Encyclopedia of Health and Medicine

ain 231
• basal ganglia, collections of nerve fibers that
direct motor functions related to complex
movement, including the coordination of muscles
and speed with which movements take
place; among the basal ganglia are the caudate
nucleus, putamen (corpus striatum), globus
pallidus, and subthalamic nucleus
• amygdala, a pair of almond-shaped collections
of neurons (nuclei) in the temporal lobes with
functions related to emotion and the storage of
new memories
• hippocampus, a collection of neurons in each
temporal lobe with functions related to memory
(especially storage and retrieval of longterm
memories) and learning
The cerebral cortex features a complex structure
of folds (gyri) and fissures (sulci). Each cerebral
hemisphere contains four lobes—frontal,
parietal, temporal, and occipital—that conduct the
brain’s cognitive, emotional, behavioral, analytical,
interpretive, sensory, and motor activities.
Though there is some overlap among the lobes in
the kinds of information they process and the
ways they process it, each lobe has specific functions.
As well, the corresponding lobes of each
hemisphere have complementary functions. The
lobes of the left hemisphere handle more of the
tasks and activities of logic, sequence, order,
analysis, and verbal communication. The lobes of
the right hemisphere handle more of the tasks and
activities of emotion, imagination, intuition, and
nonverbal communication.
The primary structures of the diencephalon are
the:
• HYPOTHALAMUS, a mix of endocrine and nerve
tissues that integrates many of the neurologic
LOBES OF THE CEREBRAL CORTEX
Lobe Location Key Functions
frontal forward part of the forebrain, in front of the parietal fine motor movement
lobes and above the temporal lobes
mood
central sulcus separates frontal from parietal lobes personality
lateral sulcus separates frontal from temporal lobes planning
judgment
problem solving
verbal expression (Broca’s area)
parietal behind the frontal lobes and above the occipital lobes sensory input (taste, touch, PROPRIOCEPTION)
central sulcus separates parietal from frontal lobes spatial relationships
parieto-occipital sulcus separates parietal and
sensory integration
occipital lobes
reading
written expression
calculation
temporal beneath and behind the frontal lobes sensory input (hearing)
lateral sulcus separates temporal from frontal lobes listening (auditory portion of speech)
memory processing of complex images such as faces
integration with hippocampus
language processing (Wernicke’s area)
occipital behind the temporal lobes and below the parietal sensory input (vision)
lobes
visual processing (primary visual cortex)
parieto-occipital sulcus separates occipital from
parietal lobes