Psych CH 2 - Parts of the Brain

Medulla

Base of brainstem; controls heartbeat and breathing, swallowing, vomiting, urination and orgasm.

Pons

Connects the medulla to the two sides of the cerebellum. Sleep and arousal and coordinating movements between left and right brain.

Substantia Nigra

Controls voluntary movements and initiating movements. Involved in production of dopamine

Fusiform Face Area

Facial Recognition. Part of brain dedicated to recognizing people's faces; different patterns represent different people

Primary Auditory Cortex

Hearing. Receives and processes sounds from both ears.

Parts of the Hindbrain

Involved in breathing, heartbeat, swallowing, moving. 1. Medulla 2. Cerebellum 3. Pons

Parts of the Midbrain

Involved in reflexive movement of eyes and body. 1. Substantia Nigra

Hypothalamus

Lying below the thalamus. Regulates body temperatures, sleeping, waking, blood pressure, blood sugar. Involved in rewards like drinking, eating, aggression, and intimacy.

Primary Motor Cortex

Motor actions. A strip of neural tissue at the rear of the frontal lobe that is specifically involved in controlling voluntary bodily movements

Basal Ganglia

Motor planning, movement, reward. A portion of the forebrain that coordinates muscle movement and routes information from the cortex to the brain and spinal cord.

Prefrontal Cortex

Part of frontal lobe responsible for rational thought. Self control, planning, and language, social processes, multitasking.

Broca's Area

Small portion of the left frontal region of the brain, crucial for speech.

Lobes of the Forebrain (Cerebral Cortex)

1. Frontal Lobe 2. Parietal Lobe 3. Occipital Lobe 4. Temporal Lobe

Hippocampus

A curved forebrain structure, seahorse-like shape. Controls formation of new memories, involved in remembering placement of locations and objects in space.

Frontal Lobe

A region of the forebrain that has specialized areas for movement, abstract thinking, planning, memory, and judgement

Parietal Lobe

A region of the forebrain whose functions include processing information about touch, spatial relations.

Amygdala

Associates things with emotional responses. Intensifies memory during emotional states. Recognizes facial expressions.

Primary Visual Cortex

Vision. The region of the cerebral cortex that receives information from the visual system; located in the occipital lobe

Occipital Lobe

Vision. A region of the forebrain that processes visual information

Parts of the Forebrain

Involved in thinking, movement, emotions, reward, senses, and memories. 1. Thalamus 2. Hypothalamus 3. Hippocampus 4. Amygdala 5. Basal Ganglia 6. Cerebral Cortex

Cerebellum

Located behind medulla and pons. Controls fine motor coordination, balance, motor learning, and motor memory. Involved in making plans, remembering, using language, experiencing emotion.

Processing Areas of the Forebrain (Cerebral Cortex)

1. Prefrontal Cortex 2. Primary Motor Cortex 3. Primary Somatosensory Cortex 4. Primary Visual Cortex 5. Fusiform Face area 6. Primary Auditory Cortex

Temporal Lobe

Hearing, An area on each hemisphere of the forebrain near the temples that is the primary receiving area for auditory information, also memory.

Thalamus

Sensory gateway for sensory information. Receives almost all sensory information, organizes, and relays to cortex.

Cerebral Cortex

The outer layer of the forebrain. Left Hemisphere responsible for logic, thought and language. Right hemisphere responsible for spatial relationships, locations, objects around you.

Primary Somatosensory Cortex

Touch. Involved in muscle-stretch and joint receptors