Brain and cognition in cognitive psychology
The Anatomy and Mechanisms of the Brain
The nervous system is the foundation for our ability to perceive, adapt to, and interact with the world around. In this system we receive, process, and then respond to information from the environment. In this section, will emphasis on the supreme organ of the nervous system the brain paying special attention to the cerebral cortex, which controls various of our thought processes.
Gross Anatomy of the Brain
What have scientists revealed about the human brain? The brain has three main regions: forebrain, midbrain, and hindbrain. These labels do not resemble exactly to locations of regions in an adult and even a child’s head.
The Functions and Parts of Forebrain
The forebrain is the area of the brain situated toward the top and front of the brain. It includes the cerebral cortex, the limbic system, the basal ganglia, the thalamus, and the hypothalamus. The cerebral cortex is the external layer of the cerebral hemispheres. It plays a vigorous role in human thinking and in other mental processes.
- Basal Ganglia
These are groups of neurons crucial to motor function. Dys-function of the basal ganglia can result in motor deficits. These shortfalls contain tremors, changes in posture and muscle tone, involuntary movements, and slowness of movement. Deficits are detected in Parkinson’s disease and Huntington’s disease. Both these diseases involve severe motor. - Limbic System is vital to emotion, memory, motivation, and learning. Human’s limbic system permits us to conquer instinctive responses e.g., the impulse to strike someone who accidentally
causes us pain. The limbic system comprises three central interconnected cerebral structures: the septum, the amygdala, and the hippocampus.
- Septum is involved in fear and anger.
- Amygdala shows an important role in emotion as well, particularly in anger and Stimulation of the amygdala commonly results in fear. It might be demonstrated in several ways, such as through palpitations, frightening flashbacks in memory, or fearful hallucinations. Damage to lesions in or removal of the amygdala can result in maladaptive want of fear.
- Hippocampus plays a vital role in memory formation. The hippocampus is crucial for flexible learning and for seeing the relations among items cultured as well as for spatial memory. The hippocampus also seems to keep track of where things are and how these things are spatially related to each other.
A disease that causes loss of memory function is Korsakoff’s syndrome. Other symptoms contain apathy, paralysis of muscles controlling the eye, and tremor.
- Thalamus spreads incoming sensory information over groups of neurons that project to the proper region in the cortex. Most of the sensory input into the brain passes through the thalamus, that is almost in the center of the brain, at about eye level.
- Hypothalamus controls behavior related to species survival: fighting, fleeing, feeding and mating. The hypothalamus also is active in adaptable emotions and reactions to stress
The Functions and Parts of Midbrain
The midbrain assistances to control eye-movement and co-ordination. The midbrain is much more vital in non-mammals where it is the core source of control for visual and auditory information. Definitely the most vital of these structures is the reticular activating system, a network of neurons essential to the regulation of consciousness such as sleep, arousal, wakefulness, attention to some extent, and vital functions such as heartbeat and breathing; It comprises of the tectum and tegmentum. It is Involved in hearing essential in controlling consciousness like sleep arousal, attention, cardiorespiratory function, and movement.
- Hindbrain
it is made of the pons, cerebellum and medulla. sometimes the, pons, and medulla are referred to together as the brainstem. It is involved in consciousness such as sleep and arousal; links neural transmissions from one part of the brain to another; involved with facial nerves
- Medulla Oblongata controls heart activity and mainly controls breathing, swallowing, and digestion.
- Pons assists as a kind of relay station because it covers neural-fibers that pass signals from one part of the brain to another part.
- Cerebellum controls bodily balance, co-ordination, and muscle tone, as well as
some features of memory involving procedure-related movements.
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