- 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, and guides behavior with verbal skills and houses
working memory. Its orbit frontal circuit manages emotional impulses in
socially appropriate ways for productive behaviors including empathy,
altruism, and 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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