The Brain Review Flashcards
motor area
control of voluntary muscles
sensory area
skin sensations (temperature, pressure, pain)
frontal lobe
movement, problem solving, concentrating/thinking, behavior/personality/mood
Broca’s Area
speech control
temporal lobe
hearing, language, memory
brain stem
consciousness, breathing, heart rate
parietal lobe
sensations, language, perception, body awareness, attention
occipital lobe
vision, perception
Wernicke’s Area
language comprehension
cerebellum
posture, balance, muscle coordination
medulla
unconscious vital processes (circulation, heart rate, breathing)
pons
communicates sensory messages and movement from cerebellum to cerebrum, eye and face movements
reticular formation
arousal and attention, filters stimuli coming to brain
thalamus
directs sensory information to particular areas of brain
amygdala
instinctual emotional reactions (aggression or fear), attention to novel stimuli
hypothalamus
regulates hunger, thirst, body temperature, endocrine system
pituitary gland
master gland – directs endocrine system
hippocampus
formation of new memories
cerebrum
divided into two hemispheres, higher order functions
left hemisphere
logic, language (verbal tasks), math, detail-oriented, control the right side of the body
right hemisphere
visual-spatial tasks, creativity, controls left side of body
corpus callosum
thick bundle of nerve fibers that connects left and right hemispheres, communicates between the two hemispheres
cerebral cortex
wrinkled surface of brain, divided into four lobes
frontal lobes
emotion regulation, speaking, judgment and reason, planning, personality
parietal lobes
pain, pressure, touch sensations
temporal lobes
auditory cortex (hearing)
occipital lobes
visual cortex (sight)
basal ganglia
collection of nuclei (at base of the hemispheres) for controlling voluntary movements and establishing postures
glial cells
nourish, protect and support neurons
angular gyrus
transforms visual representations into auditory code (Wernicke’s area uses this auditory code to derive meaning); damage to this means someone will be able to speak and understand words, but cannot read aloud
locus coeruleus
role in physical reaction to panic/stress
