The Brain Flashcards
Medulla oblongata
hindbrain
- Regulates breathing, heart rate, BP, digestion
- Damage = fatal
Pons
hindbrain
Connects 2 halves of cerebellum
Relays sensory and motor info
Plays a key role in arousal, sleep, respiration
Cerebellum
hindbrain
Controls balance, coordination, posture
Damage = ataxia, severe tremors, loss of balance
RAS
midbrain
Regulates sleep/wake transitions
Screens incoming sensory info
Damage = coma
Substantia nigra
midbrain
Controls movement
Plays a role in reward-seeking and addiction
Loss of dopamine-producing neurons = Parkinson’s disease
Hypothalamus
forebrain - subcortical
Maintains homeostasis
Controls motivated behaviours (eating, drinking, sex)
Translates strong feelings into physical responses
Damage = hormonal and emotional disturbances, inability to regulate eating and drinking behaviours, body temperature
Thalamus
forebrain - subcortical
Relays incoming sensory info to cortex from sense except smell
Damage to mammillary bodies and certain areas of thalamus (thiamine deficiency caused by chronic alcoholism) causes Korsakoff’s
Basal ganglia (caudate nucleus, putamen, and globes pallidus)
Processes and relays information associated with voluntary movement and the motor expression of emotion
Abnormalities = Tourette’s, Huntington’s, Parkinson’s, mood disorders, Schizophrenia, OCD, and ADHD
Amygdala
forebrain - subcritical
Integrates and directs emotional reactions, attaches info to sensory information, and mediates defensive/aggressive behaviour.
Humans = damage may cause a lack of emotional response and impaired ability to recognize facial and vocal expressions of emotion
Monkeys = lesions of amygdala, and anterior and anterior temporal lobe, produce Kluver Buty
Hippocampus
Mediates memory consolidation (transfer if info from STM to LTM
Degeneration of cells associated with memory loss in Alzheimer’s dementia and normal aging
