Psych Parts of the Brain quiz

Brainstem

Automatic survival functions; oldest & innermost region; at the top of the spinal cord

Medulla

Involuntary functions (breathing, heart rate, digestion, vomit reflex)

Reticular Formation

In charge of arousal & attention; could cause coma if damaged; it's a network of neurons in the brainstem

Pons

Coordinates movement on left and right sides of the body; helps with falling asleep

Cerebellum

Controls voluntary movements; helps with coordination & balance; where "muscle" (procedural) memories are stored

Thalamus

Relay station or post office; takes all sensory information and sends it to the appropriate lobe (except smell)

Limbic system

System of neural structures at the border of the brainstem and cerebral hemispheres; associated with emotions & drives

Amygdala

Emotional center; primarily fear and aggression; identifies emotions from facial expressions

Hippocampus

Helps us form new memories (the water slide); transfers short-term memories to long-term

Hypothalamus

Maintains homeostasis (temperature regulation; water & salt regulation); links endocrine system to brain; in charge of drives (hunger, thirst, sex, sleep); contains pleasure center

Cerebral cortex

Intricate fabric of interconnected neural cells; ultimate information processing center; contains 20-23 billion nerve cells

Frontal lobe

Intellect; moral compass; reasoning; planning; contains motor strip/cortex, prefrontal cortex (helps with working memory)

Motor cortex

Controls voluntary movements; located in frontal lobe; sides of the cortex control the opposite side of the body

Parietal lobe

Contains sensory cortex; spatial relations; kinesthetic sense; recognizing your own body

Sensory cortex

Registers & processes body sensations (touch, pain, pressure, temperature); front of the parietal lobe, behind the motor cortex

Temporal lobe

Contains the auditory cortex (processes everything you're hearing); located above the ears; helps with memory (pool at the end of cerebellum's slide), emotion, face recognition

Occipital lobe

Includes visual cortex, receives information from the opposite visual field

Association areas

Areas of cerebral cortex involved in higher mental functions like learning, remembering, thinking, speaking; responsible for integrating & acting on information received & processed by sensory areas

Broca's area

Controls speech production; directs muscle movements involved in speech; located in left frontal lobe

Wernicke's area

Controls speech reception; involved in language comprehension & expression; located in left temporal lobe

Angular gyrus

Takes letters/words & makes them sounds; received visual info from visual cortex & transforms it into the auditory form & sends it to Wernicke's area; located near the back of the temporal lobe