NSCI 201 Lab Practical

spinal cord

relay station: receiving incoming sensory + sending out motor to muscle

• responsible for some reflexes

medulla

vital reflexes such as heart rate, respiration, circulation, swallowing, vomiting

cranial nerves

terminate (sensory) or originate (motor) in medulla

cerebellum

muscle coordination + synchronization

receives sensory + motor input and provides motor areas of midbrain + thalamus

inferior cerebellar peduncle

brings information from spinal cord and medulla

middle cerebellar peduncle

carries information from pons

superior cerebellar peduncle

carries major output from cerebellum to forebrain areas

cerebral peduncles

links spinal cord with telencephalon

tegmentum

regulation of respiration, fluid balance, arousal level

reticular formation

control of sleep and wakefulness

superior colliculi

receive direct input from retina — visual processing

• peripheral vision, orienting reflexes, visuomotor coordination

inferior colliculi

auditory system

thalamus

receives input every sensory system + sends processed info to cerebral cortex

• receives input about ongoing motor movement + sends info back to motor areas of cortex

optic chiasm

receives visual information contralaterally

hypothalamus

receives input from sensory systems + involved in attaching motivational significance to environmental stimuli

corpus callosum

connects the two cerebral hemispheres

paleocortex

direct connection with olfactory bulbs

hippocampus

limbic system; controls motivation + levels of arousal + involved in memory processes

rhinal fissure

separates neocortex and paleocortex

anterior commissure

fiber pathway that connects the olfactory cortex and parts of temporal lobe in one hemisphere with the same structures of the opposite hemisphere

pineal gland

controls secretion of hormone melatonin, important in regulating sleep + circadian rhythms

stria medullaris

provides input to the habenula

habenula

appears to serve as link between areas involved in emotion and motor systems