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The Brain

This article explores the functions and injuries of the older brain structures, including the brainstem, medulla, pons, reticular formation, thalamus, hypothalamus, and limbic system.

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The Brain

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  1. The Brain Structures, Functions, and Injuries

  2. Older Brain Structures: Brainstem • The Brainstemisthe oldest part of the brain, beginning where the spinal cord swells and enters the skull. It is responsible for automatic survival functions.

  3. Medulla • The Medulla is the base of the brainstem that controls ___________ and _______________.

  4. Pons • Involved in coordinating movement, sleeping, waking, and dreaming • Brainstem is a crossover point, where most nerves to and from each side of the brain connect with body’s opposite side

  5. Reticular Formation • Filters incoming stimuli & relays important info to other areas of the brain • “Netlike” network of neurons

  6. Thalamus Thalamus • Sitting atop brainstem • Receives information from all senses (except smell) and routes it to the higher brain regions that deal with seeing, hearing, tasting, touching • “Hub in which traffics passes en route to various destinations”

  7. Thalamus • Brain’s sensory switchboard, located on top of the brainstem. • It directs messages to the sensory areas in the cortex and transmits replies to the cerebellum and medulla.

  8. Cerebellum • The “little brain” attached to the rear of the brainstem. • It helps coordinate voluntary movements and balance. • Also involved in: nonverbal learning, memory

  9. Older Brain Functions • “Older” brain functions all occur without any conscious effort • Brain processes most information outside of our awareness

  10. The Limbic System • Limbic Systemisa doughnut-shaped system of neural structures at the border of the brainstem and cerebrum • Associated with emotions such as fear, aggression and drives for food and sex. • It includes the hippocampus, amygdala, and hypothalamus.

  11. Limbic System • Hippocampus: processes memory • Injury: • . • .

  12. Amygdala • Amygdala: two lima bean-sized neural clusters • Influences aggression and fear • Processes emotional memories • Injury or Damage: • . • .

  13. Hypothalamus • Hypothalamus: important link in chain of command governing bodily maintenance • Some neural clusters influence: • Hunger, Thirst, Body Temp, Sexual Behaviors • Monitors both blood chemistry and takes orders from other parts of the brain

  14. Limbic System • Hypothalamus - Directs maintenance activities like eating, drinking, body temperature, and control of emotions. • Helps govern the endocrine system via the pituitary gland. Video of an actual brain

  15. Hypothalamus = Reward Center • Read on page 72 & 73 • Olds 1958: located other “pleasure centers” • What rats actually experience we don’t know • Allowed to press pedals to trigger their own stimulation • Feverish pace – 7000 times an hour – until they dropped from exhaustion

  16. Reward Center **Rats cross an electrified grid for self-stimulation when electrodes are placed in the reward (hypothalamus) center (top picture). **When the limbic system is manipulated, a rat will navigate fields or climb up a tree (bottom picture). Sanjiv Talwar, SUNY Downstate

  17. Reward Center • Do humans have limbic centers for pleasure? • Neurosurgeon implanted electrodes in such areas • Stimulated patients reported mild pleasure • However not driven into a frenzy(rat) • Researches believe that _____________ disorders may stem from a reward deficiency syndrome • Genetically disposed deficiency in natural brain systems for pleasure • People crave whatever provides that missing pleasure or relieves negative feelings

  18. Mind Control? • http://www.learner.org/resources/series142.html?pop=yes&pid=1593 • This video links human aggressive behavior with specific regions of the brain. • Scenes from classic experiments show stimulation of a bull's brain to stop it from charging and excitation of a cat's hypothalamus to trigger aggression. • A striking case of violent human behavior is then linked to a brain lesion — the surgical removal of which restored normal emotional control

  19. 70 -- Tickling

  20. Midbrain

  21. Forebrain Structures • Thalamus • Limbic system • Hippocampus • Amygdala • Hypothalamus • Cerebrum • Cerebral cortex • Lobes

  22. Hindbrain Structures • Brainstem • Medulla • Cerebellum • Pons

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