Brain intro

• Brain


  Consists of the hindbrain, midbrain, and forebrain
• Hindbrain


  • Supports bodily functions
  • Acts as a link between the spinal cord and the brain
• Midbrain


  • Controls arousal levels and consciousness
  • Connects the hindbrain with the forebrain
• Forebrain


  • Responsible for higher-order thinking processes
  • Includes the cerebral hemispheres
• Components of the Hindbrain

  • Cerebellum
  • Pons
  • Medulla
  • Part of the reticular formation
• Medulla


  • Controls breathing, heartbeat, and digestion
  • Continuation of the spine
• Pons


  Receives visual information to control eye and body actions
• Cerebellum


  Coordinates the sequence of body movements
• Midbrain


  • Regulates sleep, motor movement, and arousal
  • Includes part of the reticular formation
• Cerebrum


  • Largest part of the forebrain, divided into left and right cerebral hemispheres
  • Covered by the cerebral cortex
  • Responsible for higher mental processes and complex behaviors
• Hypothalamus


  Controls basic survival actions such as sleep, body temperature regulation, expression of emotions, and instincts like feeding, fighting, fleeing, and mating
• Thalamus


  • Acts as the 'communications center' of the brain, receiving sensory information (except smell) and relaying it to the relevant part of the cortex
  • Determines the importance of sensory information for attention
• Amygdala


  Central to emotion, aggression, and implicit learning
• Hippocampus


  Involved in transferring information from short-term to long-term memory, crucial for memory formation and emotional processing
• Corpus Callosum


  Connects the left and right cerebral hemispheres, facilitating communication between them
• Understanding the structure and function of the hindbrain, midbrain, and forebrain provides insights into how the brain regulates physiological processes, behavior, and higher cognitive functions essential for survival and adaptation to the environment
• Recticular Formation


  Network of neurons spanning the midbrain and hindbrain, connecting them with the forebrain.

  Role = regulating arousal levels and the sleep-wake cycle.