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Medulla Oblongata
The Quick Facts
Location: Lower part of the brain stem
Function: Carries out and regulates life
sustaining functions such as breathing,
swallowing and heart rate

The medulla is easily the most important part of the brain. It's functions are involuntary, or done
without thought. We would not be able to live without the medulla because of the myriad of
crucial tasks it performs including regulating blood pressure and breathing. As a part of the brain
stem, it also helps transfer neural messages from the brain to the spinal cord.
Fun Fact
During brain surgery, a surgeon has to be extremely cautious, or careful not to damage any part
of the medulla. Although damage to other parts of the brain can be dealt with accordingly,
damage to the medulla is the hardest to fix because of the many important functions that it
carries out.
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Cerebellum
The Quick Facts

Location: Lower area of the brain,

below the pons
Function: Responsible for balance
and coordination of muscles and the
body

The cerebellum is one of the most identifiable parts of the brain due to its unique shape and
location. It is extremely important for being able to perform everyday voluntary (done with
purpose and intent) tasks such as walking and writing. It is also essential to being able to stay
balanced and upright. Patients who have suffered from damaged cerebellums often struggle
with keeping their balance and maintaining proper muscle coordination.
Quick Quiz!
What of the following activities would be hard to do if a person had an injured cerebellum?

1) Running in a race or marathon.

2) Talking and listening to a friend.
3) Playing baseball in the park.
4) Swimming or diving in a pool.
5) Singing a song out loud.
Answers: 1. This task would be difficult, 2. This task would not be affected by an injured cerebellum, 3. This task would be difficult, 4. This task would be
difficult, 5. This task would not be affected by an injured cerebellum

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Hypothalamus
The Quick Facts

Location: Above the pituitary gland

and below the thalamus
Function: Responsible for
behaviors such as hunger and thirst,
as well as the maintenance of body
temperature

The hypothalamus is mainly responsibly for motivational behavior. It is the reason we know
when we are hungry or thirsty. The hypothalamus also helps our body maintain a constant
temperature. This part of the brain also controls the pituitary gland, which is the master gland
that controls all the other endocrine glands in the body. Thus, the hypothalamus plays a key role
in connecting the endocrine system with the nervous system.

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Amygdala
The Quick Facts

Location: Part of Limbic System, at the

end of the hippocampus
Function: Responsible for the response
and memory of emotions, especially
fear

When you think of the amygdala, you should think of one word. Fear. The amygdala is the
reason we are afraid of things outside our control. It also controls the way we react to certain
stimuli, or an event that causes an emotion, that we see as potentially threatening or dangerous.

Fun Fact
Numerous studies have been performed where researches have used deep
lesioning (procedure where a thin wire is inserted into the brain to remove or terminate a part of
the brain) to remove the amygdala of rats. After this procedure, the rats were said to have no
fear of anything, even cats. The removal of the amygdala had taken away the rats' memory of
fear, therefore the rats did not fear anything!

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Hippocampus
The Quick Facts
Location: Part of the Limbic system, in
each temporal lobe
Function: Responsible for processing
of long term memory and emotional
responses

The hippocampus has a unique shape, similar to that of a horseshoe. It not only assists with the
storage of long term memories, but is also responsible for the memory of the location of objects
or people. We would not even be able to remember where our house is without the work of the
hippocampus. Alzheimer's disease, (a disease that effects elderly people and often results in
loss of memory) has been proven to have affected and damaged this area of the brain.

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Thalamus
The Quick Facts

Location: Part of the forebrain, below the

corpus callosum
Function: Responsible for relaying
information from the sensory receptors to
proper areas of the brain where it can be
processed

The thalamus is similar to a doctor that diagnoses, or identifies, a patient's disease or sickness.
It diagnoses different sensory information that is being transmitted to the brain including
auditory (relating to hearing or sound), visual, tactile (relating to touch), and gustatory (relating
to taste) signals. After that, it directs the sensory information to the different parts and lobes of
the cortex. If this part of the brain is damaged, all sensory information would not be processed
and sensory confusion would result.
Quick Quiz!

True of False? Which of the following statements (sentences) could occur if there was damage to the thalamus?

1) Visual sensory information could be wrongly sent to the auditory processing center.
2) That person would not be walk properly
3)That person would not be able to write
4) Sensory confusion could result
5) Sensory information would not be correctly processed.
Answers: 1. True, 2. False, 3. False, 4. True, 5. True

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The Pons
The Quick Facts

Location: Area of the hindbrain that sits

directly above the medulla
Function: Connects upper and lower parts of
the brain

The Pons serves as a message station between several areas of the brain. It helps relay
messages from the cortex and the cerebellum. Without the pons, the brain would not be able to
function because messages would not be able to be transmitted, or passed along. It also plays a
key role in sleep and dreaming, where REM sleep, or the sleeping state where dreaming is most
likely to occur, has been proven to originate here, in the pons.

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Right Hemisphere Left Hemisphere
The Quick Facts The Quick Facts

Functions: Responsible for control of the left side Functions: Responsible for control of the right side
of the body, and is the more artistic and creative side of the body, and is the more academic and logical
of the brain side of the brain
If you would split the brain right down the middle into two symmetrical, or equal parts, you would
have a right and left hemisphere. Although equal in size, these two sides are not the same, and
do not carry out the same functions.

The left side of the brain is responsible for controlling the right side of the body. It also performs
tasks that have to do with logic, such as in science and mathematics. On the other hand, the
right hemisphere coordinates the left side of the body, and performs tasks that have do
with creativity and the arts. Both hemispheres are connected by the corpus callosum and serve
the body in different ways .

Quick Quiz!

See if you can tell what hemisphere is being used in each task!
1) Drawing a picture of an imaginary castle.
2) Doing your math homework.
3) Daydreaming when you should be studying!
4) Talking to a friend.
5) Listening to a parent or teacher.
Answers: 1. Right, 2. Left, 3. Right, 4. Left, 5. Left

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Corpus Callosum
 The Quick Facts

Location: Above the Thalamus, under the

cortex
Function: Connects the right and left
hemispheres of the brain

The Corpus Callosum is the part of the mind that allows communication between the two
hemispheres of the brain. It is responsible for transmitting neural messages between both the
right and left hemispheres.

Fun Fact

Doctor Roger Sperry, a neuroscientist and former Nobel Prize winner, is famous for performing
split-brain research on patients with surgically cut corpus callosums. His discoveries further
proved the theories that the right and left hemispheres did indeed have different functions.

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Cerebral Cortex
The Quick Facts

Location: Outermost layer of the brain

Function: Responsible for thinking and
processing information from the five senses

The Cerebral Cortex is made up of tightly packed neurons and is the wrinkly, outermost layer
that surrounds the brain. It is also responsible for higher thought processes including speech
and decision making . The cortex is divided into four different lobes, the frontal,
parietal, temporal, and occipital, which are each responsible for processing different types of
sensory information.

Fun Fact

Over time, the human cortex undergoes a process of corticalization, or wrinkling of the cortex.
This process is due to the vast knowledge that the human brain accumulates over time.
Therefore, the more wrinkly your brain, the smarter and more intelligent you are!
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