What do the different parts of the human brain do?

Answer 1

• Cerebrum
• Cerebellum
• Limbic System
• Brain Stem

The nervous system is your body's decision and communication center.The central nervous system (CNS) is made of the brain and the spinal cord and the peripheral nervous system (PNS) is made of nerves. Together they control every part of your daily life, from breathing and blinking to helping you memorize facts for a test. Nerves reach from your brain to your face, ears, eyes, nose, and spinal cord... and from the spinal cord to the rest of your body. Sensory nerves gather information from the environment, send that info to the spinal cord, which then speed the message to the brain. The brain then makes sense of that message and fires off a response. Motor neurons deliver the instructions from the brain to the rest of your body. The spinal cord, made of a bundle of nerves running up and down the spine, is similar to a superhighway, speeding messages to and from the brain at every second.

The brain is made of three main parts: the forebrain, midbrain, and hindbrain. The forebrain consists of the cerebrum, thalamus, and hypothalamus (part of the limbic system). The midbrain consists of the tectum and tegmentum. The hindbrain is made of the cerebellum, pons and medulla. Often the midbrain, pons, and medulla are referred to together as the brainstem.

The Cerebrum: The cerebrum or cortex is the largest part of the human brain, associated with higher brain function such as thought and action. The cerebral cortex is divided into four sections, called "lobes": the frontal lobe, parietal lobe, occipital lobe, and temporal lobe. Here is a visual representation of the cortex:

What do each of these lobes do?

• Frontal Lobe- associated with reasoning, planning, parts of speech, movement, emotions, and problem solving
• Parietal Lobe- associated with movement, orientation, recognition, perception of stimuli
• Occipital Lobe- associated with visual processing
• Temporal Lobe- associated with perception and recognition of auditory stimuli, memory, and speech

Note that the cerebral cortex is highly wrinkled. Essentially this makes the brain more efficient, because it can increase the surface area of the brain and the amount of neurons within it. We will discuss the relevance of the degree of cortical folding (or gyrencephalization) later.(Go here for more information about cortical folding)

A deep furrow divides the cerebrum into two halves, known as the left and right hemispheres. The two hemispheres look mostly symmetrical yet it has been shown that each side functions slightly different than the other. Sometimes the right hemisphere is associated with creativity and the left hemispheres is associated with logic abilities. The corpus callosum is a bundle of axons which connects these two hemispheres.

Nerve cells make up the gray surface of the cerebrum which is a little thicker than your thumb. White nerve fibers underneath carry signals between the nerve cells and other parts of the brain and body.

The neocortex occupies the bulk of the cerebrum. This is a six-layered structure of the cerebral cortex which is only found in mammals. It is thought that the neocortex is a recently evolved structure, and is associated with "higher" information processing by more fully evolved animals (such as humans, primates, dolphins, etc). For more information about the neocortex, click here.

The Cerebellum: The cerebellum, or "little brain", is similar to the cerebrum in that it has two hemispheres and has a highly folded surface or cortex. This structure is associated with regulation and coordination of movement, posture, and balance.

The cerebellum is assumed to be much older than the cerebrum, evolutionarily. What do I mean by this? In other words, animals which scientists assume to have evolved prior to humans, for example reptiles, do have developed cerebellums. However, reptiles do not have neocortex. Go here for more discussion of the neocortex or go to the following web site for a more detailed look at evolution of brain structures and intelligence: "Ask the Experts": Evolution and Intelligence

Limbic System: The limbic system, often referred to as the "emotional brain", is found buried within the cerebrum. Like the cerebellum, evolutionarily the structure is rather old.

This system contains the thalamus, hypothalamus, amygdala, and hippocampus. Here is a visual representation of this system, from a midsagittal view of the human brain:

Click on the words to learn what these structures do:

• Thalamus
• Hypothalamus
• Amygdala
• Hippocampus

Brain Stem: Underneath the limbic system is the brain stem. This structure is responsible for basic vital life functions such as breathing, heartbeat, and blood pressure. Scientists say that this is the "simplest" part of human brains because animals' entire brains, such as reptiles (who appear early on the evolutionary scale) resemble our brain stem. Look at a good example of this here.

The brain stem is made of the midbrain, pons, and medulla. Click on the words to learn what these structures do:

• Midbrain
• Pons
• Medulla

Answer 2

the parts of the brain are brain stem, cerebellum, temporal lobe, occipital lobe, parietal lobe, primary sensory cortex, primary motor cortex, frontal lobe

Answer 3

There are 8 parts of the brain. Here's a list of what they are and what they do. The frontal lobe is one of the 4 major divisions of the cerebral cortex. This part of the brain regulates decision making, problem solving, control of purposeful behaviors consciousness, and emotions. The primary motor cortex is part of the frontal lobe and is responsible for regulating voluntary movements. The primary sensory cortex is part of the parietal lobe and processes sensory information received from the body. The parietal lobe is one of the 4 major divisions of the cerebral cortex. This lobe receives and processes sensory information received from the body. This also where the letters form word, and words combine thoughts. The occipital lobe is one of the 4 major divisions of the cerebral cortex. This lobe processes information related to vision. The temporal lobeis one of the four major divisions of the cerebral cortex. This part of the brain regulates memory, emotions, hearing, language and learning. The cerebellum regulates the initiation and timing of movements and is important for maintaining balance and posture. The cerebellum also helps modulate the force steadiness and range of movement. The brain stem connects the brain to the spinal cord. It controls many basic functions including heart rate, breathing, eating, and sleeping.

Answer 4

In very simplistic terms, the brain is departmentalized. One part interprets light. One part interprets sound. One part is devoted to muscular motor control. One part has to do with very basic instincts, including fight or flight control. One (or more?) part is devoted to upper level thinking.

Answer 5

Cerebrum: Interprets information that sense gather; controls muscle movement,thinking and language. Cerebellum: controls balance and posture;helps fine-tune movement. Brain Stem: controls blood pressure, heartbeats, respiration, and digestion.

Answer 6

label its part using the world strips..........