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That three-pound, fatty, squishy, and oddly-shaped blob in your head is truly amazing. It’s what makes you, you. It’s responsible for your personality and how we sense the world. It lets you relive memories over and over again. It gives you the capacity for language, art, and moral judgments. Your movements, day in and day out – are your brain’s responsibility. That quick scratch of the nose to relieve a pesky itch, or standing up from your couch to stretch…you can thank your brain for that.
But understanding this organ isn’t so easy. There are many complex areas that are responsible for an array of functions you take for granted every day. Let’s take a look at the primary components and their primary responsibilities of the human brain.
Cerebrum
The cerebrum is the largest part of the brain and is responsible for most of its functioning. It’s divided into four sections:
- Frontal Lobe: This area is responsible for
problem solving, behavior, judgment, creative thinking, smell, personality, muscle movements, physical reactions, and attention.
- Parietal Lobe: This lobe controls visual functions, reading, understanding language, and sensory comprehension.
o Sensory Cortex: If you raise your arm above your head, you know it’s above your head. This is because of the sensory cortex. As a component of the parietal lobe, it receives information from the spinal cord on what position your body parts are in and how they move. This area also is responsible for perceiving pain and sense of touch.
o Motor Cortex: Its function is in the name. This area in the parietal lobe monitors and controls movements throughout the body.
- Temporal Lobe: Have an incredible memory that you’ll never forget? Probably so. This is because of the temporal lobe. It’s responsible for visual and auditory memories, and also helps manage some speech and hearing capabilities.
- Occipital Lobe: Open your eyes and thank this lobe. This area helps to control and understand vision.
Do you want to know more about your brain? Yes? Good! Check back to the UPMC HealthBeat blog shortly where we’ll be highlighting each section of the brain with more in-depth content. To learn more about the latest research and developments in the field of neuroscience, visit the UPMC Department of Neurosurgery online or call 1-877-986-9862 to get an expert opinion.
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string(3392) "So, you just made a terrible decision. Something so absurd you smack the front of your head in disgust. Well, you actually just smacked the part of your brain that made that decision. The frontal lobe, located in the front part of the brain, is the largest of the four main lobes and is considered our emotional control center and home to our personality and decision-making abilities.
The frontal lobes also are linked to sensory and memory centers throughout the brain and allow us to determine how to use information that is stored elsewhere. To put it simply, it allows us to think things through and rationalize decision making.
Other important functions of the frontal lobe include:
Problem Solving
You feel good knowing that $20 can buy you 10 $2 candy bars. Thank your frontal lobe for knowing simple math. Activity in this lobe allows us to solve problems, reason, make judgments, make plans and choices, take action, and generally control your living environment. Without the frontal lobe, you could be considered a genius, however; you would be unable to use any of that intelligence.
Movement
The frontal lobe controls your voluntary muscles, or the muscles you use to ride a bike, jog, throw a baseball, or make other conscious movements. Other parts of your brain control involuntary movement and muscle coordination. Also, the ability to determine the position of your body in a natural environment, or spatial orientation, is also a function of the frontal lobe.
Social Interaction
The frontal lobe gives us the ability to communicate and interact appropriately in any given situation. This area of the brain also allows us to understand the thinking and experience of others, which helps you determine how to respond or behave when placed in a social situation. For example, was that joke you're friend told funny? Maybe not and you gave a fake laugh just to make them feel better. You guessed it, frontal lobe at work.
Can you live without your frontal lobe?
Technically, you can live without a frontal lobe. However, you would experience a total paralysis of your cognitive abilities and motor control. In short, you wouldn’t be able to reason and form simple thoughts, and you also wouldn’t be able to move. So, it would be best to keep your frontal lobe intact.
Interested in learning more about the fascinating workings of your brain? Stay tuned for more installments of our Get to Know Your Brain series. Or, visit the UPMC Department of Neurosurgery online to learn more about the latest in the field of brain mapping tests, therapy, and procedures.
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Learn more about the part of your brain that makes you…you. The frontal lobe. Find out more about the frontal lobe’s core responsibilities.Read More
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string(2063) "The cerebellum, or "little brain," refines your body's functions through tasks like balance, coordination, posture, and motor learning. Essentially, the cerebellum does not initiate movement, but manages it.
Located at the base of the brain between the cerebral cortex and pons, this "little brain" is believed to also control cognitive functions like attention and language, and the regulation of fear and pleasure responses.
How Does the Cerebellum Work?
The cerebellum receives information from the sensory systems, spinal cord, and other parts of the brain, and uses it to coordinate movements.
Can You Live Without the Cerebellum?
Yes; rare conditions such as cerebellar hypoplasia and cerebellar agenesis result in a smaller or nonexistent cerebellum.
What is cerebellar hypoplasia?
Cerebellar hypoplasia is an embryonic disorder that leads to a diminished or missing cerebellum. The condition may be genetic, or it can occur from external influences such as:
- Drugs
- Chemicals
- Infections
- Stroke
It is sometimes associated with other disorders including Dandy-Walker syndrome, Walker-Warburg syndrome, CASK Gene Mutation and spinal muscular atrophy.
What is cerebellar agenesis?
There have been a total of ten cases of cerebellar agenesis, a rare condition where the brain develops without a cerebellum. The patients are still mobile because movement is actually handled by the motor cortex, but lack the poise provided by the cerebellum. The condition is usually discovered post-mortem because the rest of the brain compensates to mask the lack of a cerebellum. The disadvantages include developmental delays, language deficits and neurological abnormalities, but often cerebellar agenesis patients' movements improve with age.
Interested in learning more about how the brain functions? Check out our
Get to Know The Parts of Your Brain article!
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In Latin, cerebellum actually means little brain; however, its function is anything but. This area of the brain controls important body functions such as balance, coordination, posture, and motor learning.Read More
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string(2615) "You're alive. You're breathing. Your heart is beating. That's more than just good news for you; it means that your brain stem is functioning as it should. Considered the oldest and most primitive part of the brain, this highly developed area not only keeps you standing on two feet, it also acts as a connection between the brain and the rest of the body, directing signals sent from the cerebrum (the largest and most highly developed area of the brain) to the spinal cord.
As with most areas of the brain, the brain stem consists of individual components. Each with different functions and responsibilities. So, let's take a look at the different areas of the brain stem, and how they act together to support our most basic functions of life.
Medulla Oblongata
You've most likely heard of this part of the brain at some point in your life. Hopefully, you heard about it from a biology class and not a cheesy movie. Either way, the medulla oblongata plays a vital role in the functions of the brain stem. It regulates breathing, blood pressure, heartbeat, digestion, and sleep cycles. This structure is also responsible for reflexes of the face and throat, such as coughing, sneezing, gagging, and blinking.
Pons
The pons is a located between the medulla oblongata and the midbrain, which we will get to shortly. It's made of mostly large bundles of nerve fibers that connect each side of the cerebellum (an area of the brain that plays an important role in motor control) to the opposite cerebral hemisphere. If that sounds confusing, just remember that our left brain hemisphere controls the right side of our body, and vice versa.
Midbrain
The midbrain is located above the pons, in the upper area of the brainstem. This area is responsible for assistance in voluntary movement, visual and auditory reflexes, and consciousness. And the lower area of the midbrain relays information about pain and temperature. So the next time you take a sip of coffee that's a bit too hot, it's your midbrain telling you to spit it out all over your car.
Interested in learning more about the fascinating workings of your brain? Stay tuned for more installments of our Get to Know Your Brain series. Or visit the UPMC Department of Neurosurgery online to learn more about the latest in the field of brain mapping tests, therapy, and procedures.
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It’s well-known that all the basic life functions originate in the brain stem. Commonly referred to as the simplest part of the brain, this area is responsible for maintaining breathing, hunger and thirst, blood pressure, heart rhythms, sleep patterns, and body temperature.Read More
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string(3381) "You've probably heard a lot about hormones and how they control many functions of your body. But what controls your hormones?
What Controls Hormones in the Body?
Different glands in your body control the production and release of numerous hormones. These glands are all part of your endocrine system.
The most important is the pituitary gland.
What is the Pituitary Gland?
This pea-sized structure is found at the base of your brain, just below the hypothalamus. The pituitary is also called the master gland. That's because it produces hormones that stimulate the other glands in the endocrine system, such as the:
- Kidneys
- Ovaries
- Thyroid
- Testes
The pituitary gland sends out hormones based on hormonal or electrical signals from the hypothalamus.
What Does the Pituitary Gland Control?
The
master gland releases numerous hormones that control body functions.
- Growth hormone (GH) –controls the growth and size of muscles and bone
- Thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) – stimulates the thyroid gland to release hormones, such as those that control metabolism
- Adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) – stimulates the adrenal glands, which produce hormones with effects similar to steroids
- Follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) – keeps the ovaries and testes working properly by stimulating follicle production in the ovaries and sperm production in men
- Luteinizing hormone (LH) – works with FSH and stimulates estrogen in women and sperm production in men
- Prolactin – stimulates breast milk production
- Antidiuretic hormone (ADH) – prompts the kidneys to absorb more water in the blood and causes you to urinate less
- Oxytocin – stimulates uterine contractions for childbirth and milk production
What Happens When Something Goes Wrong with the Pituitary Gland?
With the pituitary gland having such important functions, it can be a big deal when you have a problem. The most common disorder is a
pituitary tumor. The good news is these are usually benign, meaning not cancerous.
Sometimes a tumor can cause the pituitary gland to make too much of one or more hormones. A tumor may also press on the gland, causing it to produce too little of certain hormones.
In addition, the gland is located near your optic nerve, the one that controls vision. If a tumor is large enough, it could press on that nerve and cause vision problems or blindness.
Symptoms of a tumor can vary widely depending on how hormone production is affected and what hormones are changed. Sometimes a tumor causes no symptoms and doesn't affect hormone production.
Headaches, changes in menstrual cycle, and lower sex drive may be signs something is not right with your pituitary gland. Always bring up concerns to your doctor.
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This pea-sized gland, often called the master gland, plays a major role regulating vital body functions and controls the activity of most other hormone-secreting glands.Read More
