A majority of brain processing power is used in the hindbrain. The midbrain connects the pons and the cerebellum caudally with the diencephalon rostrally. The frontal lobe is responsible for the visual system.
A majority of brain processing power is used in the hindbrain. The midbrain connects the pons and the cerebellum caudally with the diencephalon rostrally. The frontal lobe is responsible for the visual system.
A majority of brain processing power is used in the hindbrain. The midbrain connects the pons and the cerebellum caudally with the diencephalon rostrally. The frontal lobe is responsible for the visual system.
Miss Olga Rodrguez Communicative English IV 418 24 February 2014 Brains Machine I. Brains Anatomy A. Hindbrain A majority of brain processing power is used in the hindbrain rather than the cerebrum responsible for conscious thought and decision-making. The functions of the hindbrain cover the primitive instincts and vital bodily functions such as heartbeat, breathing and digestion.( Hindbrain, What Are the Functions of the Hindbrain?) Keynes and Lumsden said that the rhombencephalic, or hindbrain, part of the vertebrate central nervous system is segmented, consisting of eight consecutive rhombomeres ( 20). Rhombencephalic neural crest cells migrate predominantly along a dorsolateral pathway underneath the surface ectoderm and populate the pharyngeal arches, in a way that neural crest cells of each rhombomere populate a particular pharyngeal arch which subsequently gives rise to specific derivatives. (Lumsden, Graham, Sechrist , 20). Lumsden, Graham, Sechrist , thing that whether or not rhombomeres 3 and 5 give rise to neural crest cells is not entirely clear . In this region increased cell death has been described.(20-21)
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B. Midbrain. The midbrain is the smallest of the three major subdivisions of the brainstem, situated between the pons caudally and the diencephalon dorsally. Its upper boundary passes through the PC dorsally and the MB ventrally, excluding the hypothalamic nuclei located in the floor of the third ventricle. This boundary is ontogenetically and phylogenetically situated at the junction between the telencephalon and the mesencephalon as obtained in the CH-PC reference plane orientation. The midbrain connects the pons and the cerebellum caudally with the diencephalon rostrally. It is the shortest segment of the brainstem, measuring 2 cm in length. Its long axis inclines ventrally from its caudal to its rostral aspect. This explains why the cuts parallel to the rhombencephalic floor of the fourth ventricle are less accurate for the study of midbrain than the coronal cuts performed parallel to the PC-OB line or the axial cuts perpendicular to the brainstem vertical axis (Tamraz 228). C. Forebrain Regina Bailey comment that the forebrain s responsible for a variety of functions including receiving and processing sensory information, thinking, perceiving, producing and understanding language, and controlling motor function and there are two major divisions of forebrain: the diencephalon and the telencephalon. (Forebrain, anatomy of the brain) The diencephalon contains structures such as the thalamus and hypothalamus which are responsible for such functions as motor control, relaying sensory information, and Alejandro 3
controlling autonomic functions. The telencephalon contains the largest part of the brain, the cerebrum. Most of the actual information processing in the brain takes place in the cerebral cortex. II. Brains Main Function. A. Metabolism Despite weighing only about 3 pounds, the brain consumes as much as 20% of the oxygen and glucose taken in by the body. Nervous tissue in the brain has a very high metabolic rate due to the sheer number of decisions and processes taking place within the brain at any given time. Large volumes of blood must be constantly delivered to the brain in order to maintain proper brain function. Any interruption in the delivery of blood to the brain leads very quickly to dizziness, disorientation, and eventually unconsciousness. The metabolism of the brain was studied in normal, schizophrenic, paretic and senile subjects, and the effect of alcohol, paraldehyde and morphine was studied. Arterio-venous differences for oxygen, carbon dioxide, glucose and lactic acid were determined by means of internal jugular puncture.( Metabolism and brain, TheScientist-exploriong life, inspiring innovation) B. Sensory The brain receives information about the bodys condition and surroundings from all of the sensory receptors in the body. All of this information is fed into sensory areas of the brain, which put this information together to create a perception of the bodys internal and external conditions. Some of this sensory information is autonomic sensory information that tells the brain subconsciously about the Alejandro 4
condition of the body. Body temperature, heart rate, and blood pressure are all autonomic senses that the body receives. Other information is somatic sensory information that the brain is consciously aware of. Touch, sight, sound, and hearing are all examples of somatic senses. (Sensory System, Biology online) C. Motor Control Our brain directly controls almost all movement in the body. A region of the cerebral cortex known as the motor area sends signals to the skeletal muscles to produce all voluntary movements. The basal nuclei of the cerebrum and gray matter in the brainstem help to control these movements subconsciously and prevent extraneous motions that are undesired. (Motor Contro-Brain, InnerBody) D. Processing Sensory information is combined, evaluated, and compared to prior experiences, providing the brain with an accurate picture of its conditions. The association areas also work to develop plans of action that are sent to the brains motor regions in order to produce a change in the body through muscles or glands. (Processing-Brain, InnerBody) E. Learning and memory Information in the brain is stored in a few different ways depending on its source and how long it is needed. Our brain maintains short-term memory to keep track of the tasks in which the brain is currently engaged. Memory related to motor skills (known as procedural memory) is stored by the cerebellum and basal nuclei. (JONATHAN S. BAKIN* AND NORMAN M. WEINBERGER, 1120) F. Homeostasis Alejandro 5
The brain acts as the bodys control center by maintaining the homeostasis of many diverse functions such as breathing, heart rate, body temperature, and hunger. The brainstem and the hypothalamus are the brain structures most concerned with homeostasis. (Homeostasis-Brain, InnerBody) G. Sleep While sleep may seem to be a time of rest for the brain, this organ is actually extremely active during sleep. The hypothalamus maintains the bodys 24 hour biological clock, known as the circadian clock. When the circadian clock indicates that the time for sleep has arrived, it sends signals to the reticular activating system of the brainstem to reduce its stimulation of the cerebral cortex. Reduction in the stimulation of the cerebral cortex leads to a sense of sleepiness and eventually leads to sleep. In a state of sleep, the brain stops maintaining consciousness, reduces some of its sensitivity to sensory input, relaxes skeletal muscles, and completes many administrative functions. These administrative functions include the consolidation and storage of memory, dreaming, and development of nervous tissue. (Sleep- H. Reflex A reflex is a fast, involuntary reaction to a form of internal or external stimulus. Many reflexes in the body are integrated in the brain, including the pupillary light reflex, coughing, and sneezing. Many reflexes protect the body from harm. For instance, coughing and sneezing clear the airways of the lungs. Other reflexes help the body respond to stimuli, such as adjusting the pupils to bright or dim light. All reflexes happen quickly by bypassing the control centers of the cerebral Alejandro 6
cortex and integrating in the lower regions of the brain such as the midbrain or limbic system. (Reflex-Brain, InnerBody)
III. Life without a brain The human cerebellum is reported to contain 85 billion neurons, around half the number in the entire brain (Azevedo et al., 2009). Thus, it is source of considerable wonder that a full adult life is possible in cases where the cerebellum does not develop at all or where only vestigial signs of a cerebellum are present. The first instance of this rare disorder was described in 1831 by Combettes, and again by Ferrier in 1876. Richard Boyds paper in this issue of Brain (Boyd, 2010) is a very interesting addition to the important debate over the significance of cerebellar agenesis for motor development and brain function in such individuals. An important review by Mitchell Glickstein (1994) made the point that in all case reports in which a full clinical description was available, clear motor deficits were present. He stated the claim that people with complete cerebellar agenesis can be entirely symptom free is widespread, yet in every documented case there was a profound deficit in the development of normal movement. He attacked the oral tradition and the myth that people who are born without a cerebellum may have no observable symptoms at all. (Life without a brain, BRAN A JOURNAL OF NEUROLOGY-)
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WORK CITED
Facts to Demystify the Brain, February 28, 2014
Forebrain, anatomy of the brain. About.com, 21 Feb 2014. Web. 23 Feb 2014
Hindbrain, What Are the Functions of the Hindbrain?, 22 Feb 2014. Web. 23 Feb 2014
Homeostasis-Brain, InnerBody, 1999-2013
JONATHAN S. BAKIN* AND NORMAN M. WEINBERGER, 1120, Induction of a physiological memory in the cerebral cortex by stimulation of the nucleus basalis, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USAVol. 93, pp. 11219-11224, October 1996, Neurobiology
(Keynes and Lumsden, 1990) Keynes, R .. and Lumsden. A. (1990) Segmentation and the origin of regional diversity in the vertebrate central nervous system. 1990. Neuron 4:1-9.
Life without a brain, BRAIN A JOURNAL OF NEUROLOGY, January 12, 2010- January 18,2010
Lumsden, A .. Sechrist, N .. and Graham, A, (1991) Segmental origin and migration of neural crest cclls in the hindbrain region of the chick embryo. 1991. Development 113:I281~1291.
Metabolism and brain, TheScientist-exploriong life, inspiring innovation-, Oksana Kaidanovich-Beilin, Danielle S. Cha, and Roger S. McIntyre. December 1, 2012
Motor Control-Brain, InnerBody, 1999-2013
Processing-Brain, InnerBody 1999-2013
Reflex-Brain, InnerBody, 1999-2013
Sensory System, Biology online,16 May 2005
Tamraz J, Saban R, Reperant J, Cabanis EA (1990) Dfinition dun plan de rfrence cphalique en imagerie par rsonance magntique: le plan chiasmato- commissural. CR Acad Sciences, Paris, 311, III:115121
Tamraz J, Saban R, Reperant J, Cabanis EA (1991) A new cephalic reference plane for use with magnetic resonance imaging: the chiasmato-commissural plane.1991. Surg Radiol Anat 13:197201
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(Vaage, 1969) Vaage. S. (1969) The segmentation of the primitive neumi tube in chick embryos (Gallus domesticus).1969 Adv. Anat. Embryol.Cell BioI. 41: 1-88.
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CONCLUSION Man is, therefore, capable of being superior to any intelligent mechanism or creature, since he is not limited to functioning only with logic, reason and intelligence, thus allowing unlimited mental creativity and exploration. He has no mental limitation in scope, other than in his self-control over his instincts. Conversely, he is also capable of being an absolute idiot, the more usual case since he is not normally either trained or educated in intelligent thought (solid provable premises, careful logic steps, frequent verification by measurement, the refusal to consider intuition, imagination and conjecture in other than theoretical and inventive pursuits).