THE BRAIN Flashcards
consists of the brain and the spinal cord and communicates with the rest of the body via the Peripheral Nervous System
Central nervous system
composed of bundles of axons between the spinal cord and the rest of the body
peripheral nervous system
made up of the peripheral nerves that communicate with the skin and muscles
somatic nervous system
the vertebrate nervous system forms out of a simple tube with three lumps:
• The forebrain that becomes the cerebral cortex and other higher structures
• The midbrain and the hindbrain become the brainstem
• The forebrain is especially dominant in human beings.
Embryological development
The hemispheres of the brain communicate with each other through a thick bundle of axons crossing between them
corpus callosum
- The outer covering of the forebrain
* It is made up of the gray matter, the cell bodies of the cortical neurons
cerebral cortex
The interior of the forebrain is made up of w__ m__ or axons of cortical neurons. It is white because of the myelin that coats axons
white matter
It is customary to represent the areas of the cerebral cortex as four lobes:
occipital, parietal, temporal, and frontal
the rear of the head, and contains many specialized areas for interpreting visual sensory information
occipital lobe
- directly in front of the occipital lobe
* It contains the primary somatosensory cortex
parietal lobe
the area of the brain that is specialized for body senses and awareness of the location of body parts
primary somatosensory cortex
- located on the sides of the head, near the ears
* They are the main processing areas for hearing and complex aspects of vision
temporal lobes
contains important areas for language processing and
comprehension
left temporal lobe
Other structures that lie under or near the temporal lobe include the:
hypothalamus, amygdala, and hippocampus
helps to regulate emotional and motivated behavior
hypothalamus
an almond-shaped structure that is crucial for emotional processing, is deep inside the temporal lobes
amygdala
a vital structure for memory processing
hippocampus
- are at the front of the brain
- They contain the primary motor cortex
- The foremost part of it is the prefrontal cortex,
frontal lobes
area that is important for control of fine movements
primary motor cortex
responsible for organization, planning of action, and aspects of memory
prefrontal cortex
This structure regulates levels of arousal in the brain
reticular system
- important for coordination and timing
* It is also in charge of tasks that requiring shifting of attention and discrimination between stimuli
cerebellum
- These are two important structures in the hindbrain
- They contain the axons that control breathing and heart rate
- They are also in charge of relaying sensory information from the head and sending motor messages back to it
medulla oblongata and the pons
- Both reflex and voluntary responses are conducted through it and is usually the origination point of these responses
- communicates with the body below the head by means of sensory and motor neurons
spinal cord
a rapid, automatic response to a stimulus.
reflex
carry information received by the senses from the extremities of the body to the spinal cord
sensory neurons
transmit messages from the central nervous system to the muscles and glands
motor neurons
- A division of the peripheral nervous system that is closely associated with the spinal cord
- The individual has very little control over the responses in this division, thus the name, autonomic
Autonomic nervous system
- the crisis management center
- It increases heart and respiration rate and prepares the body for fight or flight
- A chain of neurons lying just outside the spinal cord controls it
sympathetic nervous system
- in charge of long-term survival related functions, nutrition, and energy conservation
- It decreases heart rate, increases digestive activities and promotes processes in the body that take place during rest
- It is controlled by neurons at the upper and lower levels of the spinal cord
parasympathetic nervous system
- it is under the control of the Nervous System
* a system of glands that release hormones into the bloodstream
Endocrine System
- are chemicals that affect mood, behavior, and even anatomy
* Some neurotransmitters act as h______s when released into the bloodstream.
hormones
epinephrine aka ___ when it is acting as a hormone
adrenalin
record electrical and magnetic activity in the brain
Electroencephalogram and Magnetoencephalogram (EEGs and
MEGs)
- provides a high-resolution picture of brain activity using radioactivity from chemicals injected into the bloodstream
- provide fascinating information, but are expensive and can be risky to the subject.
Positron Emission Tomography
uses magnetic detections outside the head to measure the amounts of hemoglobin and oxygen in different areas of the brain.
Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI)
undifferentiated cells growing in some brain areas that are capable of developing into neurons in older organisms.
stem cells
We still don’t understand precisely how all the different parts of the brain allow us to have a unified experience of objects and events, since the areas of the brain that help us analyze our experience are often not directly connected to each other.
the binding problem
