VIDEO CLIP
HUMAN BRAIN
And the little bit we know about it
PROTECTING YOUR BRAIN

Your brain has two layers of
protection . . .
Skull – the large bone that protects
your brain and most of your sensory
organs (eyes, ears, tongue, nose)
 Meninges – this is the tough thick
membrane that surrounds the brain
filled with cerebro-spinal fluid, which
cushions the brain (sometimes
referred to as the dura matter)


Meningitis is a disease in which the
meninges becomes inflamed and swollen
putting pressure on the brain
PARTS
There are many
different ways to
separate the brain
into parts.
 Sometimes they are
separated by the
parts we can
distinguish
 Sometimes we
separate them by
what parts of the
body that part of the
brain controls

Cerebrum
Limbic
System
CEREBRUM
This is the largest part of the
brain consisting of the

Frontal Lobe – controls our
personality
 Parietal Lobe - receives and interprets the senses of touch,
pressure, temperature, and pain
 Occipital Lobe - visual processing center of the brain
 Temporal Lobe - auditory center

The cerebrum is convoluted (it is really bumpy)
 The wrinkles in the brain are called sulci
 The bumps on the brain are called gyri

LIMBIC SYSTEM
The limbic system
consists of many parts:

Thalamus – controls
sleep and wake cycles
as well as receiving
sensory information
and relaying it to the correct part of the brain
 Hypothalamus – Regulates homeostasis by keeping track of
hunger, thirst, response to stimuli, pulse, breathing, etc . . .
 Amygdala – controls fear, aggression, and sexual response
 Hippocampus – converts short term memory to long term memory

CORPUS CALLOSUM
This is located
directly above the
limbic system
 This is the part of
the brain that
bridges the right and
left hemispheres
 It acts to coordinate
information between
the two sides of the
brain

PONS
The pons takes
sensory input and
transmits it to the
cerebellum.
 It is the a way for the
cerebrum and the
cerebellum to
communicate with
one another

MEDULLA

Controls autonomic (think automatic functions,
stuff that happens without your thinking about
it) functions
Respiration
 Blood pressure
 Swallowing
 Reflexes

Relay center between the brain and the spinal
cord
 This is the part of the brain they suppress when
we go under anesthsia

CEREBELLUM

The cerebellum controls motor coordination,
balance, equilibrium, and muscle tone.
SPINAL CORD
The spinal cord controls reflex arcs and is where
all other nerves in the body below the head stem
from.
 This is why severing the spinal cord (breaking
your neck or back) can cause death or paralysis,
because then the nerves in the rest of your body
cannot communicate with your brain

REFLEX ARC
A stimulus causes and
initial signal.
 The signal travels down
the sensory nerve to the spinal cord.
 The spinal cord
determines appropriate
response and sends a signal down a motor nerve.
 The motor nerve is connected to a muscle.
 When the signal reaches the terminal end of the nerve
the nerve stimulates the muscle to contract.

FUN STUFF TO TRY

Are you Right or Left Dominant?
Left Hemisphere
•Language
•Math
•Logic
Right Hemisphere
•Spatial abilities
•Face recognition
•Visual imagery
•Music
Schwann Cell
 Dendrite
 Cell Body
 Axon
 Myelin Sheath
 Terminal Button
 Neuro-transmitter
 Neuron
 Cerebrum
 Cerebellum
 Central Nervous System
 Peripheral Nervous System
 Spinal Cord
 Reflex
 Habit

oSpinal Column
oReflex Arc
oMedulla
oSynapse
oSensory Nerves
oMotor Nerves
oInterneurons
oAction Potential
oMeninges
oSkull
oResting Potential
oNode
oThreshold
oResponse
oNerve