The Brain
By
Monica Berry
University of Phoenix
The brain is the center of the nervous system in all vertebrate, and most invertebrate, animals. In vertebrates, the brain is located in the skull and close to the primary sensory apparatus of vision, hearing, balance, taste, and smell. I will explain the five major structures of the brain and their functions and where they are located.
The nervous system is your body’s decision and communication center. The central nervous system and the spinal cord and the peripheral nervous system is made of nerves. Together they control your daily life, from breathing and blinking to helping you memorize facts for a test. Nerves reach from your face, ears, eyes, nose, and spinal cord, and from the spinal cord to the rest of your body. Sensory send information from the environment, send that information into the spinal cord, which sends a message to the brain then makes sense of that message and fires off a response. Motor neurons deliver the instructions to the rest of your body. The spinal cord made of a bundle of nerves running up and down the spine, into a superhighway, speeding messages to and from the brain at every second.
The brain is made up of three main parts: the forebrain, midbrain, and the hindbrain. The forebrain consists of the thalamus, and the hypothalamus. The midbrain consists of the tectum and tegmentum. The hindbrain is made of the cerebrum, pons, and medulla. Often the midbrain, pons, and medulla are referred together as brainstem.
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: frontal lobe, parietal lobe, and temporal lobe. What does each lobe do? Frontal lobe-associated with reasoning, planning, parts of speech, movement, emotions, and problem solving. Parietal lob-associated with movement, orientation, recognition, perception of stimuli. Temporal...