The Brain Flashcards
Three areas
Forebrain, midbrain, hindbrain
Lobes in the cerebral cortex
Parietal lobe, frontal lobe, occipital lobe, temporal lobe
Parietal lobe
- Responsible for integrating sensory info
- E.g. touch, temperature, pressure, pain, two point discrimination
- Helps you understand where you are in relationship to other things that your senses are picking up around you – spatial awareness
- Somato sensory cortex
Somato sensory cortex
Found at the front of the parietal lobe. Responsible for receiving and processing sensory information from across the body, such as touch, temperature, and pain.
Spatial neglect
Damage to the right cerebral hemisphere or parietal lobe. People with spatial neglect ignore things on one side of their field of view.
Frontal lobe
Responsible for higher executive functions, emotional regulation, planning, reasoning, problem solving. Contains: Premotor cortex, primary motor cortex, prefrontal cortex, Broca’s area, Wernicke’s area.
Premotor cortex
In the frontal lobe. Involved in the selection of appropriate motor plans for voluntary movements. Neurons signal the preparation for movement.
Primary motor cortex
In the frontal lobe. Responsible for the execution of voluntary movements.
Prefrontal cortex
- In the frontal lobe
- Greatly contributes to personality development.
- Regulates thoughts, actions and emotions through connections with other regions
- Impulse control
- Problem solving/reasoning/comprehension
- Creativity and perseverance
Broca’s area
- In the frontal lobe
- Concerned with the production of speech and language.
- interacts with sensory information from the temporal cortex, and devises a plan for speaking and passes the plan along the motor cortex, which controls the mouth.
- Damage to this area is called Broca’s aphasia and is characterised by hesitant and fragmented speech with little grammatical structure.
Wernicke’s area
- In the temporal lobe
- Responsible for comprehending/understanding language
Occipital lobe
- Major visual processing centre of the brain.
- Composed of the primary visual cortex and secondary visual cortex
Primary visual cortex (V1)
- In the occipital lobe
- Receives visual information from the eyes, the information is then relayed to secondary visual processing areas to interpret depth, distance, location, identity etc.
Secondary visual cortex (V2)
- In the occipital lobe.
- Receives signals from V1
- Responsible for the analysis and further discrimination of visual input in terms of motion, shape (particularly complex shapes), and position.
Temporal lobe
- Responsible for processing sensory information, particularly important for hearing, recognising language, and forming memories.
- Processes auditory and visual information (recognising sounds, objects, and faces)
- Contains the primary auditory cortex
- Memory: contains the hippocampus, which is important for memory, learning, and emotions.
Where is the hippocampus located?
Temporal lobe
Where is the primary auditory cortex located?
Temporal lobe
Where are the primary and secondary visual cortexes located?
Occipital lobe
Where is the premotor cortex located?
Frontal lobe
Where is the primary motor cortex located?
Frontal lobe
Where is Broca’s area located?
Frontal lobe
Midbrain
- Tectum
- Tegmentum
- Cerebral peduncles
Cerebellum
- Separate from the forebrain, midbrain, hindbrain
- Connected to the spinal chord through the brainstem
- Responsible for balance and motor coordination
- “The cauliflower part of the brain” - Mr Simms
Hypothalamus
- Located in the forebrain, just below the thalamus
- Controls the autonomic nervous system
- Hormones
- Temperature, circadian rhythm, hunger and thirst regulation
Thalamus
- Located in the forebrain, above the hypothalamus
- Relays sensory information
- Helps execute voluntary movements
- Connected to the hippocampus and plays a role in memory and learning
- Pain
What is the purpose of the brain?
- Processing sensory information + problem solving
- Movement
- Regulating organs of the body
- Language and communication
- Learning
Processing sensory information
Temporal lobe, parietal, occipital (visual)
Amygdala
- Processing and regulating emotions, particularly fear/threat related
Movement
Primary motor cortex, thalamus, cerebellum (for balance)
Problem solving
Frontal lobe
Organ regulation
Hypothalamus, medulla
Medulla (medulla oblongata)
- Located at the base of the brain, above spinal chord
- Responsible for autonomic functions (breathing, heartrate, blood pressure, etc)
- Reflexes
- Relays information between the spinal cord and higher brain regions
Language and communication
Broca’s area, Wernicke’s area
Learning
Hippocampus, thalamus
Tectum
- Located in the midbrain
- Responsible for visual and auditory processing
Substantia nigra
- Located in the midbrain (in the tegmentum)
- Initiates movement by sending dopamine to different parts of the body
Corpus callosum
Part of the brain that joins the two hemispheres.
Part of the brain that joins the two hemispheres.
Corpus callosum
What part of the brain directs sensory information to the right part of the cortex for processing?
Thalamus
Left hemisphere
- Language processing
- Logical and analytical thinking
- Detail orientented processing
Right hemisphere
- Spatial awareness
- Visual processing
- Emotion processing and social perception
Which part of the body is most represented on the somatosensory cortex
Hands, lips, face, tongue. (Homunculus)
Hindbrain
Basal ganglia
Clusters of neurons responsible for motor control, cognition, and emotion
The forebrain contains
Cerebrum (containing cerebral cortex), thalamus, hypothalamus
