The Powers of the Mind: Lesson 7 Part 1 Brain

The Brain

• The brain is the control center of the body, enabling various tasks to be performed.

Exterior Parts of the Brain

• Frontal Lobes: involved in planning and thinking, rational and executive control center, monitors higher-order thinking skills, directs problem-solving, and regulates emotional system.
• Temporal Lobes: located above the ears, deal with sounds, music, face, and object recognition, and parts of long-term memory.
• Occipital Lobes: located at the back of the head, function for visual processing, visuospatial processing, distance, and depth perception, color determination, object and face recognition, and memory formation.
• Parietal Lobes: located at the top of the occipital lobes, receive and process sensory input such as touch, heat, cold, and pain, and are responsible for body awareness and spatial coordinate system.
• Motor Cortex: controls body movements, works with the cerebellum to coordinate learning of motor skills, and helps the brain recognize and remember the sequence of events in time.
• Somatosensory Cortex: processes sensory information from the body, including touch, pressure, temperature, and pain, and initiates important movements to deal with particular situations.

Interior Parts of the Brain

• Brainstem: resembles the entire brain of a reptile, monitors vital body functions such as heartbeat, respiration, body temperature, and digestion, and is responsible for the brain's alertness.
• Limbic System: located above the brain stem and below the cerebrum, generates emotion, processes emotional memories, and consists of four parts:
  • Thalamus: involved in cognitive activities including memory.
  • Hypothalamus: monitors internal systems to maintain homeostasis, and regulates body functions such as sleep, body temperature, and food intake.
  • Hippocampus: consolidates learning and converts information to long-term storage, and is capable of neurogenesis.
  • Amygdala: involved in emotion, especially fear, and regulates interactions with the environment, encoding the emotional element of memory.

Cerebrum and Cerebellum

• Cerebrum: largest brain structure, representing nearly 80% of the brain by weight, divided into two halves (left and right hemispheres), and connected by the corpus callosum.
• Cerebellum: located just below the rear part of the cerebrum, coordinates movement, monitors impulses from nerve endings in muscles, and stores the memory of automatic movements.