Brain Functions and neurotransmitters

Hindbrain

Hindbrain

-L: located on top of our spinal cord: cerebellum, pons, and medulla

-F: controls basic biological structures

Brainstem

-L: base of the brain at the top of the spinal cord

-F: automatic, survival functions:

• sends and receives info

• severe damage to brainstem results in death

-oldest and innermost part

Spinal Cord

-L: starts at the base of brain and runs down the spine

-F: pathway for nerve fibers to carry info

• connects brain to rest of body

Hindbrain-Medulla (oblongata)

-L: above spinal cord, below pons

-F: heart rate, blood pressure, and breathing

• reflexes (sneezing, coughing, vomiting, and swallowing)

Hindbrain- pons

-L: above medulla on brainstem

-F: controls sleep, dreams, and facial expressions

• connects multiple brain areas (medulla and cerebellum)

• info processing

• involved in control of breathing

• coordinates movement

Hindbrain-cerebellum

-”little brain”

-L: base of the brain, size of baseball

-F: balance of smooth and coordinated movements, fine motor movements

• procedural (implicit) memory

• judgements, emotions, discriminate, sounds/textures

Midbrain

-L: above the hindbrain, very small in humans

-F: coordinates simple movement with sensory info

Midbrain- Reticular Formation

-L: finger-line shape through the brain stem

-F: arousal/consciousness to stimuli (awake-sleep cycle, not sexual)

-damage will put you in coma

-reflexes, breathing, and pain perception

Forebrain

-L: all brain parts except for brainstem and cerebellum

-largest part of the brain-most of it

-F: allows for the complex thoughts and behaviors unique to humans

-Tip: foremost of importance

Cerebrum

-L: all brain parts except for brainstem and cerebellum (85% of the brain)

-F: all brain processes except for basic survival functions

• the internal layer of the cerebrum is made up of the axons of neurons and glial cells

• white matter

Cerebral Cortex

-L: ¼ inch wrinkled outer layer of the whole brain; 20-30 billion nerve cells are located here

-F: all higher mental functions (thought and planning)

• ultimate control and info processing

-made up of the cell bodies of neurons called gray matter

-like a helmet

Corpus Callosum

-L: rainbow shape, like a bridge from back and front of brain

-F: bundle of neurons (axons) connecting the two cerebral hemispheres for communication

Limbic system

a system of brain structures and neural networks involved in processing emotion and long term memory

Amygdala

• processes emotion especially fear and aggression

• triggers flight or fight in response to danger

• helps read other people’s emotions

• helps store memories from emotional situations

Hippocampus

• stores information into long-term memory

• stores spatial memory (navigation + location of objects)

Hypothalamus

• regulates autonomic nervous system

• monitors + regulates body temp, hunger, thirst, and sexual responses

• hormones alert hypothalamus of bodily states

• directs other glands to release hormones in response

Lateral Hypothalamus

• regulates feelings of hunger

  -damage can cause you to never feel hungry

Ventromedial hypothalamus

• regulates feelings of satiety (fulness)

  -damage can cause you to never feel full

prefrontal cortex

• judgement

• planning

• reasoning

• problem solving

• involved in personality

Motor cortex

L: in the rear of the frontal lobes

F: Controls voluntary movement

• areas with more precise movement occupy more cortical space

Broca’s area

-L: in the left frontal lobe next to motor cortex

-F: speech production

Parietal lobes

• processes somatosensory input (touch, pressure, temp, and pain)

• helps with spatial orientation (where you are and how you’re positioned)

Somatosensory cortex

L: behind motor cortex

F: processes body movement and sensations

Temporal lobe

-L: behind ears

-F: involved in hearing, language processing, and storage of long-term memory

• connects to the limbic system

Primary Auditory Cortex

-L: in the frontal lobe

-F: main site of auditory perception and processing

Wernicke’s area

-L: in temporal lobe

-F: involved in comprehension of written and spoken language

Right Fusiform gyrus

-L: temporal lobe

-F: allows us to recognize human faces

Occipital lobe

-L: back of brain

-F: processes visual info from eyes

norepinephrine

-Type: excitatory

-Function: helps control alertness and arousal, fight or flight

-Surplus: anxiety

-Deficit: depression

dopamine

-Type: inhibitory

-Function: influences movement, learning, attention, and emotion

-Surplus: schizophrenia

-Deficit: parkinson’s disease

endorphins

-Type: inhibitory

-Function: influences perceptions of pain and pleasure

-Surplus: artificial highs and inadequate responses to pain

-Deficit: depression, potential involvement in addiction

acetylcholine

-Type: Excitatory

-F: activates skeletal muscles and carries our voluntary movements

• involved in memory formation and learning.

-deficit: lead to alzheimer’s disease or paralysis- limited mobility

-surplus- violent muscle spasms and contractions

serotonin

-Type: inhibitory

-Function: regulates mood, sleep, digestion

-Surplus: seizures and hallucination

-deficit: depression, mood disorders

Glutamate

-Type: excitatory

-Function: main excitatory neurotransmitter and involved in memory

-Surplus: overstimulate the brain, migraines, or seizures

-Deficit: none

GABA

-Type: inhibitory

-Function: major inhibitory neurotransmitter, regulates sleep-wake cycle

-surplus: sleep and eating disorder

-Deficit: seizures, tremors, insomnia, and huntington’s disease