Brain Basics

brain can be divided in 3 units:

• hindbrain

• forebrain

• midbrain

hindbrain location

• upper part of the spinal cord, brain stem and the cerebellum

hindbrain functions

• controls the body’s vital functions

• respiration and heart rate

cerebellum functions

• coordinates movement

• involved in learned movements

midbrain location

• uppermost part of the brainstem

midbrain function

• controls some reflex actions

• control of eye movements

forebrain consists of:

cerebrum

cerebral cortex

• information processing in the brain

• gray matter

• frontal lobe

• behind the forehead

• short-term storage sites

• motor cortex

• plan, control and execute voluntary movement

• parietal lobes

• taste, smell, texture of food

• reading

• arithmetic

• somatosensory cortex

• receive information about temperature, taste, touch and movement from the rest of the body

• occipital lobe

• process images from the eyes

• link info with images stored in memory

• temporal lobes

• receive info from the ears

• forming and retrieving memories

innter brain

• hypothalamus

• hippocampus

• thalamus

hypothalamus

• adrenaline

• emotional center

thalamus

• clearinghouse for information going to and from the spinal cord and cerebrum

hippocampus

• memory indexer

• send memories to appropriate part of the cerebral hemisphere for long term storage

basal ganglia

• intiating and integrating movement

parts of the neuron (3)

• cell body

• dendrites

• axon

myelin sheath

• white matter