Study Guide for Brain & Neurons

caden is a fat chud

Frontal Lobe

Governs high-level cognitive processes, including decision-making, planning, problem-solving, and reasoning. It manages personality expression, social behavior, impulse control, voluntary movement, and language production (specifically via Broca's area)

Parietal Lobe

Primarily controls somatosensory processing (touch, pain, temperature, pressure) and spatial awareness. It acts as a central hub for integrating sensory information from various senses to help navigate, manipulate objects, and understand one's body position in 3D space.

Temporal Lobe

primarily control auditory processing, language comprehension, memory formation, and emotional regulation. They play a critical role in recognizing faces, processing high-level visual information, and organizing sensory input. They are essential for understanding language and storing short-term memories.

Occipital Lobe

The primary center for processing visual information, including color, form, and motion. It receives raw data from the retina, maps the visual world, and enables depth perception, object recognition, and navigation. It works with the parietal and temporal lobes to interpret visual data.

midbrain

The top portion of the brain stem, involved in auditory and visual processing, as well as motor control of eye and body movements.

pons

The middle portion of the brain stem, acting as a bridge connecting different brain areas, involved in regulating sleep, breathing, facial sensations, and motor control.

medulla oblongata

The lowest part of the brain stem, connecting to the spinal cord and responsible for autonomic functions like heartbeat, breathing, swallowing, and blood pressure regulation.

Hippocampus

a critical, seahorse-shaped structure in the limbic system of the brain responsible for consolidating information from short-term to long-term memory, managing spatial navigation, and regulating emotions. It acts as a memory center, processing declarative memories (facts/events) and enabling the ability to navigate familiar environments.

Cerebellum

Also considered "little brain," is primarily responsible for coordinating voluntary movements, maintaining balance, posture, and facilitating motor learning. It fine-tunes motor activities for smooth, precise movement, such as walking or playing an instrument, and plays a role in cognitive functions, including language and attention.

Spinal cord

the primary communication pathway between the brain and the rest of the body, acting as a two-way conduit for nerve signals. As part of the central nervous system, it enables voluntary movement, relays sensory information (touch, pain, temperature) to the brain, and manages fast, involuntary reflexes.

Corpus callosum

It facilitates rapid transmission of sensory, motor, and cognitive information, ensuring coordinated, fluid brain function and integrating visual, auditory, and spatial processing.

Neurotransmitters

They are the molecules used by the nervous system to transmit messages between neurons, or from neurons to muscles. Communication between two neurons happens in the synaptic cleft (the small gap between the synapses of neurons).

excitatory neurotransmitters

increases the likelihood that a receiving neuron will fire an electrical signal (action potential), essentially passing the message along the nervous system by causing the neuron to become more positively charged (depolarization) through the influx of positive ions like sodium. Key examples include glutamate, vital for learning and memory, and epinephrine/norepinephrine, which stimulate the "fight-or-flight" response, making the brain more active and promoting signal transmission.

 inhibitory neurotransmitters

Inhibitory neurotransmitters are chemical messengers that reduce the likelihood of a neuron firing an action potential, essentially acting as a "brake" on brain activity. They maintain neural balance, reduce overstimulation, and are crucial for regulating mood, anxiety, and motor control.

modulatory neurotransmitters

adjust and "tweak" how neurons communicate across the brain, influencing large neural networks rather than single cells. They regulate functions like mood, sleep-wake cycles, arousal, memory consolidation, and motivation by acting slowly to influence the effects of other neurotransmitters.

Reuptake inhibitor

An indirect mechanism that prevents the recycling of neurotransmitters (e.g., serotonin, dopamine) back into the presynaptic neuron, thereby increasing their concentration in the synaptic cleft and strengthening the signal.

Agonist

Binds to a receptor, mimics native ligands, and activates it, causing a biological response. They possess both affinity (binding) and intrinsic efficacy (activating).

Antagonist

Binds to a receptor without activating it, blocking the binding of agonists and preventing their effects. They have affinity but zero intrinsic efficacy.

Inverse Agonist

Binds to the same receptor site as an agonist but reduces the basal, resting activity of the receptor, acting in opposition to an agonist.