Brain structures

What is this and what is its function?

Frontal lobe

Function: Thinking, planning, problem-solving, personality, voluntary movement

What is this and what is its function?

Precentral gyrus

Function: Controls voluntary muscle movements.

What is this and what is its function?

Central sulcus

Function: Separates frontal lobe from parietal lobe.

What is this and what is its function?

Post central gyrus 

Function: Receives and processes sensory information like touch, pain, temperature, pressure, and body position

What is this and what is its function?

Parietal lobe

Function: Processes sensory info, spatial awareness, taste, hearing, sight, touch, and smell

What is this and what is its function?

Lateral sulcus

Function: Deep groove separating temporal lobe from parietal & frontal lobes.

What is this and what is its function?

Occipital lobe

Function: Primary vision area

What is this and what is its function?

Temporal lobe 

Function: 

• Primary hearing and smell areas

• Memory

• Speech perception and recognition (i.e., Wernicke's area - usually in left hemisphere)

What is this and what is its function?

Cerebellum 

Function: 

Balance and coordination

• Coordinates complex movements

• Monitors muscles to ensure fluid movements

What is this and what is its function?

Pons

• Involved in control of sleep and respiration (breathing)

• Transfer of information to and between cerebellar hemispheres

What is this and what is its function?

Medulla oblongata

Function: Contains respiratory, cardiac, and vasomotor centers

Controls vital functions: heart rate, breathing, blood pressure.

What is this and what is its function?

Cerebral cortex

Function: Outer gray matter—thinking, perception, voluntary control.

Anterior association area

Function: Judgment, reasoning, planning, personality, decision making.

What is this

Premotor area

What is the function of the premotor area

Plans and sequences movement before the primary motor cortex executes it.

What is this

Primary motor area

What is the function of the primary motor area (primary motor cortex)

Executes voluntary motor commands to skeletal muscles.

What is this?

primary somatic sensory area (somatosensory cortex)

What is the function of the somatosensory cortex

Interprets somatic sensations: touch, pain, temperature, body position.

What is this

gustatory cortex

What is the function of the gustatory cortex

Taste perception

What is this?

Wernicke’s area

What is the function of the Wernicke’s area?

Understanding speech and language

What is this

posterior association area (posterior parietal cortex)

What is the function of the posterior association area

Integrates sensory inputs into awareness; involved in recognizing patterns, faces, spatial relationships.

What is this

Visual area (Primary visual cortex)

What is the function of the visual area

Receives & processes visual information from the retina.

What is this

Auditory area

What is the function of the auditory area

Processes sound information (pitch, rhythm, volume).

What is this

Broca’s area

What is the function of the broca’s area

it plans and coordinates the muscle movements needed to form words (tongue, lips, vocal cords).

What is this

Thalamus

What is this

Pineal gland

What is the function of the pineal gland

Secretes melatonin to regulate sleep–wake cycles (circadian rhythms).

What is this

Superior colliculi

What is the function of the superior colliculi

Visual reflexes (head/eye movements toward visual stimuli).

What is this

Inferior colliculi

What is the function of the inferior colliculi

Auditory reflexes (head turning toward sound).

What is this

Mammillary body

What is the function of the mamillary body

Involved in memory processing, especially smell-related memories.

What is this

Optic chiasma

What is the function of the optic chiasma

Crossing point of optic nerves; allows visual field crossover.

What is this

Hypothalamus

What is the function of the hypothalamus

Controls homeostasis: temperature, hunger, thirst, autonomic nervous system, hormone regulation.

What is this

Corpus callosum

What is the function of the corpus callosum

Large fiber tract that connects the left and right cerebral hemispheres.

What is this

Pituitary gland

What is the function of the pituitary gland

releases hormones controlling growth, metabolism, reproduction, stress.

What is this

Choroid plexus

What is the function of the choroid plexus

Produces cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) in the ventricles.

What is this

Lateral ventricle

What is the function of the lateral ventricle?

Produce and circulate cerebrospinal fluid, allowing CSF to cushion brain and maintain a stable environment

What is this?

Interventricular foramen

What is the function of the interventricular foramen

Connects each lateral ventricle to the third ventricle

Allows for flow of CSF from lateral ventricles into third ventricle

What is this

Third ventricle

What is the function of the third ventricle

Help circulate CSF

What is this

Cerebral aqueduct

What is the function of the cerebral aqueduct

Allow the flow of cerebrospinal fluid

What is this

Fourth ventricle

What is the function of the fourth ventricle

Continues the circulation of CSF

What is this

Dura mater

What is the function of the dura mater

Serves as a tough, outer protective covering of brain and spinal cord.

What is this?

Arachnoid mater

What is the function of the arachnoid mater

Middle membrane; web-like; holds subarachnoid space with CSF.

What is this

Pia mater

What is the function of the pia mater

Closely adheres to the surface of the brain and spinal cord, contains small blood vessels that help nourish the brain and spinal cord