Studied by 84 PeopleBrainstem
Tags & Description
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