The Brain

PartFunctionLocation
frontal lobevoluntary movement, expressive language, managing higher level executive functionsdirectly behind the forehead
temporal lobeprocesses auditory information, encoding of memorybehind the ears
parietal lobeprocesses somatosensory information (touch, pain, temperature, limb position)near the back and top of the head
occipital lobevisual perception (color, form, motion)the back of the head
cerebellummuscle control, balance and movement, walking, posture, coordination, eye movements, speechthe back of the head just above and behind where the spinal cord connects to the brain
motor cortexgenerate signals to direct the body’s movementfrontal lobe, left and right hemispheres
visual cortexreceive, segment, and integrate visual informationoccipital lobe, left and right hemispheres
auditory cortexintegrating and processing complex auditory signals (language comprehension)temporal lobe, left hemisphere
sensory cortexprocess and make information out of our five sensesparietal lobe, left and right hemispheres
cerebral cortexhigher-level processes (language, memory, reasoning, thought, learning, decision-making, emotion, intelligence, personality)frontal, parietal, temporal, and occipital lobes, left and right hemispheres
corpus callosumensures both sides of the brain can communicate with each otherbetween left and right hemispheres
hypothalamus manage body temperature, hunger and thirst, mood, sex drive, blood pressure, and sleepbelow thalamus, above pituitary gland
thalamusprocesses information before sending it to the cerebral cortexmiddle of the brain
hippocampuslearning, memorytemporal lobe, left and right hemispheres
amygdalaprocessing fearful and threatening stimulimedial temporal lobe, left and right hemispheres
Broca’s areaspeech production and articulationfrontal lobe, left hemisphere
Wernicke’s arealanguage comprehension, specifically speech soundstemporal lobe, left hemisphere
angular gyrusattention, self-processing, semantic information processing, emotion regulation, mentalizingparietal lobe, left and right hemispheres
What areas are in the limbic system?Amygdala, hippocampus, thalamus, hypothalamus, basal ganglia, cingulate gyrus