Parts of Brain Flashcards

VERY IMPORTANT TO KNOW

1
Q

What are the three main divisions of vertebrate brains?

A

1.) hindbrain
2.) Midbrain
3.) Forebrain

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2
Q

About the hindbrain…

A

In development, life functions first (survival first) so you can survive

AKA the lizard brain

*Heart beat and how to breathe
*First thing to develop in human beings

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3
Q

About the midbrain…

A

More complex and starts taking in sensory and motor information

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4
Q

About the forebrain…

A

Really complex (what is making you a human being)
~Last thing to develop for human beings

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5
Q

What are the main parts of the brain?

A

1.) brainstem
2.) medulla
3.) pons
4.) thalamus
5.) reticular formation
6.) cerebellum

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6
Q

Brainstem

A

oldest part and central brain/core; automatic survival functions; crossover point to other side of the body

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7
Q

Medulla

A

Brainstem base; heartbeat and breathing

Spinal cord connects with the medulla regulates heart beat and breathing

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8
Q

What does a stroke on the right side of the brain affect?

A

Left part of the body because of the crossover point on the brainstem

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9
Q

What happens if you damage the medulla?

A

You are dead (incompatible with life)

There is no wiggle room if injury because of what it does

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10
Q

Pons

A

Similar things to medulla and automatic survival (dynamic duo in keeping you alive)

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11
Q

Thalamus

A

Big bulb on top of hindbrain
Control Center (relay station)
Transmits information

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12
Q

How is the thalamus like an airport?

A

Planes leave and enter airport (thalamus), which takes information in, processes it, and transports it somewhere else

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13
Q

What happens if you damage the thalamus?

A

Lose sensory and motor ability (can drop into coma)

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14
Q

Reticular formation

A

Travels through brainstem and controls arousal (when you are awake, etc.)

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15
Q

Why shouldn’t you be on your phone at night?

A

Phone at night activates this arousal and says we should be up and doing things in the light, which could lead to insomnia

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16
Q

Cerebellum

A

Two hemispheres similar to big cerebrum, so termed “little brain”

Powerhouse relative to the brain

Voluntary walking

Nonverbal learning (learning skills and procedures)

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17
Q

What is the important task the cerebellum is known for?

A

voluntarily walking

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18
Q

Alcohol loves the cerebellum

A

which is why police ask you to walk head-to-toe to test cerebellum when pulled over for being under the influence

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19
Q

**Which parts of the brain does alcohol like?

A

Cerebellum
Hippocampus
Prefrontal cortex

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20
Q

How alcohol affects hippocampus?

A

Black out when drunk; cannot store memories properly so can’t remember much from that time

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21
Q

How alcohol affects the prefrontal cortex?

A

More courageous, risky, inhabit it

LIQUID COURAGE

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22
Q

“Yellow line”

A

Olfactory nerves that are a shuttle for smell

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23
Q

What are the main structures of the limbic system?

A

Amygdala
Hypothalamus
Hippocampus
Basal ganglia
Cerebral cortex
Cerebral hemispheres

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24
Q

Limbic system

A

primarily involved in emotion and memory

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25
Q

Amygdala is Latin for what?

A

“almond”

26
Q

Amygdala

A

processes the significance of emotion (emotional significance of a moment to get seared to memory)

~Sends to hippocampus for storage if deemed important memory (dynamic duo!!!)

27
Q

Is the amygdala only involved in positive memories?

A

No; involved in negative events as well because they are important too even if we don’t want to remember traumas

Amygdala does not do a good job at discriminating between good and bad memories

28
Q

What happens if there is damage to both amygdale?

A

“Kluver-Bucy”
- no ability to process emotion and want to put everything in your mouth; and leads to hypersexuality

29
Q

Hypothalamus

A

Involved in maintenance activities (like hungry, thirsty, sleepy, sexually, aroused…)

Emotion

30
Q

What happens if there is damage to the hypothalamus?

A

“Prader-Willi” syndrome
- Genetic condition; no mechanism to determine when full with food (hungry all the time)

31
Q

Hippocampus

A

Explicit conscious memory (that you can talk about) (ex. ptsd)
(ex. 9/11 because very emotional moment/powerful event for people)

32
Q

What happens if hippocampus is damaged?

A

Alzheimer’s disease (type of dementia; poor memory)

33
Q

Hippocampus loops out to what structure?

A

Frontal lobe (C-shape)

34
Q

Basal ganglia

A
  • Middle of brain
  • Primary player in procedural memory
35
Q

Basal ganglia memory for procedural information for tasks…

A

Ex. processes of grabbing mug and drinking water; typing, riding a bike (NOT stored in hippocampus)
~Alz. sometimes can still ride a bike
~Sports: shooting a basketball or throwing a football

MUSCLE MEMORY (movements)

36
Q

Supercenter of brain?

A

Cortex

37
Q

Cerebral cortex

A

Ultimate control and information-processing center of body

20-30 billion brain nerve cells and 300 trillion synaptic connections to help us do what we need to do

38
Q

What is the cortex divided into?

A

Halves known as right and left hemispheres

(right and left brain doing mostly the same thing)

39
Q

What is the giant bridge that connects both hemispheres?

A

Corpus callosum

40
Q

Cerebral hemispheres

A

Paired and covered with intricate fabric of interconnected neural cells

41
Q

Cortex of each hemisphere is divided into four lobes separated by what?

A

Fissures (giant gaps in brain)

42
Q

Why is the brain wrinkly?

A

Tissue folded inwards to save space
Keeping the same amount of brain tissue but saving room by being wrinkled

43
Q

What are the four lobes of the brain?

A

1.) Frontal
2.) Parietal
3.) Occipital
4.) Temporal

44
Q

Frontal

A

Most area of cortex (40 percent) because it is what makes us human beings (judgement)

45
Q

Parietal

A

Sensory information and processing

46
Q

Occipital

A

Base of skull (small)
Involved in vision

47
Q

Temporal

A

Memories are stored and where sound is processed (by ear)

48
Q

Motor cortex

A

*Back/rear of frontal lobes controls voluntary movements
=movement cortex

49
Q

*Mapping the motor cortex

A

Body areas that require more fine/precise motor movement get more space in the cortex (hands, fingers, mouth, lips, tongue (to speak)

50
Q

What happens if their is an injury or stoke to the motor cortex?

A

Wherever it is hit is going to be knocked out (motor ability drops)

(Right side stroke affects left side of hemisphere in that location)

51
Q

Somatosensory cortex

A

*Same set up as motor cortex but the senses function

Fingers have more sensory ability since humans learn through touch

Lips, tongue, mouth have more sensory ability

*Found in parietal lobe

Understand where you are in space (ex. Driving and what is going on the road)

*Receives incoming messages from skin senses and movement which is known as body region sensitivity

52
Q

Body region sensitivity

A

Receives incoming messages from skin senses and movement

53
Q

Visual cortex

A

*Occipital lobe

Processing information related to vision and how fast colored things are moving (processing faces)

Information coming from the eyeball but is has to to process all the way through the brain to the back (any issue along that path and you are going to have visual issues

54
Q

Can people become blind without damage to the eyeball?

A

Yes if damage to the visual cortex

55
Q

Auditory cortex

A

*temporal lobes

Receives information from ears; circuitous route from one ear to the auditory receiving area above the other ear

Near ear (thumb when making a fist is your auditory cortex)

~Ears can be fine but you still can’t hear/process sounds if auditory cortex damaged

(Different area in brain orients you to sound automatically, which is NOT this area) (this IS the area that takes the info and processes it completely)

56
Q

Association areas

A

Between main areas (connective spots)

Involved in higher level thinking but not involved in primary motor or sensory functions

-Found in all four lobes

57
Q

Prefrontal cortex

A

*tip of frontal lobe

Enables judgement, planning, social interactions, and new memory processing; can alter personality and inhibitions when damaged; disconnects moral behavior from other behavior

Distinguishes us from lower level animals like apes

58
Q

What part of the brain did Phineus Gage injure?

A

Injury to prefrontal cortex changed his personality

Railroad worker back in the day (hard worker, nice guy) and there is an explosion and iron rod shoots up through base of skull and through prefrontal cortex (does not kill him) but becomes completely different person (personality completely altered; awful worker, swearing like a sailor, no one wants to be around him, etc.)

59
Q

What is the part of the brain that makes us human?

A

Prefrontal cortex
- personality and inhabition (pumps the brakes and stops you from doing stupid stuff in inappropriate settings)

60
Q

Corpus Callosum

A

=bridge (information goes between hemispheres and lets them communicate with each other)

61
Q

Refractory seizures

A

might cut part of the brain to stop seizure activity

Blow up bridge so seizures can’t travel to other side (last resort for chronic seizures)

But you also kill all other information traveling to the brain
~Ex. both hands can’t talk to one another so can’t coordinate hands to button shirt

Split brain patient

Giant bundle of fibers

62
Q

Split brain patient

A

Someone who has corpus callosum intentional damage to prevent seizures from spreading to other hemisphere