Brain Functions

Question 1

eye

Answer 1

vision/sight

Question 2

spinal cord

Answer 2

pathway for messages sent between the brain and body

Question 3

cerebral cortex

Answer 3

controls complex thought processes

Question 4

motor cortex

Answer 4

controls the movements of the body’s voluntary muscles

Question 5

sensory cortex

Answer 5

receives and processes all sensory input from the body

Question 6

frontal lobe

Answer 6

higher mental functions—planning, personality, memory storage, complex decision making, language, controlling emotions

Question 7

parietal lobe

Answer 7

processes information for touch, temperature, and body position

Question 8

temporal lobe

Answer 8

helps with learning and memory and processes visual information

Question 9

occipital lobe

Answer 9

processes visual information from the eyes and identifies and makes sense of this information

Question 10

cerebellum

Answer 10

controls balance and maintains muscle coordination

Question 11

thalamus

Answer 11

relays information between the sensory organs and the cerebral cortex

Question 12

hypothalamus

Answer 12

regulates body temperature, thirst, hunger, sleeping and waking, fear, sexual drive, aggression, and emotions

Question 13

basal ganglia

Answer 13

voluntary motor control, procedural learning of routine behaviors, and cognitive and emotional functions

Question 14

amygdala

Answer 14

influences motivation, emotional control, fear response, and interpretations of nonverbal emotional expressions

Question 15

hippocampus

Answer 15

role in learning, memory, and ability to compare sensory information to expectations

Question 16

corpus callosum

Answer 16

connects the left and right hemispheres of the brain

Question 17

pons

Answer 17

relays messages between the cortex and cerebellum

Question 18

medulla

Answer 18

controls heartbeat, breathing, and swallowing

Question 19

retina

Answer 19

receives light, converts the light into neural signals, and sends these signals to the brain

Question 20

optic nerve

Answer 20

transfers visual information from the retina to the vision centers of the brain via electrical impulses

Question 21

old pathway

Answer 21

goes through the superior colliculus, is subconscious, tells where things are

Question 22

new pathway

Answer 22

goes through lateral geniculate nucleus, is conscious, identifies object and its emotional significance and how to interact with object

Question 23

lateral geniculate nucleus

Answer 23

receives sensory input from the retina, relays information in visual pathway

Question 24

superior colliculus

Answer 24

transports visual information—upper layer receives visual signals from retina, lower layers process multiple signals from other parts of brain

Question 25

what pathway

Answer 25

identities objects and faces

Question 26

how pathway

Answer 26

assigns spatial location to objects and specializes in all aspects of spatial vision

Question 27

visual cortex

Answer 27

receives and processes visual information from the retina