Structure and function; the role of the cerebral cortex

Midbrain

Seated above the hindbrain but below the forebrain. It is responsible for the regulation of sleep, motor movement and arousal.

The pons

Seated above the medulla, and received information sent from visual areas to control eye and body actions.

Primary somatosensory cortex

The ______ ____________ ______ received and processes sensory information from the skin and body. -located at the front of the parietal lobe, next to the primary motor cortex. -enables us to perceive bodily sensations such as touch, pressure, temperature, muscles, joints. -integrates sensory information particularly defending spatial sense and navigation.

Thalamus

The ______ also has a role of determining which of the incoming sensory information is the most important for us to pay attention to.

Broca's area

-an association area of the frontal lobe -responsible for the movement of mouth muscles for the articulation of words, or production of fluent speech in a meaningful way. -controls the muscles of the face, tongue, jaw and throat -crucial role in the production of speech

Frontal lobe

-largest of the lobes -occupies the upper forward half of each cerebral hemisphere -located right behind the forehead, at the front of your brain

Broca's area

A further special function we cover within the frontal lobe particularly looking at language. Located at the left frontal lobe ONLY in the bottom part of the frontal lobe next to the primary motor cortex.

Corpus callosum

A set of neural fibres that bridge the gap between the two. Each hemisphere has a central fissure that runs from the top of each hemisphere and down the sides, separating the front of the cerebral cortex from the rear.

Hypothalamus

A small structure that has a very important role in the control of basic survival actions: sleep, regulation of body temperature, expression of emotions, as the four F's - feeding, fighting, fleeing and fornication.

Primary cortexes

All lives have certain functions, that they are deemed largely responsible for. These are further sections within each of the love that are highly specialised within the functions. These are called ________ ________.

Reticular formation

Although mostly situated as part of the midbrain, it is in fact a network or neurons that is part of both the midbrain and hindbrain, as well as connecting the hindbrain and forebrain. Important in the control of arousal and the 'sleeping and waking' cycle.

Brain

Brain

Cerebrum

Covered by a thin layer known as the cerebral cortex, and divided into the left and right hemispheres. These are separated by the longitudinal fissure - a deep groove that runs from the front to the rear of the cortex.

Corpus callosum

Each hemisphere is almost identical, are symmetrical and divided by the ______ _______, a band of nerve tissue that connects the left and right hemispheres and acts as the main communication pathway for neural images

Parietal lobe

Function of the ________ ______. -a sense of touch -motion detected in the environment around you -location of objects in the space around you -the ability to perceive things in a 3D way, such as 3D images and shapes -being used when you are multiplying in your head and visualise the equation or solution

primary auditory cortex

Functions of this primary cortex include: -receiving and processing different features of sound -plays a vital role in the identification of sounds -understanding speech -understanding music

Aphasia

Inability, or impaired ability, to understand or produce speech as a result of brain damage.

Prefrontal cortex

Located behind the forehead and above the eyes, involved in making plans and predicting outcomes, helping to regulate emotion and behaviour by anticipating the consequences of our actions. Also involved with anxiety and brain functions such as working memory and our ability to focus our thoughts.

Thalamus

Located beneath the cerebral cortex, deep within the cerebral hemispheres, as two egg shaped parts.

Wernicke's area

Located in the left temporal lobe, at the bottom part of the primary somatosensory cortex. -involved with the INTERPRETING the meaning of language -crucial role in comprehension -damage to this area = impairment in understanding in speech & talking

Orbitofrontal cortex

Located just behind the eye-sockets (circular in shape), an important structure involved in decision making, where thinking processes take into account the effects of emotion on those decisions. Also thought to impact behaviour patterns and the craving-related brain processes of people presenting with addiction problems.

Amygdala

Most of our emotional responses are caused by the limbic system, especially the ________, that are involved through the two-way communication with internal structures.

Hindbrain

Often referred to as the 'lower brain'. It mainly supports bodily functions and it is the link between the spinal cord and the brain.

Primary motor cortex

Primary cortex specifically involved in controlling the voluntary bodily motor movements of skeletal muscles, such as hand, arm, leg, back, and facial muscles. Located at the rear end of the frontal lobe, across the top of your head is a strip of neural tissue.

primary somatosensory cortex (parietal lobe)

Primary cortex that receives information from the sense receptors in the skin. State location.

Primary visual cortex (occipital lobe)

Primary cortex that receives visual information from the eyes. State the location.

Primary motor cortex (frontal lobe)

Primary cortex which initiated movements in the body. State the location.

Primary auditory cortex (temporal lobe)

Primary cortex which receives sound information from the ears. State the location.

Sensory information

Primary cortexes begin to, and are responsible for interpreting _________ ___________

Temporal lobe

The ____________ ______ functions include: -auditory/heading and language comprehension -involved in what we are hearing, speaking coherently & understanding speech -holds memory of visual perception, such as remembering and memory formation -memory formation within this lobe is also linked with the hippocampus which is located inside the temporal lobe

Cerebral hemispheres

The cerebral cortex can be divided into 2 halves of the brain, called ________ ________.

Thalamus

The communications centre of the brain. It receives information from the sensory organs (apart from nose) and relays this information to the relevant part of the cortex where it can be processed into meaningful information.

Lobes

The cortex of each cerebral hemisphere comprises four distinct regions known as _____. Each are named are the plate of the skull protecting it.

Medulla

The first major component of the hindbrain, it is a continuation of the spine.

Frontal

The following are functions for the ______ lobe; -involved with HIGHER ORDER thinking and movement including •personality •the control of emotions and expression of emotional behaviour •movement •abstract thinking & decision making •planning, problem solving & judgement •impulse control •planning and control of voluntary motor movements •language

Cerebrum, hypothalamus, thalamus

The forebrain includes a number of important brain structures including the;

Contraleterally

The functions in the primary somatosensory cortex occur ___________. The LEFT parietal lobe receives and processes information from the RIGHT side of the body and vice versa.

Cerebrum

The largest and most recognisable part of the brain

Hemispheric swap

The left hemisphere receives information from the right side of the body, and vice versa. What is this called?

Fine motor activity

The mouth and hands require more motor neurons to move the small muscles for ____ _____ ______, whereas other parts of the body require fewer neurons and therefore have less space on the primary motor cortex.

Primary visual cortex

The occipital lobe contains the _____ _____ _____. It -receives and processes light from the eyes to form vision for photoreceptors -selects, organised and interstates visual information and organise information into complex forms to enable interpretation of visual information -helps with memory formation -works with other lobes to perform visual or spatial tasks

Cerebral cortex

The outer layer of the forebrain. Responsible for receiving information from the environment, or controlling our responses and for higher-order thinking processes including problem solving and planning. It is also very much involved in memory, language, and the regulation of emotions.

Primary motor cortex

The primary association area of the frontal lobe

Primary somatosensory cortex

The primary association of the parietal lobe

Topographically

The primary motor cortex is organised __________ (derailed or precisely) according to fine motor movement requirements.

Auditory perception

The temporal lobe in each hemisphere is primary involved with _______ ________.

Cerebellum

The third major part of the hindbrain. It is a walnut-shaped area that receives information from the pons. The role is to coordinate the sequence of body movement.

Parietal lobe

This lobe in both hemisphere receives and processes sensory information from the body and skin senses and send information from the body and skin senses and send information to other areas within the brain.

Occipital lobe

This lobe is primarily involved with visions. Functions include: -processing visual information, such as seeing colours. -perceiving and recognising different objects -images from the right retina and processed in the left visual field and vice versa — the hemispheric swap

Voluntary movement of the body

What particular sense does the frontal lobes receive and process?

Visual information

What particular sense does the occipital lobe receive and process?

Somatosensory

What particular sense does the parietal lobe receive and process?

Auditory

What particular sense does the temporal lobe receive and process,

Laterisaltion

What's another term for hemispheric swap?

Reticular formation, thalamus

When people pay attention to specific sensory information, specific parts of the _______ _______ and the _______ are active, and the information is then transmitted to the relevant part of the thalamus to indicate which parts of the stimulus the person must pay attention to.

Left

Which hemisphere has the following functions?: -analytic thought -logic -language -science and math

Right

Which hemisphere has the following functions?: -holistic thought -intuition -creativity -art and music

Hemispheric specialisation

________ _________ is the dominance or particular control of each hemisphere over different particular functions.