module 5 - brain regions and structures

Question 1

thalamus

Answer 1

• sits on top of the brainstem
• bilateral structure
• relay station for sensory information (info is routed through the thalamus before going to other parts of the brain for processing)

Question 2

3 parts of the brainstem

Answer 2

(top to bottom)
- midbrain
- pons
- medulla

Question 3

cerebellum

Answer 3

“little brain”
- judgement of time and texture
- emotional control
- coordinated movements, balance
- procedural memory (how to do things)

Question 4

four parts of the limbic system

Answer 4

1. hypothalamus
2. pituitary gland
3. amygdala
4. hippocampus

Question 5

hypothalamus

Answer 5

• daily maintenance
  
  • hunger, thirst, body temp, etc.
• communicates with the pituitary gland
• involved in reward

Question 6

pituitary gland

Answer 6

• master gland in the endocrine system
• glands release hormones into the bloodstream
• releases its own hormones and sends signals to other glands and tells them to release hormones

Question 7

hippocampus

Answer 7

• new explicit memory formation (facts and events)

Question 8

amygdala

Answer 8

• fear center (and other emotion)
• communicates closely with hippocampus
  
  • the memory of these events can tie into what you fear

Question 9

cerebral cortex

Answer 9

• wrinkly outer part of the brain, divided into lobes
• every lobe is bilateral
• different regions of the cerebral cortex specialize in processing different kinds of information

Question 10

four lobes in the cerebral cortex

Answer 10

1. frontal
2. temporal (auditory)
3. occipital (basic light and shadow vision)
4. parietal

Question 11

contralateral control

Answer 11

each side of the body is controlled by the opposite hemisphere

Question 12

contralateral processing

Answer 12

sensory information from each side of the body is (mostly) processed in the opposite hemisphere

Question 13

somatosensory cortex

Answer 13

• touch information
• strip over cerebral cortex
• very front of parietal lobe

Question 14

motor cortex

Answer 14

• very back of frontal love
• outgoing motion commands

Question 15

corpus callosum

Answer 15

• bundle of axons that connect the two hemispheres
• appears more white because it has more myelin
• cerebral cortex is mostly somas and axons are concentrated in the corpus callosum