Brain Structures

Brainstem

Controls basic automatic survival functions

Medulla

Controls heartbeat and breathing

Pons

Helps control sleep and coordinate movement

Thalamus

Sensory relay station; sends sensory information to the cortex

Reticular Formation

Controls arousal/alertness and filters incoming information

Cerebellum

Balance, coordination, movement, and skill/procedural memory

Limbic System

Involved in emotion, motivation, and drives

Amygdala

Fear, aggression, rage, and emotion

Hypothalamus

Maintains homeostasis: hunger, thirst, temperature, s3x; controls pituitary

Hippocampus

Helps form/process new explicit memories

Pituitary Gland

Master endocrine gland; controlled by the hypothalamus

Cerebral Cortex

Outer layer of brain; major information-processing/control center

Frontal Lobe

Planning, judgment, speaking, personality, voluntary movement

Parietal Lobe

Processes touch and body sensations

Occipital Lobe

Vision

Temporal Lobe

Hearing/auditory processing

Visual Cortex

Processes information coming from the eyes

Auditory Cortex

Processes information coming from the ears

Association Areas

Higher-level thinking, learning, memory, planning, judgment

Corpus Callosum

Connects the left and right hemispheres so they can communicate