AP Psychology - The Brain and Limbic system

made for the new curriculum

What is the function of the brain stem

controls heart beat, breathing, and sleep cycles

what is the function of the frontal lobe

decision making, problem solving, motor planning, voluntary movements, behavior + emotions and personality

Temporal lobe

processes auditory information, emotional response, memory (encodes and retrieves episodic memories), language comprehension, and organization.

what lobe of the brain is responsible for equilibrium + balance, as well as coordination?

cerebellum

Occipital lobe:

visual interpretation/perception - basic visual data

Parietal lobe:

processes visual information, spacial awareness

cerebral cortex

frontal, temporal, occipital, parietal lobes, cerebellum and brain stem. - “outer brain”

somatosensory cortex

in parietal lobe, processes sense of touch

limbic area

Reward center - processes pleasurable experiences

Amygdala

processes emotions, fight or flight response

Thalamus

director of the entire brain. Processes + relays sensory information to the cerebral cortex

Hippocampus

forming and consolidating new memories

pituitary gland

“master gland” - coordinates hormone activity

hypothalamus

regulates homeostastis

corpus callasum

band of nerves that connects left & right hemispheres