The Cerebrum and Neuron Anatomy

This set of vocabulary flashcards covers the functional lobes of the cerebrum, major surface landmarks of the brain, and the structural components of a typical neuron as presented in Ch 14 and Ch 12 lecture materials.

Frontal lobe

Brain region responsible for abstract thought, explicit memory, mood, motivation, foresight and planning, decision making, emotional control, social judgment, voluntary motor control, and speech production.

Parietal lobe

Brain region involved in taste, somatic sensation, sensory integration, visual processing, spatial perception, language processing, and numerical awareness.

Insula

A lobe of the cerebrum associated with taste, pain, visceral sensation, consciousness, emotion and empathy, and cardiovascular homeostasis.

Occipital lobe

The posterior brain region dedicated to visual awareness and visual processing.

Temporal lobe

Brain region involved in hearing, smell, emotion, learning, language comprehension, memory consolidation, verbal memory, and visual and auditory memory.

Precentral gyrus

The primary motor cortex located in the frontal lobe, anterior to the central sulcus, responsible for voluntary motor control.

Postcentral gyrus

A fold in the parietal lobe immediately posterior to the central sulcus, associated with somatic sensation.

Central sulcus

The groove that separates the frontal lobe from the parietal lobe.

Lateral sulcus

A deep groove that separates the temporal lobe from the overlying frontal and parietal lobes.

Brainstem

The part of the brain that includes the midbrain, pons, and medulla oblongata.

Longitudinal cerebral fissure

A deep cleft that separates the two cerebral hemispheres along the midline.

Dendrites

Branch-like extensions of a neuron that receive signals and convey them toward the cell body.

Axon

The long thread-like part of a nerve cell along which impulses are conducted away from the cell body.

Trigger zone

The region of a neuron, consisting of the axon hillock and initial segment, where nerve impulses are typically initiated.

Axon hillock

A cone-shaped elevation of the cell body from which the axon originates.

Myelin sheath

An insulating layer around an axon that increases the speed of nerve impulse transmission.

Schwann cell

A glial cell that wraps around axons in the peripheral nervous system to form the myelin sheath.

Myelin sheath gap

Spaces on the axon between segments of the myelin sheath where the axon is exposed.

Axon collateral

A branch that originates from the main axon of a neuron.

Internodal segments

The sections of an axon that are covered by the myelin sheath.