parts of the brain

old brain “reptilian brain”

• the brainstem

  • connects your brain to your spinal cord

  • sits near the bottom of your brain

  • helps regulate vital body functions that you don't have to think about, like breathing and your heart rate

  • medulla oblongata

• reticular activating system (ras)

  • in charge of arousal (awake and alert)

• cerebellum “little brain”

  • process our voluntary movements

  • “you can do anything that you set your mind to”

limbic system

• amygdala

  • plays a central role in emotion and in the evaluation of stimuli (fear and aggression)

• thalamus

  • in order for the brain to communicate with another part of the brain it must go through the thalamus

  • serves as a major relay and integration center for sensory information

  • grand central station!

• hypothalamus

  1. the brain of the endocrine system

  2. in charge of the emotion of reward; feeling of accomplishment

  3. helps with homeostasis (body being in balance); controls hunger, thirst, body temperature, and etc.

• hippocampus

  • short-term memories —> long-term memories

  • gives us our internal map (navigation skills)

• corpus callosum

  • band of neural fibers that connect the two hemispheres of the brain allowing them to communicate with one other

  • they transfer information and synchronize the activity between hemispheres

cerebral cortex

• occipital lobe

  • processes our vision

• temporal lobe

  • processes our hearing

• parietal lobe

  • processes our sense of touch

• frontal lobe

  1. in charge of fine motor movement (growing ability to write, draw, etc.)

  2. helps with emotion regulation (demure!)

  3. help with planning and judgement

brain’s contralateral hemispheric organization

• right side of the brain (hemisphere) controls the left side of the body and vice versa

• split brain research:

  

• Mike Gazzaniga and Roger Sperry

• hemispheric specializations

• association areas/functions

  • multiple regions of the brain that have very specific tasks

  • Broca’s Area: in the left frontal lobe and it is in charge of the motor movement of the mouth while speaking; specific to that region as he is still able to write

  • Wernicke’s Area: in charge of language expression and comprehension (auditory and visual)

• brain plasticity

  • the brain's ability to change its structure by creating new neural connections allowing the brain to fix/cope with brain damage

  • age plays a part because young people’s brains are still developing