dorsal side of midbrain;
-Receives sensory information from the eyes and ears;
-Allows production of oriented movements (reflexive).
What are the parts of the tegmentum?
- Red nuclei
- Substantia Nigra
- Periaqueductal grey matter
The function of the red nuclei?
The motor coordination of the limbs.
The function of the substantia nigra?
It initiates (voluntary) movements.
The function of the periaqueductal grey matter?
Involves sexual and pain behavior.
What are the parts of the diencephalon?
- Hypothalamus
- Thalamus
The function of the hypothalamus?
-Controls hormone production.
-Influences feeding, sexual behavior, sleeping, thermoregulation, emotions, hormone function, movements, and more…
The function of the thalamus?
-Relay station for sensory information traveling to the cortex.
-All sensory systems send input to the thalamus.
What are the parts of the basal ganglia?
- Caudate nucleus
- Putamen
- Globus pallidus
- Substantia nigra
What is the function of the basal ganglia?
Controls certain aspects of voluntary movements.
What are the parts of the limbic system?
- Hippocampus
- Amygdala
- Limbic cortex
What is the function of the hippocampus?
- Memory storage, particularly spatial memories.
- Neurogenesis.
What is the function of the amygdala?
- Negative affect.
- Fear acquisition.
- Memory enhancement & activation.
What is the function of the limbic cortex?
Helps certain aspects of memory formation and recollection.
What are olfactory bulbs?
- Permits the sense of smell.
- Forebrain structure.
- Sends sensory information directly to pyriform cortex for processing.
(Plays a very significant role in memory formation.)
What part of the brain initiates and inhibits voluntary movements?
Basal Ganglia
Is the substantial nigra in the forebrain?
No.
