(7) 1.5 The Brain

Cerebral Cortex

The wrinkled outer portion of the brain responsible for higher-level cognitive functions.

Frontal Lobe

Involved in thinking, planning, organizing, problem solving, emotions, behavior, and personality.

Prefrontal Cortex

Responsible for higher-level cognitive functions and executive functioning.

Executive Functioning

Enables individuals to plan, organize, strategize, focus attention, and regulate emotions.

Motor Cortex

Controls voluntary movements.

Somatosensory Cortex

Processes sensations, touch, and temperature pain.

Parietal Lobe

Involved in perception, making sense of the world, math, and spelling.

Occipital Lobe

Responsible for vision.

Temporal Lobe

Involved in memory, understanding, and speaking.

Brainstem

Responsible for automatic survival functions.

Medulla Obongata

Controls heartbeat, breathing, and blood pressure.

Reticular Formation

Controls arousal (alertness) and consciousness (sleep & wake cycles).

Thalamus

Receives information from senses except smell and routes it to the correct brain region.

Cerebellum

Processes sensory input, coordinates movement, balance, and nonverbal learning/memory (skills).