Neuroscience: Key Brain Structures and Endocrine Glands

thyroid

gland that releases hormones important for metabolism, growth, and energy regulation

adrenal glands

glands above the kidneys that release stress and arousal hormones

pituitary

endocrine gland that releases hormones affecting growth and other glands; heavily regulated by the hypothalamus

gonads

reproductive organs

pancreas

organ that helps regulate blood glucose through hormones such as insulin and glucagon

frontal lobe

cortical region important for planning, decision making, coluntary movement, language production, and aspects of personality

cerebral cortex

outerlayer of the cerebrum involved in perception, voluntary action, language, reasoning, and other complex functions

corpus callosum

large bundle of fibers that allows the cerebral hemisphere to communicate

parietal lobe

coritical region invovled in touch/body sense processing and spatial attention

motor cortex

frontal lobe strip that helps initiate and control voluntary movements

prefrontal cortex

front portion of the frontal lobe invovled in executive functions such as planning, inhibition, judgement, and working with goals

auditory cortex

parietal lobe strip that processes touch, pressure, temperature, pain and body position signals

temporal lobe

cortical region important for hearing, language, and emotion

somatosensory cortex

temporal lobe area that processes sound information

occipital lobe

cortical region at the rear of the brain specialized for visual processing

wernekies area

usually left temporal region important for understanding spoken and written language

brocas area

usually left frontal region impotant for producting fluent speech

homeostasis

maintenance of relatively stable internal biological conditions

hyperthalamus

small forebrain region involved in homeostasis, motivation, endocrine control and biological rythms

thalamus

forebrain relay s tation that routes most sensory information to appropriate cortical areas

hippocampus

structure crucial for forming and organizing many new explicit memories

amygdala

limbic structure especially invovled in emotional salience, fear related processing and emotional learning

limbic system

interconnected forebrain structures invovled in emotion motivation and memory

pons

hindbrain structure involved in sleep, arousal, movement coordination, and communication among brain regions

medula

hindbrain structure regulating vital automatic functions such as breathing and heart rate

cerebrum

hindbrain structure important for balance coordination motor learning and some forms of memory

VTA

brainstem network important for arousal, alertness, and sleep wake regulation

substantia nigra

midbrain region involved in movement and dopamine production degeneration is associated with parkinsons syndrome

reticular formation

midbrain dopamine region involved in reward motivation and reinforcement

CT scan

structrual imaging method that cfobines multiple X-ray images into cross sectional pictures

EEG

method that records patterns of electrical activivty from electrodes placed on the scalp

Neuroplasicity

the nervous system's ability to change its structure or function in response to experience, learning, or injury

PET scan

imagin method using a radioactive tracer to estimate activity or metabolism in different brain regions

fmri

imaging method that estimates changes in brain activity by tracking blood-oxygen-level changes over time

MRI

structural imaging method using magnetic fields and radio waves to create detailed images of soft tissue