Mind & The Brain Flashcards
Divisions of Nervous System
Central Nervous System (CNS) - brain and spinal cord
Peripheral Nervous System (PNS) - anything else outside of above options
Divisions of brain
Forebrain - divided into telencephalon and diencephalon
- t –> contains structures such as cerebral cortex, limbic system and basal ganglia
- d –> contains thalamus and hypothalamus
Midbrain - location of the 2 pairs of colliculi, the superior and inferior
Hindbrain - contains structures such as medulla pons, cerebellum, and reticular formation
Hindbrain - Medulla
- contains circuits of neurons that control functions vital for survival such as heart rate, blood pressure, and respiration
- contain nuclei controls - very life critical functions
- controlled and regulated by structure within hindbrain
- small amount of damage will have catastrophic consequences
Hindbrain - Pons (bridge)
- bridge of fibres that connect brainstem with cerebellum
- cluster of nuclei - one runs through the pons is reticular formation - influence on level of consciousness and alertness
Hindbrain - Cerebellum
- large structure located behind brain stem - critical to co-ordination of movement and balance
- make movements smooth
- can be impacted by alcohol
- motor signal
Midbrain - superior colliculi
- relay visual information - important for visual attention
- higher pair of bumps on dorsal
- critical in visual info
Midbrain - inferior colliculi
- relay auditory information - important for auditory attention
- things you hear
- lower pair of bumps
(ears lower than eyes - lower paid)
Forebrain regions - diencephalon (thalamus)
- relay station which all sensory info (EXCEPT SMELL) must pass to get to cerebral cortex - filters and begins to organise sensory input
- two little avocados sitting above brain stem
Forebrain regions - diencephalon (hypothalamus)
- less than or beneath
- -> located below thalamus (two avos)
- major role in regulation of basic bio drives (hunger and thirst) - controls autonomic nervous system and involved with reg. of body temp.
- maintaining homeostasis
- controls pituitary gland which is attached by stalk to base of hypo.
- -> releases hormones into body and controls other glands
- neural control of other parts
- -> flight or fight response
- -> four F’s - biological drives
- —–> fighting
- —–> fleeing
- —–> feeding
- —–> fucking
What is the corpus callosum?
- dense piece of tissue - diencephalon sits below and telencephalon sits above and to the side of this
Forebrain regions - telencephalon (basal ganglia)
- group of structures crucial for planning and producing movement
-together perform unified function - sit at each hemisphere to side of thalamus
EXAMPLE: Parkinsons - unwanted hand movements, difficulty
–> damage to basal ganglia - together regulate movement, plan, produce it and stop unwanted movement
Forebrain regions - telencephalon (limbic system)
- emotion and memory (aspects)
- loosley connected network of structions
- hippocampus and amygdala
HIPPOCAMPUS
–> important in memory, consolidation of new memories
–> bilateral (both hemispheres) - removal because of epileptic seizures
—–> difficult to learn new info or new memories
AMYGDALA
–> infront of hippocampus - vital role in processing emotional info - learning fear responses
—–> how we process aspects of emotion (e.g. facial expression - fear)
—–> identify danger - clusters or groups - tend to perform similar functions
What is the cerebral cortex?
- 2-5mm thich
- grows during development
- folds on itself so it can fit in our brain (bumps, folds, grooves)
- everywhere around brain, midline of brain, underneath
- a bump or bulge on cortex is called gyrus, groove called sulcus
Main sections of the brain (Frontal Lobes)
- located on front of central sulcus
- reasoning, planning, parts of speech and movement, emotions, and problem solving
- higher order cognitive functions, executive functions, control processes, regulate different aspects
- plan, problem-solve, make decisions, motivations
- ability to think in different ways
Main sections of the brain (Temporal Lobes)
- located below lateral fissure
- concerned with the perception and recognition of auditory stimuli (hearing) and memory
