Central Nervous System

evolution of vertebrate brain - sponges are only multicellular animals w/o nerves
 cnidarians - have simplest nervous systems (nerve net)
 no control/association
 flatworms - simplest animals w/ association in nervous system
 bigger mass of nervous tissue (beginnings of brain) >> complex control
 interneurons/tracts added to brain as it evolved (interneurons - complex, high-level neurons
found in brain/spinal cord)
 hindbrain (rhombencephalon) - extension of spinal cord
 coordinates motor reflexes
 cerebellum (“little cerebrum”) - controls balance, body position
 pons - controls automatic functions, links cerebellum/medulla oblongata w/ other parts of
brain
 medulla oblongata - contains respiration, circulation
 midbrain (mesencephalon) - consists of mostly optic lobes that receive/process visual
information
 controls eye/ear reflex
 forebrain (prosencephalon) - processes most of sensory information
 diencephalons - thalamus, hypothalamus
 thalamus - relays info between spinal cord and cerebrum
 hypothalamus - controls emotions, pituitary gland
 cerebrum (telencephalon) - dominant part of mammalian brain
 ascending tracts - carry sensory info to brain
 descending tracts - carry impulses from brain to motor neurons
human forebrain - divided into 2 hemispheres connected by corpus callosum
 each hemisphere receives info from opposite side
 cerebral cortex - layer of gray matter on outer surface of cerebrum
 contains 10% of all neurons in brain
 folded/wrinkled to increase surface area
 primary motor cortex - right in front of central sulcus (crease), controls mov’t
 primary somatosensory cortex - right behind central sulcus, receives info from sensory neurons
of skin/muscles
 auditory cortex - in temporal lobe
 visual cortex - in occipital lobe
 association cortex - used for higher mental activities
 basal ganglia - collections of cell bodies, dentrites that produce gray matter islands
 receives info from ascending tracts, motor commands from cerebrum/cortex
 sends info to spinal cord to control mov’t
 damaged ganglia >> Parkinson's
 thalamus - main area of senses (especially pain)
 receives visual, auditory, somatosensory info
 relays info to occipital (visual), temporal (auditory), parietal (somatosensory) lobes
 hypothalamus - controls instinct
 regulates body temperature, hunger, thirst, emotion
 controls pituitary gland (regulates other endocrine glands)
 limbic system - responsible for emotional responses
 includes hypothalamus, hippocampus (may control memories), amygdala
spinal cord - cable of neurons going from brain through backbone
 protected by vertebral column and meninges (membrane layers that also cover the brain)
 inner zone (gray matter) - consists of interneuron, motor neuron, neuroglia cell bodies
 unmyelinated cell bodies