Tag: nervous system of man

The brain stem controls the flow of messages between the brain and the rest of the body, and it also controls basic body functions such as breathing, swallowing, heart rate etc... The brainstem is divided into three sections in humans: the midbrain (mesencephalon) which governs rudimentary vision and hearing, pons varolii (metencephalon) which links the cerebellum to the cerebrum and the medulla oblongata (myelencephalon) which controls breathing, swallowing, blood pressure, and heart rate.

Salivation, along with other autonomic involuntary reflexes like swallowing, coughing, and vomiting, is controlled by the salivatory center located in the medulla oblongata of the brainstem.

Broca's area is the motor speech area and Wernicke's area plays role in understanding speech and writing words.

The left hemisphere receives sensory input from the right side, is typically dominant for language (speech production and understanding), and connects to the right hemisphere via the corpus callosum. It is not generally larger than the right hemisphere; in fact, the two are roughly symmetrical in size.

The diencephalon consists primarily of the thalamus, hypothalamus, and epithalamus. Pons is part of the brainstem, basal ganglia are subcortical nuclei in the cerebrum, and corpora quadrigemina are in the midbrain.

Forebrain consists of two regions; namely cerebrum and diencephalon. A deep cleft divides the cerebrum longitudinally into two halves, which are termed as the left and right cerebral hemispheres. Each cerebral hemisphere is divided into four lobes, viz., frontal lobe, parietal lobe, occipital lobe and temporal lobe. The frontal lobe is associated with intelligence, memory, judgment, problem-solving ability and controls voluntary activities. The parietal lobe is associated with the sense of touch, temperature, pressure, and pain. The temporal lobe is associated with the sense of taste, hearing, and smell. The occipital lobe is associated with sight.

Piameter is the innermost membrane of the brain and arachnoid is the middle membrane. The space between arachnoid and piameter is caleed sub-arachnoid space. This space is filled with cerebrospinal fluid.

Broca's area is a region in the frontal lobe of the dominant hemisphere, usually the left, that is specifically responsible for the motor production of speech.

Pneumotaxic centre is present in the dorsal part of the pons varolii of the brain. Its function is primarily to limit inspiration.

Cerebrum is the main site of intelligence and consciousness in the body of the organism. The hypothalamus is the area of brain that is important in controlling the balance of bodily functions. It controls the release of hormones from the pituitary gland. The midbrain is responsible for controlling the vision and hearing features of the organism. Medulla oblongata is responsible for controlling the rate of the heart beat.