Brain Directions and Locations

Dorsal

Above neuraxis, midbrain = back of the head

Ventral

Below neuraxis, midbrain = towards chin, chest, and stomach

Anterior/Rostral

Front, midbrain = towards the top

Posterior/Caudal

Back, midbrain = towards the bottom

Medial

Towards the middle of the body (nose)

Lateral

Towards the outside of the body (ears)

Coronal plane/frontal section

Perpendicular to the ground, move from front to back, see the dorsal and ventral parts of the brain and the two cerebral hemispheres, stereotaxic Y axis

Sagittal slices

Perpendicular, shifted 90 degrees, plane moves from ear to ear to get the front and back of the head, top and bottom (dorsal, ventral) of the brain as well as front and back (rostral, caudal), stereotaxic X axis

Horizontal/Axis slices

Flip the plane on its side, parallel to the ground, move from top of head to bottom, front and back (rostral, caudal), two cerebral hemispheres, stereotaxic Z axis

Forebrain

Lateral (telencephalon) and Third (diencephalon) ventricles

Midbrain

Cerebral aqueduct (mesencephalon)

Hindbrain

Fourth (metencenphalon) ventricle and myelencephalon

Pons

On the ventral surface, sleep and arousal, relays information between cerebral cortex and cerebellum via motor relay neurons

Cerebellum

Behind the pons, highly folded area (cerebellar cortex) in the posterior part (behind the brain stem) and underneath the temporal and occipital lobes, motor coordination, relaying motor info through the pons, classical conditioning, memory, and eye blink reflexes

Tectum

Dorsal surface

Tegmentum

Ventral portion

Red nucleus and substantia nigra

More ventral compared to the reticular formation (towards the chin and throat area), produce dopamine, axons of these cells project up into the basal ganglia (initiating, maintaining, and stopping voluntary movement)

Thalamus

Egg shaped oblong structures, processes and relays sensory information, signals sent through projection fibers (axons)

Hypothalamus

In front of and slightly beneath the thalamus, emotional and motivated behaviors (approach or withdrawal, biological drives), four Fs = feeding, fleeing, fighting, and fornicating, connects to the endocrine system = regulates hunger, thirst, and body temperature, involved in the stress response (HPA axis), heavily involved in PTSD and possibly connected to obesity

Amygdala

Anterior (front of) to the hippocampus, almond shaped structure, emotional and social behavior = especially aggression and fear, conditioned emotional memory = reactions to stimuli, involved in a circuit related to emotional processing

Dorsal (above) part of basal ganglia

Receiving and sending signals via the thalamus to allow for voluntary + intentional movements

Ventral (below) part of basal ganglia (ventral striatum/Nucleus Accumbens)

Operant conditioning and rule-guided behavior, reward and motivation, risk-taking behavior, really takes hold of cognition in social situations during adolescents, involved in most mental disorders and neurological diseases

Working memory in the parietal lobe

Correspondence between the dorsal lateral (below and towards the outside) prefrontal cortex and the lateral parietal lobes

Primary visual cortex in the temporal lobe

Dorsal ^

Visual association in the temporal lobe

Ventral v

Primary visual cortex (striate) in occipital lobe

Back by the occipital pole

Dorsal (above) part of anterior (front) cingulate

Error and performance monitoring = sends signals to other parts to adjust attention, awareness, and impulsiveness, response conflict, and attention allocation

Ventral (below) part of anterior (front) cingulate

Responsible for emotional + social information, removing it = misguided emotional responses, Hellen Mayberg = stimulating this area of the brain to try and cure treatment resistant depression

Dorsolateral (above and out) and ventrolateral (below and out) prefrontal cortex

Working memory (consolidation) and response inhibition

Ventromedial (below and middle) prefrontal cortex

Right above eyebrows in the middle, integrates emotional, social, and behavioral information, motivation, focusing on outcomes

Anterior (front) part of insula/insular cortex

Works with the ventrolateral (below and out) prefrontal cortex for response inhibition

Middle and posterior (back) of insula/insular cortex

Feelings and emotional state including cravings, may superimpose body’s internal state with current thoughts = resulting in feeling states

Broca’s area

Posterior (back) ventrolateral (below and out) frontal cortex, language production

Wernicke’s area

Junction of temporal and parietal lobes, language comprehension