Parts of the Brain

• Cerebellum


  controls muscle coordination and balance
• Medulla oblongata


  Controls involuntary actions, such as heart rate
• Thalamus


  Connects various parts of the brain; relays information from the senses
• Hypothalamus


  maintain homeostasis; nerve signals; regulate body's internal environment
• Corpus Callosum


  A series of nerve fibers that connects the left and right hemisphere of the brain
• Pons


  relays information between the cerebellum and cerebral cortex
• Spinal cord


  Vital communication link between brain and peripheral nervous system. It is also known as the reflex center.
• Cerebrum


  conscious thoughts & senses; intelligence, emotions, personality; interpret sensory input and initiate muscle movements
• Pituitary glands


  Produce hormones in the endocrine system
• Midbrain


  relay sight/sound information between hindbrain and forebrain
• Frontal lobe


  intelligence, personality, emotions, etc.; voluntary muscle movement
• Parietal lobe

  taste and touch
• Occipital lobe


  vision and visual recognition
• Temporal lobe


  hearing and smell
• Wernicke's Area


  comprehending speech and language
• Broca's Area


  motor area for speech
• Lateral Ventricle


  produce CSF (cerebrospinal fluid)
• Dura mater


  tough tissue connected to skull
• Arachnoid


  consists of arteries & veins; diffuse into brain
• Pia mater


  thin membrane connect Arachnoid to brain