Brain Fuctions

frontal lobe

Controls cognitive functions; "control panel" of personality and ability to communicate

parietal lobe

Process sensory information about location of body parts; processing spatial information and mathematics

occipital lobe

Vision processing

temporal lobe

Process sensory information and store it as meaningful memories

cerebellum

Coordinates voluntary movements and learned motor behaviors

pons

Regulates REM sleep; conduit for many tracts through the brainstem

corpus callosum

Integrate motor, sensory and cognitive processing between two hemispheres of the brain

thalamus

Relay center for sensory information going to cerebrum

hypothalamus

Links nervous system to endocrine system via pituitary gland; maintains homeostasis

medulla oblongata

Control center for circulation, respiration, and digestion

midbrain

Unconscious motor control, sleep/wake cycles, temperature regulation

Basal ganglia

Habit learning, eye movement, procedural learning

Cerebrum

Performs higher functions (large in humans); includes 4 lobes

Brain stem

Controls the flow of information between brain and body; controls autonomic processes

Amygdala

Perception of emotion; emotional memory

Broca's area

Motor functions for producing language

Prefrontal cortex

Executive functioning and logical reasoning

Premotor cortex

Planning movements

Primary motor cortex

Controls the execution of movements

Limbic System

Motivation, emotion, learning and memory

Hippocampus

Consolidation of short-term to long-term memory; spatial memory

Wernicke's area

Comprehension of language

Primary auditory cortex

Processing sounds

Somatosensory cortex

Receives all sensory input from body for processing