Brain Anatomy Function Cheat Sheet

BRAIN ANATOMY FUNCTION CHEAT SHEET System or Part Brainstem Spinal Cord Medulla Reticular Formation Thalamus Cerebellum The Limbic System Hippocampus Amygdala Hypothalamus

Responsible for automatic survival reflexes Controls simple reflexes Controls/regulates heartbeat and breathing Helps control arousal, responds to change in monotony Relays sensory information, switchboard between sensory neurons and higher brain regions Influences memory and learning coordinates voluntary movement and balance Links emotion (fear/anger), basic motives (food and sex) Memory (remembering and learning) Emotion (aggression) rage, fear Regulates thirst, hunger, body temperature, sexual behavior (hormone release). Controls/regulates maintenance reflexes (eating), Homeostasis linked to emotion.

Pituitary Gland

Master Gland. Influences hormone release

Cerebral Cortex

Learning and thinking. Enabling adaptability.

Assoc. Areas

Integrates higher order thinking

Frontal Lobe

Speaking, muscle movement. Making plans, judgment, decision-making and attention. Critical role with how brain processes brain. Moves body parts: sends messages out to body, controls body movement Produces speech thru control of motor cortex: in left frontal lobe Auditory Hears and processes sound Processes speech, sound from outside large comp. Auditory code and understanding Visual area- receives visual cues from opposite visual field Visual area Reads words-Reads allowed Sensory cortex math and spatial reasoning. Incoming messages from skin, movement of body/tactile

Prefrontal Cortex Motor Cortex Broca’s Area Temporal Lobe Auditory Cortex Wernicke’s Area Occipital Lobe Visual Cortex Angular Gyrus Parietal Lobe Sensory Cortex Corpus Callosum Right Hemisphere Left Hemisphere

Misc.

Function

Axon fibers connects 2 hemispheres Visual spatial processes emotion expression and intuitive: music Verbal, language, processes information sequentially; interprets actions logic

Pathway to neural fibers To and from brain Deals with sight, hearing, touch, taste. Transmits replies from higher brain to cerebellum and medullam Little brain-extends from rear of brainstem

Kluecer& Bucy Lesion monkey brain Helps govern endocrines. Monitors glands. Controls hunger. Linked to emotion and reward- Oldst minor (pleasure center) Part of endocrine system (no brain) controlled by hypothalamus Information processing center Interprets and acts on information processes by sensory areas Ultimate control information process center. Interprets and acts on information processes by sensory areas Behind forehead and controls motor cortex

Damage disrupts speaking. Can sing and comprehend speech. Above ear Left hemisphere Damage disrupts language comprehension Back of head- above cerebellum contains visual cortex Damage: can’t speak, can’t read Top and rear of cerebral cortex Behind and parallel to motor cortex. Modulates speech and clarity Sperry & Gazaniga split brain experiments Spatial ability, perceptual tasks, patterns and multi tasks Supports to make whole. Processes verbal language. Read/ write, math.

There’s Nothin’ on Here insignificant!!! Big Picture CNS PNS Somatic NS Autonomic NS Sympathetic NS Parasympathetic NS Breaking it down Medulla Pons Cerebellum Thalamus Hypothalamus Pituitary Gland Amygdala Hippocampus THE LOBES Occipital lobe Parietal lobe Temporal lobe Frontal lobe Corpus Callosum Left side of brain Right side of brain Roger Sperry NEURONS Dendrites Cell body Axon Mylein sheath Synaptic cleft Plasticity Action potential

Function Central Nervous System – brain and spinal cord Peripheral Nervous System – any neurons that extend past CNS The muscles and functions you can control Regulates glands, blood vessels and flow, internal organs Prepares the body for stress; builds energy/adrenaline Helps to bring the body back to a normal state BRAIN FUNCTIONS Regulates breathing and heart rate – hanging a person works b/c (if done correctly) it breaks this in half Involved in sleeping, waking and dreaming The “lesser brain” coordinates balance and coordination Relays all sensory information to specific perception areas of the brain, with the exception of smell Part of the “old brain” – it controls survival elements such as hunger, thirst, emotion, sex drive and reproduction. Works in conjunction with the pituitary gland. Secretes hormones as “directed” by the hypothalamus to regulate the body during a “primal” function Instantaneously evaluates sensory information from the thalamus and determines its emotional importance – helps to decide if something needs to be addressed immediately; the “fight or flight” brain section (PART OF THE LIMBIC SYSTEM) The gateway to all memory functions; also works with the reticular activating system to relate sensory input to what the brain already “knows” about it (PART OF THE LIMBIC SYSTEM) Lower back of the brain; contains the visual cortex Top of the brain; contains the somatosensory cortex, which receives all info about pressure, pain, heat, etc., from the body. Sides of the brain; involved in memory storage, perception and emotion; contains the auditory cortex as well as Wernicke’s area, which processes language comprehension. Front of the brain (duh) and contains the motor cortex, which controls over 600 muscles all over the body. Also contains Broca’s area, which allows us to know how to speak. It also helps us think creatively and think rationally; dopamine that is supposed to reach this lobe is shut off during schizophrenia, making it impossible for the victim to tell what is real and what is hallucinatory. Serves as the network between the left/right sides of the brain. Rational and analytical thought Intuitive, creative, holistic thought Most well known split-brain psychologist; worked with cats and severed their corpus callosum to see what would happen Information receptors Determines how/when a neuron is supposed to fire and emit a signal The “tail” of the neuron; sends info away from the cell body Made up of several glial cells, insulates the axon to make sure no random signals get in and no signals slip out The areas between the synaptic end bulbs and dendrites of another neuron where neurotransmitters are released and taken. The brain’s ability to recover from brain/nerve damage by possibly creating new pathways for previous messages This allows messages to flow from neuron to neuron as an electrical charge is created when positively charged sodium ions flow into a neuron and flows out as positively charged potassium charges.

NEUROTRANSMITTERS

Acetylcholine Dopamine Serotonin GABA Norepinephrine Epinephrine Dopamine GABA

Affects cognition, muscle movement, memory and emotion Affects voluntary movement, learning, memory, emotion – the neurotransmitter that is overactive during SCHIZOPHRENIA; can be replicated by certain psychoactive drugs like THC (marijuana); also in low amounts for Parkinson’s victims Affects appetite, perception, temperature regulation, pain suppression and mood – the neurotransmitter that is inhibited during DEPRESSION; increased by stimulants An inhibitor; it is unable to reuptake into neurons when depressants such as alcohol are present in the blood system Increases heart rate, involved in dreaming, sleeping and emtion Secreted by the endocrine system; basically, it is adrenaline Affects voluntary movement, learning, memory, emotion – the neurotransmitter that is overactive during SCHIZOPHRENIA; can be replicated by certain psychoactive drugs like THC (marijuana); also in low amounts for Parkinson’s victims An inhibitor; it is unable to reuptake into neurons when depressants such as alcohol are present in the blood system