The Brain Flashcards
Prosencephalon
AKA - Forebrain
- Telencephalon
- Diencephalon
Telencephalon
Part of the forebrain
- The largest division of the human brain
- Consists of the cerebrum (cerebral cortex), hippocampus, basal ganglia, and amygdala
Cerebrum
Main portion of the brain divided into left and right halves, with all the lobes (frontal, parietal, temporal, occipital)
Left Hemisphere
- Language (written and spoken)
- Logic and Rational
- Analytical/Mathematical calculations
- Positive emotion such as love and happiness
Right Hemisphere
- Nonverbal processing
- Artistic ability/Musical understanding
- Hand-eye coordination
- Kinesthetic awareness/spatial relationships/body image
- Mathematical reasoning
- Understanding nonverbal communication
- Express negative emotions
Frontal Lobe Function
- Voluntary movement, intellect, orientation
- Broca’s area (speech, concentration) - usually on the left
- personality, temper, judgement, reasoning, behavior, self awareness, executive function
Frontal Lobe Impairments
- contralateral weakness
- perseveration, inattention
- personality changes, antisocial behavior
- impaired concentration, apathy
- Broca’s aphasia (expressive)
- delayed or poor initiation
- emotional libility
Parietal Lobe Function
- touch, kinesthesia, perception of vibration, temperature
- receives information about hearing, vision, motor, sensory, and memory.
- provides meaning for objects
- interprets language and words
- spatial and visual perception
Parietal Lobe Impairments
- agraphia, alexia, agnosia
- dressing appraxia, constructional apraxia, anosognosia
- contralateral sensory deficits
- impaired language comprehension
- impaired taste
Temporal Lobe Function
- auditory processing, olfaction
- Wernicke’s area - ability to understand and produce language
- interpreting other people’s emotions and reactions
Temporal Lobe Impairment
- learning deficits
- Wernicke’s aphasia
- antisocial, aggressive behavior
- difficulty with facial recognition
- difficulty with memory, memory loss
- inability to categorize objects
Occipital Lobe Function
- main processing center for visual information
- processes visual information regarding colors, light, and shapes
- judgment of distance, seeing in three dimensions
Occipital Lobe Impairment
- homonymous hemianopsia
- impaired extraocular muscle movement and visual deficits
- impaired color recognition
- reading and writing impairment
- cortical blindness and bilateral lobe involvement
Hippocampus
Located deep in the temporal lobe
-responsible for forming and storing memory and learning language
Basal Ganglia
Gray matter masses located deep in the cerebrum
- includes the caudate, putamen, globus pallidus, substantia nigra, and subthalamic nuclei
- responsible for voluntary movement, regulation of autonomic movement, posture, muscle tone, and control of motor responses.
Amygdala
Small, almond shaped nucleus located within the temporal lobes of each hemisphere.
-emotional and social processing, processing of memory, and formation of emotional memories.
Diencephalon
Part of the forebrain
- Located beneath the cerebral hemispheres
- Contains the thalamus, hypothalamus, subthalamus, and epithalamus
- Location where the major motor and sensory tracts synapse, and an interactive site between the CNS and endocrine system
Thalamus
Relay or processing station for the majority of information that goes to the cerebral cortex.
-coordinates sensory perception and movement with other parts of the brain and spinal cord that also have a role in sensation and movement.
Hypothalamus
- Regulating hormones.
- Hunger, thirst, sexual behavior, sleeping
- body temperature, adrenal glands, pituitary gland
Subthalamus
-Regulating movements produced by skeletal muscles
Epithalamus
-secreting melatonin and is involved in circadian rhythm.
Mesencephalon
AKA Midbrain
one of the three components of the brainstem and is located at the base of the brain above the spinal cord.
-Reflex center for visual, auditory, and tactile responses
Rhombencephalon
AKA Hindbrain
consists of the cerebellum, pons, and medula oblongata
Cerebellum (metencephalon)
- responsible for fine tuning of movement, rapid alternating movement
- maintaining posture and balance
- damage to one side with cause ipsilateral impairments
Pons (metencephalon)
- regulation of respiration rate
- orientation of the head in relation to visual and auditory stimuli
- CNV-VII originate from the pons
Medulla oblongata (myelencephalon)
- regulation of respiration and heart rate
- relaying somatic sensory information from the internal organs
- CN IX-XII originate in the medulla.
Brainstem
- Consists of the midbrain, pons, and medulla oblongata.
- responsible for heart rate and respiration rate.
Anterior Cerebral Artery ACA
Supplies: frontal and parietal lobes Impairments: - contralateral LE motor and sensory involvement - loss of bowel/bladder - loss of behavioral inhibition - mental changes - neglect - aphasia
Middle Cerebral Artery (MCA)
Most common site of a CVA
Supplies: most of outer cerebrum and basal ganglia
Impairments:
- Wernicke’s aphasia
- Homonymous hemianopsia
- Apraxia
- Contralateral weakness and sensory loss of face and UEs with lesser involvement of LEs
- Impaired spatial relations and body schema
Posterior Cerebral Artery (PCA)
Supplies: midbrain, inferior temporal lobe, occipital lobe
Impairments:
- Contralateral pain and temperature loss
- Contralateral hemiplegia
- Ataxia, athetosis
- Thalamic pain syndrome
Vertebral-basilar artery
Supplies: brainstem and cerebellum Impairments: - loss of consciousness - hemiplegia or tetraplegia - vegetative state - inability to speak - Nystagmus, dysphagia, dysarthria, syncope, ataxia
