brain anatomy and function

thalamus

relays for sensory info

hypothalamus

emotions,drives like hunger and thirst, hormones, homeostasis (hooks to pituitary)

pituitary

primary link between nervous and endocrine system

midbrain

processes visual and auditory info and involuntary muscles; arousal from sleep, awareness, eating, sleeping attention

pons

motor control, connects cerebellum to brain stem

medulla oblongata

regulates heart rate, blood pressure, respiration and digestion, connects brain to spinal cord; vital centers

cerebrum

largest region of the brain, contains: conscious thoughts, sensations, intellect, memory and complex movements (many divisions called lobes)

somatic motor association area

[cerebrum lobe that] coordinates learned movements, speech

primary motor cortex

[cerebrum lobe that] directs voluntary movements to motor neurons

primary sensory cortex

[cerebrum lobe that] receives sensory input: touch, pressure, pain and temperature

frontal lobe

[cerebrum lobe that] taste, predicts future consequences of actions, abstract intellectual functions, feelings of frustration, tension and anxiety

parietal lobe

[cerebrum lobe that] sensory analysis of your body in space, processes external sensory input; allows you to recognize a touch as light as a mosquito on your skin

occipital lobe

[cerebrum lobe that] visual processing and visual memory

temporal lobe

[cerebrum lobe that] hearing, memory of sounds, speech, and understanding speech

olfactory bulb

interprets smell

cerebellum

timing, coordination, stored memories

optic chiasma

where optic nerves cross

corpus callosum

joins the two hemispheres of the brains allowing communication

longitudial fissure

divides left and right cerebral hemispheres

brain stem

important processing center and relay station for info headed to or from cerebrum or cerebellum

fold in brain

gyri

depressions in brain

sulci

Central Nervous System

brain and spinal cord

Peripheral Nervous System

everything except brain and spinal cord; divided into Somatic Nervous Sytem and Autonomic Nervous System

Somatic Nervous Sytem

[part of Peripheral Nervous System that] moves skeletal muscles

Autonomic Nervous System

[part of Peripheral Nervous System that] moves smooth/cardiac muscles and affects fat and glands

gray matter

neuron cell bodies (lines outside of brain)

white matter

neuron axons (inside of brain)

neuroglia

aka glial cells; support neurons by regulating environment and destroying pathogens; several types exist

sensory neurons

afferent; pick up on external or internal environments
ex: taste, pain. touch

motor neurons

efferent; cause movement of smooth, skeletal, or cardiac muscle

interneurons

only in brains and spinal cord; link nerves in reflex arch, may play a role in memory

dendrite

[part of neuron that] receives message

axon

[part of neuron that] continues messages to synaptic terminals