What are the 5 parts of the brain and their functions

The brain is divided into areas which are each responsible for different areas of functioning.

The brain can be divided into three basic units: the forebrain, the midbrain and the hindbrain.

These areas are: Occipital lobe, Temporal lobe, Parietal lobe, Frontal lobe.
Cerebral cortex, Cerebellum, Hypothalamus,Thalamus,Pituitary gland, Pineal gland, Amygdala, Hippocampas and the Mid- brain.

The image below indicates where the areas are.

Occipital lobe:  This is found in the back of the brain.  The area is involved with the brain's ability to recognise objects. It is responsible for our vision.

Temporal lobe: The temporal lobes are found on either side of the brain and just above the ears. The temporal lobes are responsible for hearing, memory, meaning, and language. They also play a role in emotion and learning. The temporal lobes are concerned with interpreting and processing auditory stimuli.

Parietal lobe: The parietal lobes are found behind the frontal lobes, above the temporal lobes, and at the top back of the brain. They are connected with the processing of nerve impulses related to the senses, such as touch, pain, taste, pressure, and temperature. They also have language functions.

Frontal lobe:It is concerned with emotions, reasoning, planning, movement, and parts of speech. It is also involved in purposeful acts such as creativity, judgment, and problem solving, and planning

Cerebral cortex: The cerebral cortex controls your thinking, voluntary movements, language, reasoning, and perception. In higher mammals the cortex looks like it has lots of wrinkles, grooves and bumps.

Cerebellum: controls your movement, balance, posture, and coordination. New research has also linked it to thinking, novelty, and emotions. The limbic system, often referred to as the "emotional brain", is found buried within the cerebrum.

Hypothalamus: controls your body temperature, emotions, hunger, thirst, appetite, digestion and sleep. The hypothalamus is composed of several different areas and is located at the base of the brain. It is only the size of a pea (about 1/300 of the total brain weight), but is responsible for some very important behaviours.

Thalamus: controls your sensory integration and motor integration. Receives sensory information and relays it to the cerebral cortex. The cerebral cortex also sends information to the thalamus which then transmits this information to other parts of the brain and the brain stem.

Pituitary gland: it controls your hormones and it helps to turn food to energy. Without this gland you could eat but you wouldn't get any energy from the food.

Pineal gland: This part controls your growing and maturing. It is activated by light so if you were born and lived all your life in a place without a trace of light your pineal gland would never start to work.

Amygdala: The amygdala (there are two of them) control your emotions such as regulating when you're happy or mad. Your amygdala is very important. Without it you could win the lottery and feel nothing. You wouldn't be happy.

Hippocampas: Forms and stores your memories (scientists think there are other things unknown about the hippocampas) and is involved in learning. If you didn't have it, you wouldn't be able to remember anything. People with Alzheimer's disease loose the functioning of their hippocampas.

Mid- brain: this section controls your breathing, reflexes, and your swallowing reflexes. Includes the Thalamus, Hippocampus, and Amygdala. Every living thing has to have a mid-brain.

Pons- part of the metencephalon in the hindbrain. It is involved in motor control and sensory analysis... for example, information from the ear first enters the brain in the pons. It has parts that are important for the level of consciousness and for sleep. Some structures within the pons are linked to the cerebellum, thus are involved in movement and posture.

Medulla Oblongata - this structure is the caudal-most part of the brain stem, between the pons and spinal cord. It is responsible for maintaining vital body functions, such as breathing, digestion and heartbeat.

Read more:

The brain

References

http://serendip.brynmawr.edu/bb/kinser/definitions/def-medulla.html

www.library.thinkquest.org/J002391/functions.html

http://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/brain_basics/know_your_brain.htm

Siphiwo Nkonki

(Health24, August 2011)

The Structure And Function Of The Human Brain

Forebrain

The Cerebrum: Also known as the cerebral cortex, the cerebrum is the largest part of the human brain, and it is associated with higher brain function such as thought and action. Nerve cells make up the gray surface, which is a little thicker than our thumb. White nerve fibers beneath the surface carry signals between nerve cells in other parts of the brain and body. Its wrinkled surface increases the surface area, and is a six-layered structure found in mammals, called the neocortex. It is divided into four sections, called “lobes”. They are; the frontal lobe, the parietal lobe, the occipital lobe and the temporal lobe.

Functions Of The Lobes:

Frontal Lobe – The frontal lobe lies just beneath our forehead and is associated with our brain’s ability to reason, organize, plan, speak, move, make facial expressions, serial task, problem solve, control inhibition, spontaneity, initiate and self-regulate behaviors, pay attention, remember and control emotions.

Parietal Lobe – The parietal lobe is located at the upper rear of our brain, and controls our complex behaviors, including senses such as vision, touch, body awareness and spatial orientation. It plays important roles in integrating sensory information from various parts of our body, knowledge of numbers and their relations, and in the manipulation of objects. Portions are involved with our visuospatial processing, language comprehension, the ability to construct, body positioning and movement, neglect/inattention, left-right differentiation and self-awareness/insight.

Occipital Lobe – The occipital lobe is located at the back of our brain, and is associated with our visual processing, such as visual recognition, visual attention, spatial analysis (moving in a 3-D world) and visual perception of body language; such as postures, expressions and gestures.

Temporal Lobe – The temporal lobe is located near our ears, and is associated with processing our perception and recognition of auditory stimuli (including our ability to focus on one sound among many, like listening to one voice among many at a party), comprehending spoken language, verbal memory, visual memory and language production (including fluency and word-finding), general knowledge and autobiographical memories.

A deep furrow divides the cerebrum into two halves, known as the left and right hemispheres. And, while the two hemispheres look almost symmetrical, each side seems to function differently. The right hemisphere is considered our creative side, and the left hemisphere is considered our logical side. A bundle of axons, called the corpus callosum, connects the two hemispheres.

Midbrain

The midbrain is located below the cerebral cortex, and above the hindbrain placing it near the center of the brain. It is comprised of the tectum, tegmentum, cerebral aqueduct, cerebral peduncles and several nuclei and fasciculi. The primary role of the midbrain is to act as a sort of relay station for our visual and auditory systems. Portions of the midbrain called the red nucleus and the substantia nigra are involved in the control of body movement, and contain a large number of dopamine-producing neurons. The degeneration of neurons in the substantia nigra is associated with Parkinson’s disease. The midbrain is the smallest region of the brain, and is located most centrally within the cranial cavity.

Limbic System – the limbic system is often referred to as our “emotional brain”, or ‘childish brain’. It is found buried within the cerebrum and contains the thalamus, hypothalamus, amygdala and hippocampus.

Thalamus – the primary role of the thalamus is to relay sensory information from other parts of the brain to the cerebral cortex

Hypothalamus – the primary role of the hypothalamus is to regulate various functions of the pituitary gland and endocrine activity, as well as somatic functions e.g.body temperature, sleep, appetite.

Amygdala – the primary role of the amygdala is to be a critical processor for the senses. Connected to the hippocampus, it plays a role in emotionally laden memories and contains a huge number of opiate receptor sites that are implicated in rage, fear and sexual feelings.

Hippocampus – the primary role of the hippocampus is memory forming, organizing and storing information. It is particularly important in forming new memories, and connecting emotions and senses, such as smell and sound, to memories.

Pituitary Gland – the primary role of the pituitary gland is an important link between the nervous system and the endocrine system. It releases many hormones which affect growth, metabolism, sexual development and the reproduction system. It is connected to the hypothalamus and is about the size of a pea. It is located in the center of the skull, just behind the bridge of the nose.

Hindbrain

The Cerebellum – The cerebellum, or “little brain”, is similar to the cerebrum with its two hemispheres and highly folded surface. It is associated with regulation and coordination of movement, posture, balance and cardiac, respiratory and vasomotor centers.

Brain Stem – The brain stem is located beneath the limbic system. It is responsible for vital life functions such as breathing, heartbeat, and blood pressure. The brain stem is made of the midbrain, pons, and medulla.

Pons – The primary role of the pons is to serve as a bridge between various parts of the nervous system, including the cerebellum and cerebrum. Many important nerves that originate in the pons, such as the trigeminal nerve, responsible for feeling in the face, as well as controlling the muscles that are responsible for biting, chewing, and swallowing. It also contains the abducens nerve, which allows us to look from side to side and the vestibularcochlear nerve, which allows to hear. As part of the brainstem, a section of the lower pons stimulates and controls the intensity of breathing, while a section of the upper pons decreases the depth and frequency of breaths. The pons is also associated with the control of sleep cycles, and controls respiration and reflexes. It is located above the medulla, below the midbrain, and just in front of the cerebellum.

Medulla – The primary role of the medulla is regulating our involuntary life sustaining functions such as breathing, swallowing and heart rate. As part of the brain stem, it also helps transfer neural messages to and from the brain and spinal cord. It is located at the junction of the spinal cord and brain.

Please support the Northern Brain Injury Association. Your gift will be used to help people in crisis to get the help they need, when and where they need it.

What are the 5 brain functions?

What are the parts of the brain and its function?

What are the names of the 5 parts of the brain?