brain parts and functions

Broca's Area

The Broca's area is necessary for the production and coordinated for speech. For most people it is found in the dominant (left) hemisphere. Language production requires a complex network of brain regions in addition to the Broca's area.

BRAIN STEM

All of the nerve fibers connecting the forebrain, cerebellum, and spinal cord pass through the brainstem. It directs essential activities like heart rate and breathing. It is also involved in the sleep-wake cycle, attention, temperature regulation, vision, hearing, and motor control of muscles in the face and neck.

Midbrain

In the midbrain a cluster of dopamine-producing cells called substantia nigra helps regulate movement. These cells die in patients with Parkinson's disease reducing the amount of dopamine causing motor disturbances.

OCCIPITAL LOBE

Occipital lobe decodes visual signals. The visual information arrives at the occipital lobes from the reina via the thalamus. It informs us about where, how, and what we are seeing. The primary visual cortex is the first part to receive visual information, it is then relayed through the rest of the lobe.

Primary Auditory Cortex

Primary auditory cortex interprets sounds. Neurons on one side of the primary auditory cortex detect high-frequency sounds. This cortex identifies unique sounds, and it also helps quickly identify where the sounds are coming from.

Hypothalamus

Provides a link between the central nervous system and the endocrine system. The hypothalamus controls the pituitary gland, which releases hormones to regulate bodily functions. Signals from it keeps body temperature in check, regulates thirst and hunger, and promotes bonding between family members.

Amygdala

The amygdala is a small part of the brain that works with the hippocampus to create long-term memories of specific, and often emotional, events. Known for linking fear, aggression, and anxiety to knowledge of people or places. Makes these associations by changing the strength of a connection between neurons.

Basal Ganglia

The basal ganglia are a group of brain structures that control voluntary movements, habitual behaviors, and emotions. Composed of six structures: caudate nucleus, globus pallidus, nucleus accumbens, putamen, substantia nigra, and subthalamic nucleus. It is an intermediary between our higher thoughts, our sensations, and our reflexes.

Cerebellum

The cerebellum helps improve motor skills by detecting errors in movements and making minute adjustments to the next movement. These adjustments strengthen the connections within neural circuits encoding complex movement.

Corpus Callosum

The corpus callosum is a bundle of neural connections linking the left and right hemispheres of the cerebral cortex. Neurons in either hemisphere stretch their axons (neural wires) through the corpus callosum to communicate with neurons in the opposite hemisphere. Known as the biggest superhighway in the brain.

Wernicke's Area

The counterpart to Broca's area: it allows us to comprehend language, both written and spoken. It was found when Carl Wernicke observed patients who suffered from speech problems that robbed speech of its meaning, but left its production fluent.

FRONTAL LOBE

The frontal lobe is the largest lobe of the cerebral cortex, and it is responsible for many behavioral traits- including personality, decision making, and motor control. The frontal lobe makes sense of information about the environment, memories, and emotion, it uses this information to make decisions. It maintains connections to nearly every other part of the brain.

Hippocampus

The hippocampus is responsible for long-term memory. It communicates with the rest of the brain via the entorhinal cortex. It produces new neurons even in adults, while the rest of the brain stops growing early childhood. Neurons are used to form associations between different aspects of a memory.

LIMBIC SYSTEM

The limbic system is a large group of brain structures responsible for motivation, emotion, learning, and memory.

Medulla Oblongata

The medulla oblongata houses breathing control centers, including an area called the Pre- Botzinger complex, which generates breathing rhythm.

Olfactory Bulb

The olfactory bulb processes our sense of smell. Sensory neurons in the nose detect odors and send signals via the olfactory nerve through the skull to the olfactory bulb. Once there, these signals are sorted then a series of neural circuits relays signal snack ito the brain to identify smells.

PARIETAL LOBE

The parietal lobe integrates information from our senses to focus our attention on important things in the environment. It interprets our sense of touch and monitors the relative position of the body and its limbs. The left and right halves of the parietal lobe are generally responsible for information coming from the respective opposite side of the body.

Pituitary Gland (Endocrine System)

The pituitary gland produces and releases hormones controlling various bodily functions and behaviors. It is a key component of the endocrine system and helps relay signals from the hypothalamus glands throughout the body. The regulation of stress, growth, and reproduction are three of the various responsibilities of the pituitary gland.

Pons

The pons contains the locus coeruleus, an area important for attention.

Prefrontal Cortex

The prefrontal cortex grants us executive function, or the ability to make complex and socially mindful decisions. It must filter out unimportant sensations to focus on the task at hand. Decisions are made with memories of the past and predictions about how our behavior will influence the future. Behaviors such as personality traits depend on the prefrontal cortex.

Motor Cortex

The primary motor cortex directs movement by controlling muscle contractions. It is constantly communicating with the basal ganglia, the cerebellum, and areas of the cerebral cortex to ensure movements are intentional, precise, and coordinated with our sensory perception.

Primary Visual Cortex

The primary visual cortex is the first part of the occipital lobe to receive visual information. Each neuron receives information from both eyes working together to cover a specific portion of the visual field. Each side of the primary visual cortex processes information from the opposite half of the visual field (left half is decoded by the right and vice versa).

Somatosensory Cortex

The somatosensory cortex receives information from touch receptors (sensors) located throughout the body in the skin. Areas of the skin with more touch receptors appeared larger in somatosensory cortex.

TEMPORAL LOBE

The temporal lobe houses memories, emotions, and language comprehension. It contains the hippocampus, primary auditory cortex, and Wernicke's area. It is key for the recognition of objects, places, and people. Information is funneled through the temporal lobe into the hippocampus to create memories.

Thalamus

The thalamus relays information about most of our senses out to the rest of the brain, and is generally considered "grand central station" for the sorting of sensory information before it connects on to the cortex. Vision, hearing, touch, proprioception, and taste signals are all routed through the thalamus. Also receives input from the Cerebral cortex, which helps filter sensory information.