The Brain & Its Functions

Opening Notes * Interest and research in the brain is at an completely-time pace The cure for some common diseases such as Alzheimers, Parkinsons and Multiple Sclerosis has accelerated the efforts of many scientists * Many of the names for the objet darts of the brain have come from Latin and Grecian words * The easiest way to bunco about the brain is to tonus at it as three divisions the hindbrain, the midbrain and the forebrain * Modern imaging has allowed us to study the brain and locate where grave functions are occurring * Functions do not happen in just one plain of the brainMany neural layers and areas are found in any one action that happens. * Some areas do appear to be predominantly pertain in certain functions. The hindbrain * The hindbrain is located where the spinal cord goes into the cranium * The branch area that we prove if the medulla. It is the swelling at the tip of the spinal cord. * It is concerned with all of our automatic functioning, such as breathi ng, heart rate and swallowing medulla controls all involuntary responses * reticular formation regulates residual and wakefulness reticular formation regulates sleep and wakefulnessInside the medulla is the reticulum activation system It is concerned with arousal, attention and sleep * The second part of the hindbrain that we see is the cerebellum Is sometimes called the small brain cerebellum controls ordinated motor activity e. g when you first learn to ride a bike, you have to think about everything you do. After you learn to ride a bike, it becomes totally automatic, and that is because of the cerebellum * The bordering part that we see is the ponsPons means bridgework in Greek and thats exactly what the pons is * It is a bridge taking in all of our sensory(a) information and taking it to the cerebral cortex to be interpreted. pons the bridge from brainstem to cortex The midbrain * The midbrain takes all of the incoming neural information and channels it to the correct par t of the cortex to be interpreted. * It is also involved in muscle tone and helps in sleep, wakefulness and attention. The forebrain * It is the virtually complicated part of the brain, and it is what separates us as human beings from other animals. When we first look inside the skull, what we see is the cerebrum. * The cerebrum is composed of two parts called cerebral hemispheres the right side and the left wing side * The outer covering of the cerebrum is called the cortex * It is made up of what is called convolutions the worm-like structures that you see when you look at the brain convolutions folds in the brain that store memories * We can look at the cortex in another way and divide the cortex into four sections called lobes function of the lobe is to interpret information coming in from our senses cortex surface layer of brainLobes * Located in the back of the head is the occipital lobe. * The occipital lobe processes visual information, or what we see. occipital lobe int erprets visual information * Coming to the top of the head is the parietal lobe. * The parietal lobe processes information on pain, touch, temperature and insistence parietal lobe interprets temperature, pain, pressure and touch * Located on the sides of our head, right above our ears, are the temporal lobes. * The temporal lobes process auditory information, emotion, and have a part in reminiscence temporal lobe interprets auditory information Located right above our forehead is our window dressing lobe it is the largest part of the cortex and the part of our brain that makes us human. * It is involved in speech production, logical and rational thought, and has the ability to understand and plan the future. frontal lobe controls speaking, thought and future planning * There are two areas behind the frontal lobe. * The first one is the motor cortex and it interprets our muscular sensations. motor cortex controls voluntary movements Right behind it is the sensory cortex and it is the part of the cortex that tries to coordinate all of the information coming in from all of our senses. sensory cortex processes body sensations Inside of the cerebrum is the limbic system * The limbic system is a uninitiate part of the cerebral cortex. It is made up of several parts that have a function in the everyday working of the brain * The first part is the corpus callosum. corpus callosum connects the hemispheres of the brain * It is a band of nerve fibers that hold the right and left hemisphere together. It allows the right side of our brain to know what the left side is doing, and the left side to know what the right side is doing. * The second structure is the thalamus. The thalamus is sort of a relay center of the brain. * It takes in all of the sensory information and takes it to the cortex to be interpreted, and takes it from the cortex back to the spinal cord to get back to the body. thalamus relay station for visual, auditory and somatosensory information * The nex t part is the hypothalamus. The hypothalamus controls all of our drives and tries to maintain homeostasis homeostasis is an equilibrium at which our body functions best. hypothalamus controls drives such as hunger, thirst and sex * The next structure is the genus Hippocampus. * The hippocampus is very all-important(prenominal) in the processing of our short-term memories into long-term memories. * This is the part of the brain that is first attacked by the disease Alzheimers. * The hippocampus also helps us in facial recognition. hippocampus stores short term memories and takes them to long term memories * The next part is the corpus amygdaloideum. The amygdala adds emotion to memory. * It also has a direct role in the formation of our memories. amygdala holds emotion and emotion laden memories Located inside our frontal lobe are two areas that help in our speech production * The first is Brocas area. For most people, all right-handed people, and most left-handed people, Brocas are a is located in the left hemisphere. Brocas area controls our ability to speak * This allows us to speak. It coordinates what we require to say with our tongues and our muscles. The next area is located a little bit behind Brocas area more toward the temporal lobe is Werniches area. * Werniches area allows us to understand what is spoken to us. Werniches area creates the understanding of written and spoken language Lateralization in Epilepsy Patient * Patients with severe epilepsy have allowed us to discover another important concept about our brains. * To help severe epileptics when drugs failed, a dramatic operation was performed and it involved cutting the corpus callosum. Separating the hemispheres allows the seizures to be localize and not spread from hemisphere to the other. Split-brain patients learn that the hemispheres will have distinct, different functions this is called lateralization. Hemispheres * The left hemisphere controls the right side of the body. * It also coo rdinates our language abilities because it has both Brocas area and Wernickes area in it. * The left side is also the logical, rational brain and excels in such areas as science and math. left hemisphere controls language, logic and sequential tasks * The right hemisphere controls the left side of the body. It excels in spatial abilities. * It is our artistic and musical part of our brain. It also has a function in detecting and emoting emotions. * In all but split-brain patients, we use all of our brains and both hemispheres since they communicate with each other. * The right hemisphere knows what is happening in the left hemisphere, and the left hemisphere knows whats going on in the right hemisphere. right hemisphere controls spatial-visual tasks, facial recognition and creativity Extra Keywords (NEED TO KNOW THESE) * septum controls and create rageful mien * cerebrum the largest part of the brain divided into two hemispheres