The Brain Flashcards
Brainstem
The brainstem supports life-sustaining bodily functions
Pons
Helps control/regulate sleep, respiration, swallowing, bladder function, hearing, equilibrium, taste, eye movement, facial expressions, facial sensation, and posture
Medulla
Controls heartbeat and breathing
Reticular Formation
Regulates sleep, wakefulness, and levels of arousal
Cerebellum
Enables nonverbal learning coordinates voluntary movements
Thalamus
The “sensory switchboard” or “router”: All sensory messages, except smell, are routed through the thalamus on the way to the cortex
These messages cross over from one side of the body to the opposite side of the brain
Basal Ganglia
Directs intentional movement
Receives input from the cerebral cortex
Sends output to motor centers in the brainstem
Striatum involves control of posture and movemen
Limbic System
The hypothalamus, hippocampus, and amygdala are involved in motivation, emotion, learning, and memory
Hypothalamus
Located below the thalamus
Regulates body temperature
Helps govern the endocrine system
Houses “reward centers”
Part of it uses light cues to regulate sleep-wake cycles
Controls maintenance functions, such as eating and drinking
The Pituitary Gland
Master gland of the body’s endocrine system
Receives hormone signals from the hypothalamus
Sends hormone signals to other glands to control stress, digestive activities and reproductive activities
Hippocampus
Creates new memories
Integrates memories into a network of knowledge
Consolidates and stores memories
Amygdala
Located at the tip of each side of the hippocampus
Plays central role in emotional processes
Plays a significant role in the formation of emotional memories
Attaches significance to events associated with fear, punishment or reward
Cerebral Cortex
Outer covering of two hemispheres of the brain
Cortex is from the Greek word for “bark”
Contains 20-23 billion neurons
Highest level of the brain
Responsible for the most complex aspects of perception, emotion, movement, and thought
Occipital Lobe
Visual information (visual cortex)
Parietal Lobe
Information about touch (sensory cortex),
Temporal Lobe
Hearing (auditory cortex), language (Wernicke’s area)
Frontal Lobe
Planning, judgment, memory, reasoning, abstract thinking, movement (motor cortex)
Cerebral Hemispheres
Control the opposite sides of the body (contralateral control)
Are connected by corpus callosum
Have specialized abilities
Left Brain Hemisphere Specialization
Grammar
Language
Math
Logic
Right Brain Hemisphere Specialization
Interpretation of art and music Perceptual tasks Face recognition Emotional expression Spatial abilities
Sensory (Somatosensory) Cortex
Located at the front end of the parietal lobe
Part of the brain which excels in receiving information from the skin and movement of body parts
Motor Cortex
Located at the back of the frontal lobe, next to the parietal lobe
Controls movements of specific body parts on opposite sides of the body
Visual Cortex
Located at the back of the brain
Receives visual information
Auditory Cortex
Located behind the ear
Sounds are processed by the auditory cortex
