Neuroanatomy + Parts of the brain

  • anterior/rostral

    • toward the front

  • posterior/caudal

    • toward the rear

  • dorsal

    • top of the back/upper 

  • ventral

    • toward the front/lower

  • contralateral

    • on opposite sides of the body

  • Coronal

    • plane showing brain structures from the front

  • Sagittal

    • shows brain structures from the side

    • Midsaggital

      • cuts exactly through the midline of the brain to produce 2 equal halves

  • Horizontal

    • shows brain structure as seen from above

  • Localization of brain

    • functions both distributed and localized

      • behavior results from interaction of widespread areas of the brain

  • Gyrus - ridges 

  • Sulcus- infoldings

  • Medulla Oblongata

    • most inferior part of brainstem

    • respiration/cardiovascular function

    • vasodilation

      • widening of blood vessels

    • vomiting, sneezing, coughing, swallowing

    • IMPORTANT

      • maintains open airway

      • controls heart rate

    • Damage

      • usually results in death

  • Pons

    • sleep

      • dreaming + REM 

    • respiration

    • swallowing

    • bladder control

    • relays signals

      • audition

        • hearing

      • equilibrium 

      • taste

      • eye movement

      • facial expressions/sensation

      • posture

    • Damage

      • Locked-In Syndrome

        • caused due to stroke, tumor, or trauma

        • person is fully conscious/aware but unable to move/communicate except for eyes

  • Cerebellum

    • coordinates voluntary movement

      • walking, posture, speech, etc

    • learning motor skills

    • Damage

      • loss of coordination + slurred speech

      • balance problems

      • difficulty with precise movements

  • Corpus Callosum

    • large bundles of fibers

    • Connects corresponding parts of one side of the brain with the other

    • Damage

      • epilepsy → neurons one side become overactive → transmitted by corpus callosum → epileptic seizure

        • cutting corpus callosum reduced frequency of seizures

      • sensory disturbances

      • split-brain syndrome

        • conflicting thoughts/actions due to lack of brain communication

  • Hypothalamus + pituitary gland

    • hormone release

      • body temperature

      • drinking/feeding

      • sex behavior

      • fight or flight

        • 4 Fs

    • Damage

      • hormonal imbalance

      • body temperature regulation issues

      • extreme hunger/loss of appetite + dehydration/excessive water retention

      • sexual dysfunction

  • Thalamus

    • sensory relay area

      • except olfaction (smell)

    • Damage

      • sensory disturbances

        • numbness/tingling/burning

        • loss/altered sensation on one side of body

  • Hippocampus

    • episodic memory

      • short-term memory

    • spatial processing

      • ability to understand relationship between objects in space

    • Damage

      • inability to form new memories

      • short term memory loss

      • loss of spatial memory

      • Patient HM

  • Amygdala

    • perceiving/experiencing emotional behaviors and feelings

      • fear, anger, aggression, desire

    • emotional memory/learning

      • fear conditioning

      • appetitive condition

      • memory of social information

    • Damage

      • Patient SM

      • lack of fear/ability to learn from fear

      • impaired social interactions

      • emotional blunting

  • Nucleus Accumbens

    • “reward center” of brain

    • key target for addictive substances

    • Damage

      • reduced motivation/impaired award reponsiveness

      • greater susceptibility to addiction

  • Lobes of the brain

    • occipital

      • visual cortex

      • damage

        • visual field defects

        • hallucinations

        • color blindness

        • distorted images

    • temporal

      • auditory cortex

      • highest order olfactory (smell) processing

      • memory encoding pathways

      • language comprehension

      • “what” pathway of vision

      • Damage

        • Capgras syndrome

          • family replaced by imposters

        • auditory processing problems

        • altered sense of times

        • cannot remember new information

    • parietal

      • spatial perception

      • “where” pathway of vision

      • somatosensory cortex 

        • post-central gyrus

          • recieves/integrates sensory signals from skin, muscles, joints, and internal organs

            • touch, pressure, pain, temperature, body awareness

      • Damage

        • hemilateral neglect

        • attention problems

        • spatial disorientation

        • agnosia

    • frontal

      • motor cortex 

        • pre-central gyrus

          • controls voluntary movements

      • motor planning/timing

      • language production

      • some cognitive aspects

        • emotion, affect

      • Pre-frontal

        • problem solving, judgement, high-order thinking, decision-making, emotionality, personality, socialization, creativity, etc

      • Damage

        • personality shift

        • movement paralysis

        • impulsivity

  • Broca’s Area

    • language production

    • Damage

      • Broca’s aphasia

      • difficulty producing fluent speech 

  • Wernicke’s Area

    • language comprehension

    • Damage

      • Wernicke’s aphasia

      • difficulty understanding language 

  • Callostomy (Split Brain Surgery)

    • surgical procedure involving cutting off part/all of the corpus callosum

    • used to treat seizures, brain tumors, cerebral palsy

    • Possible risks

      • coordination and balance

      • cognitive problems

      • weakness/numbness in one side of body