The Brain

brainstem

Responsible for automatic survival functions.

medulla

Controls heartbeat and breathing.

pons

Coordinates movement.

reticular activating system (RAS)

Maintains consciousness and alertness, functions in sleep and arousal.

thalamus

Receives and delivers all sensory messages except smell.

cerebellum

Helps coordinate voluntary movement and balance.

hippocampus

Involved in memory processing.

amygdala

Deals with aggression (fight) and fear (flight).

hypothalamus

Regulates hunger, thirst, body temperature, pleasure, and the pituitary gland.

frontal lobes

Involved in judgement, planning, and processing new memories.

motor cortex

Controls speaking and muscle movement.

parietal lobe

Home to the somatosensory cortex.

occipital lobe

Receives visual information.

temporal lobe

Receives auditory information.

left hemisphere

Responsible for language, math, and logic.

right hemisphere

Responsible for art, creativity, and emotions.

corpus callosum

Bundle of nerve fibers connecting the two hemispheres.

functional plasticity

Shifting functions from damaged to undamaged parts of the brain.

structural plasticity

Ability to change the physical structure of the brain.

Broca’s area

Region in the left frontal lobe responsible for speech production.

Wernicke’s area

Region in the left temporal lobe responsible for speech comprehension.

aphasia

Difficulty with processing and comprehending spoken and written words.