Biological Bases of Behavior

Frontal Lobe

Part of the brain responsible for memory, emotions, reasoning, motor skills, higher-level cognition, expressive language, and problem solving.

Parietal Lobe

Responsible for processing sensory information, such as touch, temperature, and pain. Plays a key role in spatial awareness, perception, and object recognition. Involved in motor control and coordination. Located in the upper back region of the brain.

Occipital Lobe

Region located at the back of the brain responsible for visual processing and perception. It helps in recognizing shapes, colors, and objects, as well as processing visual information from the eyes.

Cerebellum

Part of the brain responsible for coordinating movement, balance, and posture. Plays a key role in motor control and muscle coordination.

Temporal Lobe

Brain lobe responsible for processing auditory information, language comprehension, memory formation, and emotional responses. Located on the sides of the brain, above the ears.

Thalamus

Region in the brain that acts as a relay station, transmitting sensory information to the cerebral cortex. Plays a key role in regulating consciousness, sleep, and alertness.

Cerebral Cortex

Outer layer of the brain responsible for higher-level cognitive functions, such as perception, memory, language, and problem-solving. It is divided into four lobes: frontal, parietal, temporal, and occipital.

Corpus Callosum

The largest white matter tract in the brain, connecting the left and right cerebral hemispheres. It allows for communication and coordination between the two sides of the brain (Golden Gate Bridge), enabling integration of sensory, motor, and cognitive functions.

Hypothalamus

Small region in the brain responsible for regulating various bodily functions, such as body temperature, hunger, thirst, and sleep. It also controls the release of hormones from the pituitary gland and plays a role in emotional and behavioral responses.

Hippocampus

Part of the brain responsible for memory formation , storage, and organization, and learning.

Pituitary Gland

Located at the base of the brain, it regulates hormones and controls other endocrine glands. It plays a crucial role in growth, metabolism, reproduction, and stress responses

Midbrain

Part of the brainstem above the pons. It plays a crucial role in relaying sensory and motor information.

Pons

Part of the brainstem, located above the medulla and below the midbrain. Plays a crucial role in relaying information between the cerebrum and the cerebellum, as well as coordinating various motor functions. Involved in sleep, respiration, and facial expressions.

Medulla

Part of the brainstem responsible for vital functions like breathing, heart rate, and blood pressure regulation.

Brainstem

Part of the brain that connects the spinal cord to the rest of the brain. It controls basic functions like breathing, heart rate, and digestion.

Spinal Cord

Part of the central nervous system. Responsible for transmitting signals between the brain and the rest of the body. Involved in reflex actions and coordination of movement.

Brain's Left Hemisphere

Responsible for language processing, logical thinking, and analytical skills. Controls the right side of the body.

Brain’s Right Hemisphere

Responsible for creativity, intuition, spatial awareness, and recognizing faces. Involved in music and art appreciation. Controls left side of the body.

Motor Cortex

receives info from various lobes & uses the info to carry out body movements. generates signals to direct movement of the body. part of the frontal lobe

Broca’s Area

Controls motor functions for speech production and language comprehension. Lower part of left frontal lobe.

Visual Association Cortex

Recognizes lines, angles, shapes, shadows, movement, and other information collected by the eyes.

Somatosensory Cortex

Receives and processes sensory info from the entire body.

Wernicke’s Area

Responsible for the comprehension of speech and planning meaningful speech. Located in the temporal lobe on the left side of the brain.

The Reticular Formation

Network of nerves that carries messages between parts of the brainstem, regulates intensity of pain, and controls some parts of the body. Responsible for focusing on useful sensory info while filtering out unnecessary stimuli.

Limbic System

Network of structures beneath the cerebral cortex that controls emotions like fear and aggression and basic drives like hunger and sex. Supports the formation of episodic memories.

Amygdala

Processes emotion and triggers survival responses (fight-or-flight). It is active during potentially threatening situations. It influences aggression and fear.

Neurons

Nerve cells that receive sensory input, send motor commands to our muscles, and transform and transmit the electrical signals involved in these processes.

Dendrites

Parts of neurons that receive and carry messages from the neuron to the cell they are part of.

Axon

Looks like a long tail; carries electrical impulses within the brain and from the brain to the rest of the body.

Myelin Sheath

Encases some axons to speed up the transmission of electrical impulses

Action Potential

A neural impulse sent out by a neuron to transmit information to another part of the body

Threshold

The stimulation needed to trigger an impulse and initiate an action

Refractory Period

The brief pause after a neuron fires an impulse where another impulse cannot be produced easily

All-or-None Principle

The fact that a neuron is always either firing or not firing an impulse

Synapses

The places where neurons connect and communicate with one another.

Axon Terminals

The swollen ends of axons where contact is made with other nerve cells

Reuptake

The process in which neurotransmitters are absorbed by the neurons that released them

Endorphins

Neurotransmitters that are linked to pain and pleasure and are released when you feel one or the other (or both)

Acetylcholine (ACh)

Neurotransmitter that enables muscle action, learning, and memory. It excites nerve cells, causing them to fire off the proper message.

Dopamine

Neurotransmitter that creates short-term sensations of happiness. It influences movement, emotion, and attention.

Serotonin

Neurotransmitter that creates prolonged sensations of happiness. It influences mood, hunger, sleep, and arousal.

Norepinephrine

Neurotransmitter and hormone that increases heart rate and blood pressure.

GABA

The central nervous system’s primary inhibitory neurotransmitter. It reduces the function of neurons, calming the body, aiding in things like sleep.

Glutamate

Major excitatory neurotransmitter that supports memory, cognition, and mood regulation.

Agonists

Molecules that bind to neurons and mimic the function of certain neurotransmitters. Opioids, for example.

Antagonists

Molecules that bind to neuron receptors but do not activate them and prevent neurotransmitters from activating them.

Central Nervous System (CNS)

Comprised of the brain and spinal cord. It receives, processes, and responds to all sensory information and sends out motor signals.

Peripheral Nervous System

Neurons that connect the Central Nervous System to the rest of the body, carrying messages to and from the CNS.

Sensory (Afferent) Neurons

Neurons that are activated by sensory information from the environment (for example, touching a hot stove) and carry the message from that sensory input to the rest of the nervous system.

Motor (Efferent) Neurons

Neurons that carry messages to the body that tell it to move based on how the brain wants it to.

Interneurons

Neurons within the brain and spinal cord that connect motor and sensory neurons in the spinal cord, allowing them to communicate.

Somatic Nervous System

Allows you to move and control the muscles on your skeleton voluntarily. For example, we can manually change the pace we breathe at.

Autonomic Nervous System

Regulates involuntary movements of our bodies. For example, we do not have to manually breathe or digest food, we do these things automatically.