Anatomy and Physiology / Unit 6: The Nervous System and Senses
6.4 The Brain
Notes
- Cerebrum: two hemispheres with a folded cortex. Lobes: frontal (planning, voluntary movement, speech via Broca's area), parietal (touch and body sensation), temporal (hearing, memory, language comprehension), occipital (vision). The corpus callosum connects hemispheres.
- Diencephalon: thalamus (relay station for sensory information), hypothalamus (homeostasis: temperature, hunger, thirst, controls the pituitary), epithalamus (pineal gland, melatonin).
- Brain stem: midbrain, pons, medulla oblongata (controls heart rate, breathing and blood pressure).
- Cerebellum: coordinates movement, balance and posture.
- Limbic system: emotion and memory (amygdala, hippocampus).
- Protection: skull, three meninges (dura mater, arachnoid, pia mater), cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and the blood-brain barrier. A stroke is loss of blood supply to part of the brain.
Practice
Which brain region regulates heart rate and breathing?
The medulla contains vital centers for cardiac, respiratory and blood vessel control.
A patient has a stroke affecting the occipital lobe. Which loss is most likely?
The occipital lobe processes visual information.
A person's movements become shaky and uncoordinated after a head injury, and they lose balance, but they can still think and speak normally. Which structure is most likely damaged?
The cerebellum coordinates smooth movement and balance.
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