Ch3-P72-77 Flashcards
Brain stem?
brain structure that regulates the body’s basic life processes.
It is usually described as including the medulla oblongata , pons and midbrain
Medulla or medulla oblongata? textbook
Region of the brain stem, at the top of the spinal cord, that regulates breathing, waking, blood pressure and heartbeat.
Nerve fibres going from body to brain and vice versa cross over at the medulla, creating the left brain to right body etc.
Medulla? wikipedia
The medulla contains the cardiac, respiratory, vomiting and vasomotor centers and deals with autonomic, involuntary functions, such as breathing, heart rate and blood pressure.
Pons? textbook
Region of brain stem that connects the spinal cord with the brain and links parts of the brain to one another. Located directly above medulla. Latin word for bridge
Pons? wikipedia
The pons is a structure located on the brain stem. It is about 2.5 cm in length.
It contains nuclei that relay signals from the forebrain to the cerebellum, along with nuclei that deal primarily with sleep, respiration, swallowing, bladder control, hearing, equilibrium, taste, eye movement, facial expressions, facial sensation, and posture.
The pons is implicated in sleep paralysis, and also plays a role in generating dreams
Reticular formation textbook
Dense network of nerve cell’s that act as brain’s sentinel (guard).
Region of brain stem that alerts the cerebral cortex (outer brain matter grey matter) to incoming sensory signals and is responsible for maintaining consciousness and awakening from sleep. Crucial role in biological cycles ie wake sleep cycle. Always alert to environment even during sleep which wakes us if changes occur. damage to this area causes coma.
Reticular formation wikipedia
The reticular formation is a region in the brainstem that is involved in multiple tasks such as regulating the sleep-wake cycle and filtering incoming stimuli to discriminate irrelevant background stimuli. It is essential for governing some of the basic functions of higher organisms, and is one of the phylogenetically oldest portions of the brain.
Thalamus textbook
Brain structure that relays sensory impulses to the cerebral cortex. Reticular formation has long fibre tracts that run to the thalamus which operates like switchboard regulating and distributing the information flow between incoming sensory information and and the appropriate area of the cerebral cortex.
Thalamus? wikipedia
The thalamus (from Greek “inner chamber”) is a midline symmetrical structure within the brains of vertebrates including humans, situated between the cerebral cortex and midbrain. Its function includes relaying sensory and motor signals to the cerebral cortex, along with the regulation of consciousness, sleep, and alertness.
Cerebellum textbook
Region of brain attached to the brain stem that controls motor coordination, posture and balance and the ability to learn control of body movements.
Cerebellum wikipedia
The cerebellum (Latin for little brain) is a region of the brain that plays an important role in motor control. It may also be involved in some cognitive functions such as attention and language, and in regulating fear and pleasure responses, but its movement-related functions are the most solidly established. The cerebellum does not initiate movement, but it contributes to coordination, precision, and accurate timing. It receives input from sensory systems of the spinal cord and from other parts of the brain, and integrates these inputs to fine tune motor activity.
limbic system textbook
Region of brain that regulates emotional behaviour, basic motivational urges and memory, as well as major physiological functions.
Does: drives food, drink and reproduction, anger, fear, memory processes, body temperature, blood pressure, blood sugar level
limbic system wikipedia
The limbic system (or Paleomammalian brain) is a complex set of brain structures that lies on both sides of the thalamus, right under the cerebrum. It includes the hippocampus, amygdalae, anterior thalamic nuclei, septum, limbic cortex and fornix, which seemingly support a variety of functions including emotion, behavior, motivation, long-term memory, and olfaction. It appears to be primarily responsible for our emotional life, and has a great deal to do with the formation of memories.
Hippocampus textbook
Part of limpic system that is involved in the acquisition of explicit memory (the conscious, intentional recollection of previous experiences and information)
Hippocampus wikipedia
The hippocampus belongs to the limbic system and plays important roles in the consolidation of information from short-term memory to long-term memory and spatial navigation. It is a part of the cerebral cortex.
In Alzheimer’s disease, the hippocampus is one of the first regions of the brain to suffer damage; memory problems and disorientation appear among the first symptoms. Damage to the hippocampus can also result from oxygen starvation (hypoxia), encephalitis, or medial temporal lobe epilepsy. People with extensive, bilateral hippocampal damage may experience anterograde amnesia—the inability to form or retain new memories.
