The Old Brain
What is the primary function of the "Old Brain"
Controls basic and essential functions for survival that occur autonomously (without conscious thought).
Crucial for forming new long-term explicit memories
Hippocampus
Part of the brain connecting your two brain hemispheres allowing the left and right cerebral hemispheres to share information.
Corpus Callosum
Cortex located in the frontal lobe (just in front of the central sulcus) that is critical for planning, controlling, and executing voluntary movements of the body.
Motor Cortex
Plays a crucial role in regulating arousal.
Reticular Formation
Process and regulate emotions, especially fear and aggression; involved in memory that has a strong emotional component.
Amygdala
Processes auditory information (hearing), and is heavily involved in language comprehension.
Temporal Lobe
Involved in speech production and articulation. Damage here leads to difficulty forming and speaking words fluently.
Broca's Area
Acts as the brain's main sensory switchboard, directing all sensory information (except smell) to the correct processing areas in the cortex.
Thalamus
Manages the body's internal state (homeostasis) by regulating temperature, hunger, thirst, sleep, and directing hormone
Hypothalamus
Processes sensory information related to touch, temperature, pressure, and pain (via the somatosensory cortex); helps determine spatial location.
Parietal Lobe
cortex located in the parietal lobe (just behind the central sulcus) that is the main receptive area for the sense of touch, temperature, pain, pressure.
Somatosensory Cortex
Responsible for coordinating muscle movements, maintaining posture, and balance.
Cerebellum
The "executive center"—involved in planning, judgment, decision-making, personality, etc.
Frontal Lobe
This area is essential for language comprehension and interpretation of both spoken and written words. Damage here results in fluent but often meaningless speech and difficulty understanding language.
Wernicke's Area
Regulates basic life support functions such as breathing, circulation, swallowing, and coughing.
Medulla
Primarily responsible for processing visual information from the eyes.
Occipital Lobe