Telencephalon

Question 0

Hippocampus

Answer 0

• Memory
• important in forming new memories and active in spatial mapping

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Question 1

Limbic System (Limbus = Border)

Answer 1

• set of structures that wrap around the thalamus
• most structures are similar across mammals
• emotion and motivation!!!
• includes (w/hypothalamus) Hippocampus, Amygdala, Cingulate Gyrus, Olfactory Bulb, and others

Question 2

Amygdala

which lobe?

Answer 2

• “almond” at the anterior end of Hippocampus in temporallobe, near Lateral Ventricles
• important in EMOTIONAL EXPRESSION, esp. anger and fear
• emotional center of the brain
• important role in reading emotion in others

Question 3

Cingulate Gyrus or “Limbic Cortex”

what type of system?

Answer 3

• every time the lower brain system sends a suggestion to the higher brain system it passes through this gyrus, which makes the eventual social/logical decision
• keeps score about whether “this is a good thing or not”
• forms layer immediately inferior to Cerebral Cortex
• engages reasoning about the world
• Re-Entrant system that interacts with Cortex and other Limbic structures to assess good/bad

Question 4

Olfactory Bulb

Answer 4

• carry smell information to the brain - feeds directly into the limbic system
• extends on stalk out of brain toward nasal cavity
• receives input from olfactory receptors in nasal cavity
  - after endogenous processing, axons go directly to Olfactory Cortex
• important exchange w/rest of Limbic System responsible for emotional-memory-evoking capacity of smell
  - also, olfaction is enhanced if emotionally aroused (hungry, thirsty, fearful, or sexually aroused)

Question 6

Basal Forebrain

main source of?

implicated in what diseases?

Answer 6

• cortical area just anterior to Hypothalamus
• includes key structures for attention, and especially AROUSAL of Cortex
• wakes you up in the morning
• projects to Cortex, main source of ACh (excitatory NT Acetylcholine) in brain
• implicated in sleep/arousal cycles, Parkinson’s Disease, and Alzheimer’s
  - as you become elderly and have problems with memory, it may be that you have insufficient ACh to activate your memories
• targets specific areas: specialized nuclei that are specific to language processing

Question 7

Basal Ganglia

Answer 7

• complex set of sub-cortical structures including Caudate Nucleus, Putamen, and Globus Pallidus
• testing task compliance
• it’s a higher motor center: organizes activities in terms of tasks
• automated processes like: walking, driving a car,
• connects to the Amygdala
• lateral to most of Limbic System structures, acts as a major interface between them and the Cortex
  - a “Re-Entrant” system whose most abundant connections are to the Frontal Cortex
• Involved in the CONTROL OF MOVEMENT, esp PLANNED SEQUENTIAL behaviors, mediated by memory and emotion
  - involved in TASK-SETTING, implicated in deficits like OCD and ADD
• Degeneration of Midbrain neurons whos axons reach Basal Ganglia = Parkinson’s Disease
  - with its symptoms of tremors, rigidity of limbs, poor balance, and difficulty in initiating movements
• organizes the tasks you’ve learned