- AMYGDALA: Lying
deep in the center of the limbic emotional brain,
this powerful structure, the size and shape of
an almond, is constantly alert to the needs of
basic survival including sex, emotional reactions
such as anger and fear. Consequently it inspires
aversive cues, such as sweaty palms, and has recently
been associated with a range of mental conditions
including depression to even autism. It is larger
in male brains, often enlarged in the brains of
sociopaths and it shrinks in the elderly.
- BRAIN
STEM: The part of the brain that
connects to the spinal cord. The brain stem controls
functions basic to the survival of all animals,
such as heart rate, breathing, digesting foods,
and sleeping. It is the lowest, most primitive
area of the human brain.
- CEREBELLUM: Two
peach-size mounds of folded tissue located at the
top of the brain stem, the cerebellum is the guru
of skilled, coordinated movement (e.g., returning
a tennis serve or throwing a slider down and in)
and is involved in some learning pathways.
- CEREBRUM: This
is the largest brain structure in humans and accounts
for about two-thirds of the brain’s mass. It
is divided into two sides — the left and right
hemispheres—that are separated by a deep groove
down the center from the back of the brain to the
forehead. These two halves are connected by long
neuron branches called the corpus callosum which
is relatively larger in women’s brains than
in men’s. The cerebrum is positioned over and
around most other brain structures, and its four
lobes are specialized by function but are richly
connected. The outer 3 millimeters of “gray
matter” is the cerebral
cortex which consists of closely packed
neurons that control most of our body functions,
including the mysterious state of consciousness,
the senses, the body’s motor skills, reasoning
and language.
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- The
Frontal Lobe is the most recently-evolved
part of the brain and the last to develop in
young adulthood. It’s dorso-lateral prefrontal
circuit is the brain’s top executive.
It organizes responses to complex problems,
plans steps to an objective, searches memory
for relevant experience, adapts strategies
to accommodate new data, guides behavior with
verbal skills and houses working memory. Its
orbitofrontal circuit manages emotional impulses
in socially appropriate ways for productive
behaviors including empathy, altruism, interpretation
of facial expressions. Stroke in this area
typically releases foul language and fatuous
behavior patterns.
- The
Temporal Lobe controls memory
storage area, emotion, hearing, and, on the left
side, language.
- The
Parietal Lobe receives and processes
sensory information from the body including calculating
location and speed of objects.
- The
Occipital Lobe processes
visual data and routes it to other parts of the
brain for identification and storage.
- HIPPOCAMPUS: located
deep within the brain, it processes new memories
for long-term storage. If you didn't have it, you
couldn't live in the present, you'd be stuck in the
past of old memories. It is among the first functions
to falter in Alzheimer's.
- HYPOTHALAMUS: Located
at the base of the brain where signals from the brain
and the body’s hormonal system interact, the
hypothalamus maintains the body’s status quo.
It monitors numerous bodily functions such as blood
pressure and body temperature, as well as controlling
body weight and appetite.
- THALAMUS: Located
at the top of the brain stem, the thalamus acts as
a two-way relay station, sorting, processing, and
directing signals from the spinal cord and mid-brain
structures up to the cerebrum, and, conversely, from
the cerebrum down the spinal cord to the nervous
system.
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