Physiology 206 Lecture 7 Outline of Last Lecture I Skull II Cerebral Spinal Fluid III Blood brain barrier IV Sensory homunculus V Motor homunculus VI Broca s area VII Wernicke s area Association areas Outline of Current Lecture I Hypothalamus II Cerebral cortex III Memory IV Cerebellum V Brain stem VI Spinal cord VII Peripheral nervous system Current Lecture 1 29 14 Hypothalamus o Controls body fluids These notes represent a detailed interpretation of the professor s lecture GradeBuddy is best used as a supplement to your own notes not as a substitute o Main connection between brain and endocrine system Cerebral cortex o Part of limbic system o Basal nuclei o Thalamus o Hypothalamus Memory o Short term consolidation long term o Short term lasts a few seconds to a few hours very limited capacity o Consolidation the process of making short term memory into long term memory o Long term can last up to a lifetime It s a matter of finding or recalling the memory when older No upper limit on capacity is known o Amnesia loss of memory Retrograde loss of memory of some brief period of time usually after an accident Ex loss memories of past events after a blow to the head Can form new long term memories after Anterograde the inability to form new long term memories Existing long term memories remain but can t consolidate new memories o Ex becoming senile o This is a symptom of Alzheimer s Cerebellum in charge of coordination of motor activity impulse initiated in frontal lobe o Cerebellular lesions result in intention tremor occurs when changing muscle activity i e reaching vs picking something up Signs of lesion include decrease in ability to balance Brain stem connects cerebrum and cerebellum with the spinal cord o Multiple parts Medulla oblongata Pons Midbrain o Controls vital functions Breathing heart rhythm Head traumas from accidents sometimes cause swelling around the brain stem thus blocking the regulation of vital functions o 12 pairs of cranial nerves How messages travel between the brain and the periphery Vagus nerve X Main route of parasympathetic output Affects most major organs o Reticular formation Network in brain stem that includes part of thalamus Reticular activating system controls the cycle of Maximal alertness o Cats live in constant state of this o Humans only experience it when in state of constant stress Wakefulness o We spend most of the day here Sleep o At night o We re receiving sensory input but not processing it reduced sensitivity Coma o No sensory awareness at all Spinal cord connects brain to periphery o Tract bundle of nerves o Ascending tracts bring information to the brain o Descending tracts bring information away from brain and to the body o Spinal reflexes Sensory neuron interneuron ascending tract But the interneuron also synapses with a motor neuron Causes branching Allows for motor response to stimulus before knowledge of stimulus has been processed by brain Peripheral nervous system o Afferent bring information to the brain o Special senses Taste smell olfaction hearing vision o Somatosensory system Know where the body is relative to gravity Know where the body is in relation to objects of the world o Receptors Interact with some form of energy and convert it into chains of action potentials Transducer converts one form of energy to another in the process of transduction All sensory receptors are transducers they differ by what kind of energy they respond to best Sensation information brought to the brain by a sensory receptor Perception the conversion of sensory information into things that have meaning in the brain o Differs between different people