Major Brain Structures and Regions

Medulla

Controls essential functions like breathing, heartbeat, blood pressure

Cerebellum

Coordinates voluntary movement, balance, and posture

Reticular Activating System (RAS)

Key role in regulating arousal, alertness, and sleep-wake cycle

Pons

Relay station for sensory and motor info, regulates sleep-wake cycle and arousal

Brain’s Reward Center

Usually involves several areas (limbic/frontal) and is crucial for motivation, desire, and pleasure regulation

Thalamus

Directs sensory info (except smell) from body to appropriate areas of brain for processing

Hypothalamus

Regulates vital functions like hunger, thirst, body temp, and homrose release

4 F’s of Survival - Fight, Feed, Flee, Mate

Pituitary Gland

Controls release of hormones from other glands & is crucial in regulating growth, metabolism, and reproductive processes

Hippocampus

Crucial in forming, organizing, and retrieving memories

Converts short term → long term

Amygdala

Processes emotions, specifically fear and aggression

Corpus Callosum

Connects left and right brain hemispheres, letting them communicate and coordinate activities

Occipital Lobe

Processes visual information (think “ocular”)

Temporal Lobe

Processes auditory language and info

Parietal Lobe

Processes sensory info like touch, temperature, and pain

Frontal Lobe

Higher cognitive functions like decision-making, problem-solving, and planning + regulates emotions, personality, behavior

Prefrontal Cortex

Decision-making, planning, reasoning, emotional behavior (not fully developed until mid 20s)

Motor Cortex

Planning and executing voluntary movements

Somatosensory Cortex

Processes sensory info from across the body, creating sensory map that aids our understanding of the physical environment

Broca’s Area

Crucial for speech production, helps us form words and sentences more effectively

Wernicke’s Area

Language comprehension, processes both spoken and written forms, allowing us to understand when someone speaks to us

Aphasia

Caused by damage to Wernicke’s or Broca’s Area, impairs a person’s ability to communicate and affects speech, comprehension, and reading/writing