Parts of Brain

The human brain comprises several distinct structures, each with its functions. These structures form three major brain components that have emerged at various points along our evolutionary journey. The hindbrain situates in the lower area of the brain. It is where the spinal cord enters the skull and was the first to appear in evolution and the first to appear in prenatal development. The hindbrain comprises several smaller structures, such as the medulla, pons, and cerebellum. These structures are involved in the basic physiology of human beings, like sleeping, breathing, eating, heartbeat, etc. The cerebellum, located in the lower back of the brain, is involved in complex motor behaviors such as walking, riding a bicycle, and playing racquetball.

The midbrain comes next in both evolutionary and prenatal development. It helps with sight and hearing. And it helps with The most critical area of the hindbrain is the reticular formation. It is also defined as the reticular activating system or RAS and extends into the hindbrain. The reticular formation has a crucial role in attention and consciousness. This formation alert when a stimulus is encountered.

The front and upper brain situate the forebrain, where most complex mental activities occur in primates, particularly humans. The cerebral cortex—often referred to as the cortex—rests on top, like a thick, lumpy wig, and is divided into two halves (hemispheres). It looks like a reflection of another. According to neurologists, the cortex's hemispheres comprise lobes.

The frontal lobes, located at the front and top of the cortex, appear to be the location of much of our conscious thinking. Language, cognitive skills, reasoning, problem-solving, self-control of behavior, and body movements are all controlled mainly by the frontal lobes. Furthermore, the frontal lobes are crucial in suppressing irrelevant and inappropriate thoughts and actions. The prefrontal cortex, located directly behind the forehead, is a section of the frontal lobes that is especially important in conscious, controlled thinking.

The parietal lobes, located in the upper back portion of the cortex, get and analyze somatosensory information, such as pressure, texture, temperature, and pain. These lobes take care of attention, memory, spatial knowledge, etc.

The occipital lobes, positioned at the back of the brain, are primarily responsible for interpreting and remembering visual information.

The temporal lobes are behind the ears and are responsible for interpreting and remembering complex auditory information (e.g., speech, music). The temporal lobes appear essential in long-term memory (what we will call long-term memory later), particularly for concepts and general world knowledge.

In some cases, researchers have pinpointed specific areas of the cortex where certain processing types appear. However, many areas of the cortex need to be specialized.

These areas, known as association areas, bring together information from different parts of the cortex and other parts of the brain and are thus necessary for complex thinking and behavior.

Several other parts of the forebrain can be found inside and beneath the cortex. Here are a few that are particularly noteworthy:

• A cluster of structures known as the limbic system, closely linked to the cortex, is essential for learning, memory, emotion, and motivation. The hippocampus (Greek for "seahorse," which it resembles) is a small structure intimately involved in attention and learning, particularly for things we consciously learn and remember. Another structure, the amygdala, plays a vital role in emotions (particularly unpleasant ones like fear, stress, anger, and depression) and automatic emotional reactions (e.g., aggression). Furthermore, the amygdala allows us to associate specific emotions with specific stimuli or memories (Adolphs & Damasio, 2001; Cahill et al., 1996; Phelps & Sharot, 2003).

The thalamus, located in the brain's center, acts as a "switchboard operator," receiving information from various sensory neurons. It acts as a communicator to different areas of the cortex and is in charge of fear, arousal, and attention,

• Hypothalamus is the major part of the brain situated behind the thalamus. It regulates all significant activities of the human body, including breathing, hunger, fear, body temperature, and more.

The Right and Left Hemispheres

To some extent, the left and right hemispheres specialize in different areas. Surprisingly, the left hemisphere is primarily in charge of controlling the right side of the body and vice versa. The left hemisphere appears to be in charge of language for most people, with two specific areas known as Broca's area and Wernicke's area being significant players in speech production and language comprehension, respectively. Reading and mathematical calculation skills also appear to be heavily reliant on the left hemisphere. The right hemisphere is more dominant in visual and spatial processing tasks like locating objects in space, perceiving shapes, estimating and comparing quantities, drawing and painting, mentally manipulating visual images, recognizing faces and facial expressions, and interpreting gestures.

To Sum It Up!

The brain, a three-pound organ, is the most complicated organ.

It is responsible for our existence, behavior, thoughts, personality, and more.