Structures and functions

Two Hemispheres

 The two halves of the

human brain are not
exactly alike but there are
pairs of structures
 -Left/right motor
Ventricles

 Cerebrospinal fluid is contained within the

ventricles
◦ CSF: protection, buoyancy, waste clearance and
hormone transport
 The Brainstem
the oldest and inner most part of the brain

•Brain stem is where the spinal

cord swells (medulla and pons)

•Medulla
controls heartbeat
and breathing

•Pons
–‘Bridge’
–Coordinates movement • Reticular Formation
–Involved in sleep, arousal, facial • this portion of the brain is responsible for mood,
expression arousal and sleep
•The neurons here are the source of most
serotonin and norepinephrine in the brain
Cats and the reticular formation
 If you stimulate the reticular
formation you are almost
instantly alert

 If you sever it then…

 Welcome to your coma from
which you will never wake
 Thalamus & Cerebellum
still considered lower-level
brain structures
 Thalamus
◦ Pair of egg shaped structures on top of the
brainstem
◦ receives information from all of our body’s
sensory organs (except smell) and reroutes it to
higher areas for processing (sight, hearing, taste,
touch)
◦ The Cortex is very connected to the thalamus –
involved in memory and states of consciousness

• Cerebellum – who are you really?

– We know that it helps coordinate voluntary movement and
balance
• How do we test for inebriation?
– We used to underestimate it but now…
– Damage leads to subtle deficits in language, cognition and
perception
Cortex – love your wrinkles

White matter

• Grey matter
 Myelin on the nerve • part of the brain that is
fibers (axons) makes controlled by the nerve
it white cell bodies and the
majority of the true
 Fatty insulators dendrites
speed • Grey because the the
communication – neuronal nuclei and
one of the type of somas and dendrites
glial cells don’t have fatty myelin
• Does the real processing
Subcortical Structures: Limbic System
between the old stuff and the cerebral hemispheres
• Amgydala
•Two almond/lima bean shaped
clusters
•Involved in identifying,
remembering and responding to
fear and aggression
• Hypothalamus
• Hippocampus
• Pituitary
The placid cat had its amygdala
stimulated
 Placement matters
Amygdala removed…
Subcortical Structures: Limbic System
between the old stuff and the cerebral hemispheres
•Amygdala
•Hypothalamus
• Monitors and influences hunger,
thirst, body temperature and even
our sexual behavior
• Maintains a steady internal state
•4F behaviours: feeding, fleeing,
fighting and fornicating
•Secretes hormones and triggers
the pituitary
• Hippocampus
• Pituitary
Subcortical Structures: Limbic System
between the old stuff and the cerebral hemispheres
•Amygdala
•Hypothalamus
•Hippocampus
• involved in the processing of
memory (especially long-term)
•Damage here results in
profound impairments in forming
new memories
• Pituitary
• A.k.a.The Master Gland
Influences hormone release by other
glands
Two Hemispheres
 Lateralization
 There is localization of
function
 The areas of the cerebral
cortex fall into three
categories: Sensory, motor
and Association
 Localization of function

 The areas of the cerebral cortex fall into three categories:

Sensory, Motor and Association

 Sensory
◦ Processes incoming information from the sensory systems
(eg. vision or smell)
 Motor
◦ Provides highest level of voluntary control over movement
 Association
◦ Helps build bridges between sensation and action,
language, and abstract thought
The Cerebral Cortex
is divided into four lobes
• Frontal lobe
• involved in speaking, muscle
movements, thinking and
planning

• Temporal lobe
•includes the auditory areas

• Parietal lobe
• includes the sensory cortex

•Occipital lobe
• includes the visual area that
receives information from eyes
Auditory and Visual Cortex
Association Areas
Association areas are
areas of the cortex that
are not involved in primary
motor or sensory functions

They are involved in

higher mental functions
such as learning,
remembering, thinking
and speaking

How to remember functions of Broca’s area and Wernicke’s area.

Something cool…
Other divisions to note

 Lateral fissure (sulcus)

 Central fissure (sulcus)

Somatosensory cortex

 Tissue stimulation can cause a person to report feeling touched or to feel as if

they have moved a limb when they haven’t