Lesson 3a

All

modern brain theories assume that the major brain parts perform different (though overlapping) tasks. This concept which is known as localization of function, goes back at least to Joseph Gall (1758 1828). Localization of functions specialization of particular brain areas for particular function.

Part

of the brain at the top of the spinal cord, consisting of the medulla and the pons. It looks like a stalk rising out of the spinal cord. Pathways to and from upper areas of the brain pass through its main structures, the medulla and the pons. The pons is involved in (among other things) sleeping, waking, and dreaming.

The

medulla is responsible for bodily functions that do not have to be consciously willed, such as breathing and heart rate. The medulla is a structure in the brain stem responsible for certain automatic functions, such as breathing and heart rate.

 Extending upward

from the core of the brain stem is the reticular activating system (RAS). This dense network of neurons, which extends above the brain stem into the center of the brain and has connections with higher areas, screens incoming information and arouses the higher centers when something happens that demands their attention. Without the RAS, we could not be alert or perhaps even conscious.

A brain

structure that regulates movement and balance, and that is involved in the learning of certain kinds of simple responses.

 Cerebellum means

little brain in Latin, and looks something like a smaller version of the rest of the brain, riding piggyback on the rear of the brainstem. Its best known function is to help control rapid movements of the limbs. People with damage in the cerebellum are often incapable of rapid, coordinated movements, such as kicking and throwing, but can still use their legs and arms for slower movements, such as walking and reaching.

People

with damage cerebellum might have trouble using a pencil, threading a needle, riding a bike, or even walking. In addition, this structure is involved in remembering certain skills and acquired reflexes.

 The

cerebellum has been likened to a highly sophisticated computer. It receives and integrates information from all the senses, including visual information about relevant objects in the external world and somatosensory information about the current positions of the limbs, and it makes rapid fire calculations as to just which muscle groups must be activated, by how much, and when, in order to perform certain movement to leap over a hurdle, hit a baseball, or swing from branch to branch in a treetop.

 It

is most active during the learning of new movements or the performance of chains of movements in which each motion cannot be predicted in advance of the previous one.

 A brain

structure that relays sensory messages to the cerebral cortex. The thalamus acts like a busy traffic officer of the brain. It relays motor impulses from higher centers to the spinal cord. And conversely, as snesory messages come into the brain, the thalamus directs them to higher centers.

 For example, the

sight of a sunset sends signals that the thalamus directs to visual area, and the sound of an flute sends signals that the thalamus sends on to an auditory area. The only sense that completely bypasses the thalamus is the sense of smell, which has its own private switching station, the olfactory bulb. The olfactory bulb lies near areas involved in emotion. Perhaps that is why particular odors the smell of fresh laundry or flowers, steak often rekindle memories of important personal experiences.

 Hypo means

under Hypothalamus is a brain structure involved in emotions and drives vital to survival, such as fear, hunger, thirst, and reproduction; it regulates the autonomic nervous system. It regulates body temperature by triggering sweating or shivering, and it controls the complex operations of the autonomic nervous system.

Pituitary

gland is a small endocrine gland at the base of the brain, which releases many hormones and regulates other endocrine glands. Often called the master gland because the hormones it secretes affect many other endocrine glands. The master, however, is only a supervisor. The true boss is the hypothalamus.

The true boss is the hypothalamus, which sends chemicals to the pituitary that tell it when to talk to the other endocrine glands. The pituitary, in turn, sends hormonal messages out to these glands.

Limbic

system group of brain areas involved in emotional reactions and motivated behavior. Limbic from Latin for border. These structures form a sort of border between the higher and lower parts of the brain. Some anatomists include the hypothalamus and parts of the thalamus in the limbic system.

 The

limbic system is believed to have evolved originally as a system for the sophisticated analysis of olfactory input, and its connections with the nose remain strong. This may help explain the special influence in smells such as the aroma of good food or perfume, or the stench of vomit can have on drives and emotions. But the limbic system also receives input from all the other sensory organs.

 In

addition, it is intimately connected to the basal ganglia, and that connection is believed to help translate emotions and drives into actions. Hippocampus, one part of the limbic system which is critical to the formation of memories. People who have suffered extensive damage to the hippocampus on both sides of the brain can remember events that occurred before the damage but cannot form new, long term memories of events that occur after the damage.

 One

limbic structure that especially the concerns of psychologists because it appears to be responsible for evaluating sensory information, quickly determining its emotional importance, and contributing to the initial decision to approach or withdraw from a person or situation. Also plays an important role in mediating anxiety and depression; PET scans find that depressed and anxious patients show increased neural activity in this structure.

Another

important limbic area which has a shape that must have reminded someone of a seahorse.
of its tasks seems to be to compare sensory messages with what the brain has learned to expect about the world. When expectations are met, the hippocampus tells the reticular activating system, the brains arousal center, to cool it. it wouldnt do to be highly aroused in response to everything.

One

 The

hippocampus has also been called the gateway to memory because, along with adjacent brain areas, it enables us to form new memories, in particular memories about events the kind of information you need to tell someone about your vacation trip or what you had for lunch. The information is then stored in the cerebral cortex, but without the hippocampus, the information would never get to its ultimate destination in the cortex.

 Cerebrum the

largest part of the brain that looks like a

cauliflower. The cerebrum is divided into two separate halves, or cerebral hemisphere, connected by a large band of fibers called the corpus callosum. In general, the right hemisphere is in charge of the left side of the body and the left hemisphere is in charge with the right side of the body. Lateralization specialization of the two cerebral hemispheres for particular operations.

cerebral cortex is a collection of several thin layers of cells covering the cerebrum; it is largely r or rind.) Cell bodies in the cortex, as in many other parts of the brain, produce a grayish tissue; hence the term gray matter. In other parts of the brain 9and the rest of the nervous system), long, myelin covered axons prevail, providing the brains white matter.

On

each cerebral hemisphere, deep fissures divide the cortex into four distinct regions or lobes: The Occipital lobes The parietal lobes The temporal lobes The frontal lobes

From

the Latin for in back of the head. The occipital lobes are at the lower back part of the brain. Among other things, they contain the visual cortex, where visual signals are processed. Damage to the visual cortex can cause impaired visual recognition or blindness.

 From the

Latin for pertaining to walls The parietal lobes are at the top of the brain. They contain the somatosensory cortex, which receives information about pressure, pain, touch, and temperature from all over the body. The areas of the somatosensory cortex that receive signals from the hands and the face are disproportionately large because these body parts are particularly sensitive.

 From the

Latin for pertaining to the temples. The temporal lobes are at the side of the brain, just above the ears and behind the temples. They are involved in memory, perception, and emotion, and they contain the auditory cortex, which processes sounds. An area of the left temporal lobe known as Wernickes area is involved in language comprehension.

 Located toward

the front of the brain, just under the skull in the area of the forehead. They contain the motor cortex, which issues orders to the 600 muscles of the body that produce voluntary movement. In the left frontal lobe, a region known as Brocas area is involved in speech production. During short term memory tasks, areas in the frontal lobes are especially active. The frontal lobes are also involved in the ability to make plans, think creatively, and take initiative.

STRUCTURE
BRAIN STEM PONS MEDULLA Reticular Activating system (RAS) (extends into center of the brain)

FUNCTION(S)
Sleeping, waking, dreaming Automatic functions such as breathing, heart rate

Screening of incoming information, arousal of higher centers, consciousness

Cerebellum

Balance, muscular coordination, memory for simple skills and learned reflexes, possible involvement in more complex mental tasks.

THALAMUS

Relay of impulses from higher centers to the spinal cord ad of incoming sensory information (except for olfactory sensations) to other brain centers.

HYPOTHALAM Behaviors necessary for survival, US such as hunger, thirst, emotion,

PITUITARY GLAND

reproduction; regulation of body temperature; control of autonomic nervous system Under direction of the hypothalamus, secretion of hormones that affect other glands.

LIMBIC SYSTEM

Emotions related to survival

Amygdala

Initial evaluation of sensory information to determine its importance; mediation of anxiety and depression

Comparison of sensory Hippocampus information with expectations, modulation of the RAS; formation of new memories about facts and events

CEREBRUM (including cerebral cortex) Occipital lobes Parietal lobes

Higher forms of thinking Visual processing

Processing of pressure, pain, touch, temperature

Temporal lobes Memory, perception, emotion, hearing, language comprehension Frontal lobes Movement, short term memory, planning, setting goals, creative thinking, initiative, social judgment, rational decision making, speech production

Each

cerebral hemisphere receives information from the eyes about the opposite side of the visual field. Thus, if you stare directly at the corner of the room, everything to the left of the juncture is represented in your right hemisphere and vice versa. This is so because half the axons in each optic nerve cross over (at the optic chiasma) to the opposite side of the brain

Normally, each hemisphere immediately shares its information with the other one, but in split brain patients, severing the corpus callosum prevents such communication.