Brain structures and its functions

Question 1

What is the function of the skull?

Answer 1

Bothstructurally supportive and protective

Question 2

What are the meninges?

Answer 2

a protective membrane that surrounds the brain

Question 3

What is the function of the cerebrum?

Answer 3

It is responsible for coordinating all the body’s voluntary movement and responses and some other involuntary movement.

Question 4

What is the structure of the cerebrum?

Answer 4

Highly convoluted (twisted), which increases its surface area, allowing for its large capacity of complex activity.
It is split into two sides, the right hemisphere and the left hemisphere, each of which controls the opposite side of the body.
The outer cerebrums outer layer is called the cerebrum cortex
The most sophisticated processes such as reasoning and decision making occur in the prefrontal and frontal lobe.

Question 5

What is the function of the cerebellum?

Answer 5

Responsible for control of muscular movement, body posture and balance, it doesn’t initiate movement but allows for its successful completion and coordination. The cerebellum receives information from the organs of balance in the ears and information about the tone of muscles and tendons, it then relays this information to different areas of the cerebral cortex.

Question 6

What is the function of the medulla oblongata?

Answer 6

The medulla oblongata controls reflex activities such as ventilation and heart rates, as well as swallowing, peristalsis (a series of wave-like muscle contractions that move food through the digestive tract) and coughing.

Question 7

What is the function of the hypothalamus?

Answer 7

The main responsibility for the hypothalamus is the autonomic nervous system. It has two centers, one for the parasympathetic and one for the sympathetic nervous system, it has many functions such as.

Controlling complex patters of behaviour such as sleep and feeding

Monitoring the composition of bloos plasma such as the concetration of water and blood glucose

Producing hormones, as it as an endocrine gland it produces hormones such TRH, GnRH and the growth hormone-releasing hormone (GHRH)

Question 8

What is the structure and function of the pituitary gland?

Answer 8

This is found at the base of the hypothalamus, it is incredibly small (about the size of the pea) but it has the function of controlling most of the glands in the body.

Its two section are:

Anterior Pituitary- produces six hormones (such as FSH)

Posterior pituitary – stores and releases hormones produced by the hypothalamus, such as ADH.