The Brain Lecture Notes Flashcards
(49 cards)
Metabolites
Glucose and oxygen are considered these. They are substances necessary for a living organism to maintain life
Glucose
The brains fuel
Brain is divided into three major parts
The brainstem, cerebellum and cerebral hemispheres
Hypothalamus
Sits on top of the brainstem just below the thalamus. It controls body maintenance functions such as hunger, thirst, body temperature, sexual function and helps govern the endocrine system by the pituitary.
Cerebellum
Assess his sensory input and is responsible for coordinating movement and posture/balance
The cerebral hemispheres
Responsible for our cognitive abilities and conscious experience
Subcortical structures
Bring structures that lie beneath the cerebral cortex but above the brainstem such as the basal ganglia (motor movement and control), amygdala (a motion) and hippocampus (memory)
Amygdala
Strongly associated with basic survival emotions such as fear, anger and pleasure. It is also associated with memory
Hippocampus
Associated primarily with memory (forming, organizing and storing). It is also associated with learning and emotion
Gray matter
Composed of neuron cell bodies (the thinking part)
White matter
Composed of axons and neurons
Cerebrum
The cerebral cortex is the largest part of the brain and is known as a cerebrum. The cortex is a thin layer of interconnected neurons (gray matter) covering the cerebral hemispheres. Neural networks in the cortex enable thinking, perceiving and speaking. It is the brains ultimate control and information processing center
Gyri (gyrus)
The folds of the cortex
Sulci (sulcus)
The grooves of the cortex
The four lobes of the cortex
The frontal lobe, parietal lobe, temporal lobe and occipital lobe
Neuroplasticity (brain plasticity)
The ability of the brain to recognize its self/change neural pathways in response to injury.
Frontal lobe
Vault in planning and organizing abilities. Also involved in making judgments and impulse control. It is also involved in speech production
Parietal lobe
Receives sensory input for touch and body position. Assist the frontal lobe/motor cortex to control motor movement
Motor cortex
At the rear of the frontal lobe. It controls voluntary movement
Occipital lobe
Receives and processes visual information
Temporal lobe
Receives and processes auditory information. Contains the primary auditory cortex and is important in language comprehension. Also it is strongly associated with memory ability
Corpus Collosum
The cerebral hemispheres are connected by a large band of neural fibers which carry messages in between them
Left and right temporal lobe’s
The left temporal lobe is primarily responsible for language and verbal memory. The right temporal lobe is primarily responsible for processing nonverbal auditory input and nonverbal memory
Contralateral
The functions of the cerebral hemispheres are said to be contralateral meaning the right hemisphere controls sensations and movement on the left side of the body