Ipsilateral - Answers making a connection on the same side (left/right) of the nervous system
Contralateral - Answers making a connection on the opposite side (left/right) of the nervous system
Lateral - Answers towards the sides, away from the middle
Medial - Answers toward the midline, away from the sides
Vental - Answers toward the stomach, and in the human head, toward the bottom
Dorsal - Answers toward the back of the body, and in the human head, toward the top
Superior - Answers above another part
Inferior - Answers below another part
Coronal Plane - Answers plane through brain as seen from the front (corona=crown)
Saggital Plane - Answers plane through brain as seen from the side (sagittarius, the archer)
Horizontal Plane - Answers plane through brain as seen from above (sometimes called the traverse
plane)
Hindbrain - Answers ancient, posterior part of brain consisting of Medulla, Pons, and Cerebellum
Medulla (medulla oblongata) - Answers - hindbrain structure, controls vital reflexes
- examples of vital reflexes: breathing, vomiting, coughing
- overdoes of cocaine, heroin, etc. can be fatal via pathological effects on medulla
Pons (Latin for bridge) - Answers - hindbrain structure, acts as a bridge between hindbrain and higher
centers
- pons (and medulla) also include cranial nerves V through XII that carry sensory/motor information
to/from the head
- they include reticular formation and raphe system
Reticular Formation - Answers network of cells moving medially through hind- and midbrain, involved in
arousal
Raphe System - Answers core strip of cells through hind- and midbrain, involved in sleep
Cerebellum ("little brain") - Answers - hindbrain structure, involved primarily with guided, timed
movements
,- motor programs, organizes online sensory input to guide movement, modifiable by learning
- critical in timing actions (including graceful, coordinated activity)
- also relavant in shifting attention
Brainstem - Answers - structure along the center-most section of the brain
- hindbrain (not including cerebellum), midbrain, and diencephalon of forebrain
Midbrain - Answers - central structures above hindbrain
- proportionally larger and more important in simpler brians
Tectum (Latin for roof, covering or rug?, as in "plate tectonics" in geology) - Answers midbrain structure
involved in sensory processes, includes superior (visual- including "blindsight") and inferior (auditory)
colliculi
Tegmentum - Answers - midbrain structure involved in motor processes
- also part of reticular formation for arousal
- includes red nucleus and substantia nigra with dopaminergic neurons that degenerate in Parkinson's
disease
- contains cranial nerves III and IV (controlling eye movements)
Forebrain - Answers - most anterior portion of brain
- 2 divisions: diencephalon (part of brains stem) and telecephalon (the rest)
Diencephalon - Answers division of the forebrain that ultimately becomes the Thalamus, Hypothalamus,
and the eye
Thalamus - Answers - forebrain structure, a principal stop along most along most sensory, motor, and
arousal pathways, projects to cortex
- primary source of input to cerebral cortex
- most sensory and motor systems (except olfaction) have nuclei here
- also includes intrinsic neurons for info processing within thalamus
Hypothalamus - Answers - forebrain structure, oversees 4F's (feeding, fighting, fleeing and fornicating)
- temp and clock
- neural and hormonal connections, especially autonomic nervous system
, - controls endocrine systems via affect on pituitary gland
Pituitary Gland - Answers - forebrain structure, "master gland", stimulated by hypothalamus
- produces "releasing hormones" that flow via veins to anterior pituitary stimulating that gland to
release
- produces other hormones sent (like NTs) via axons to posterior pituitary, then circulate in blood stream
Telecephalon - Answers division of the forebrain that ultimately becomes the Central Cortex, Basal
Ganglia, Limbic System, etc.
Limbic System (Limbus=border) - Answers - a set of forebrain structures involved in motivation and
emotional expression
- includes (with Hypothalamus) hippocampus, amygdala, cingulate gyrus, olfactory bulb, and others
Hippocampus (seahorse, posterior and inferior to the thalamus/hypothalamus) - Answers - part of limbic
system, involved in formation of new memories
- active in spatial mapping
Amygdala ("almond" at anterior end of hippocampus in temporal lobe, near lateral ventricles) - Answers
part of limbic system, associated especially with anger and fear, also with recognizing emotions in others
Cingulate Gyrus ("limbic cortex", forms layer immediately inferior to cerebral cortex) - Answers part of
limbic system, "re-enterant" layer mediating between cortex and lower systems, especially for +/-
evaluation
Olfactory Bulb (extends on stalk out of brain toward nasal cavity) - Answers - part of limbic system,
receives smell info form olfactory receptors
- after endogenous processing, axons go directly to olfactory cortex (obitofrontal area, just behind eyes)
- important exchange with rest of limbic system responsible for emotional-memory-evoking capacity of
smell
- also, olfaction in enhanced if emotionally aroused (hungry, thirsty, fearful, or sexually aroused)
Basal Ganglia - Answers - a forebrain structure including caudate nucleus, putamen and globus pallidus,
involved in organization of movement sequences
- lateral to most of above-mentioned structures, acts as major interface between them and the cortex
- a re-entrant system whose most abundant connections are to the frontal cortex
- control of movement, planned sequential behaviors, mediated by memory and emotion