Unit 3: Part 2 Flashcards
(30 cards)
Brainstem
The oldest part and central core of the brain, from the spinal cord to the skull, responsible for automatic survival functions
Medulla
At the base of brainstem, controls heartbeat and breathing
Thalamus
At top of brainstem, relay station for incoming and outgoing sensory information without smell
Reticular formation
Nerve network that travels through brainstem into the thalamus. Helps control arousal and filters incoming sensory stimuli
Cerebellum
Rear of the brainstem, processing sensory input, coordinating movement and balancing, nonverbal learning, and memory
Limbic system
Made of amygdala, hypothalamus, and hippocampus, associated with emotions and drive
Amygdala
Two Lima-bean sized neural clusters, linked with emotion, fear, and aggression
Hypothalamus
Below the thalamus, directs eating, drinking, and body temperature, helps govern the endocrine system via the pituitary gland linked to emotion and reward
Hippocampus
Small structure with two “arms” that wrap around the thalamus, helps process storage of conscious memories of facts or events
Cerebral cortex
The intricate fabric of interconnected neural cells covering the cerebral hemispheres’ the body’s ultimate control and information processing center
Frontal lobes
Involved in speaking, motor movements, judgement, and decision making
Parietal lobes
Receives and processes sensory input for touch and body position
Occipital lobes
Each lobe receives visual information, primarily from opposite fields
Temporal lobes
Each lobe receives auditory information, primarily from opposite ear
Motor cortex
Controls voluntary movements
Somatosensory cortex
Registers information from the skin senses and body movement
Association areas
Most of the brain’s cortex which integrates information involved in learning, remembering, thinking and other high-level functions
Plasticity
The brain’s ability to change, especially during childhood, by reorganizing after damage or by building new pathways of experience
Nuerogenesis
Producing new neurons
Corpus callosum
Wide band of axon fibers connecting the two hemispheres of the brain
Split brain
When the corpus callosum is severed isolating each hemisphere from the other
Consciousness
Our subjective awareness of ourselves and our environment
Cognitive neuroscience
The interdisciplinary study of the brain linked with cognition (including perception, thinking, memory, and language)
Dual processing
The principle that information is often processed on separate conscious and unconscious tracks simultaneously
