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Coronal Rat Brain Functions
Functions for structures shown in coronal rat brain slides.
26
Psychology
Undergraduate 3
09/15/2011

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Term
Amygdala
Definition
Attaches emotional significance to sensory inputs and mediates aggression, olfaction and influences reproduction.
Term
Anterior Commissure
Definition
Carries olfactory information in the brain, has these connections:
1. Connects the olfactory bulb and the anterior olfactory nucleus of one hemisphere with another
2. Connects the anterior perforated substance of the two hemispheres
3. Connects the pre-pyriform areas with one another
4. Connects the parts of the hippocampus and the amygdala concerned with olfaction with one another
Term
Basal Ganglia
Definition
System made up of caudate-putamen, globus pallidus, nucleus accumbens, and substantia nigra. Involved in motor control, motivation (including eyes), reward and learning. Also involved in movement disorders such as Parkinson's and Huntington's.
Term
Central Gray
Definition
Involved in endogenous pain mediation.
Term
Cerebral Peduncles
Definition
Made up of motor fibers from the cortex to the pons and medulla and then to the spinal motor nerves.
Term
Corpus Callosum
Definition
Major inter-hemispheric tract in the brain-allows the two hemispheres to communicate.
Term
Fasiculus Retroflexus
Definition
Carries olfactory information. Arises from the habenular nuclei in the thalamus and courses through the midbrain to the interpeduncular nucleus.
Term
Fimbria
Definition
Involved in learning and memory. Come fimbrial fibers become continuous with the hippocampal commissure and others continue to the fornix. The fornix is sending and receiving fibers from the septum.
Term
Fornix
Definition
Involved in learning and memory. Tract running from the hippocampus to the mammilary bodies.
Term
Habenular Nuclei
Definition
Involved in pain processing, reproductive behavior, nutrition, sleep-wake cycles. stress responses, and learning and reward processing. Receive input from the brain via the stria medullaris and sends outputs to many midbrain areas involved in releasing neuromodulators such as dopamine, norepinephrine, and serotonin. Show reduced volume in those with depression.
Term
Hippocampus
Definition
Structure involved in learning and memory.
Term
Hypothalamus
Definition
Region of the brain containing many different nuclei that control reproduction, hunger, thirst, biological rhythms, etc.
1. Median eminence: Reproduction, GnRH neurons
2. Paraventricular Nucleus (PVN): Projects directly to the posterior pituitary where it releases oxytocin or vasopressin
3. Pro-optic Area (POA): Reproductive behavior
4. Suprachiasmatic Nucleus (SON): Biological Clock
5. Supraoptic Nucleus (SON): Contains oxytocin neurons that project to the posterior pituitary
6. Ventromedial Hypothalamus (VMH): Reproduction
Term
Inferior Colliculus
Definition
Relay station for audition.
Term
Internal Capsule
Definition
Fibers running from the thalamus to cortex and back. Sensory info (except possibly olfaction) comes in, goes to the relay center of the thalamus, to the cortex and is then transferred back to the thalamus and out to muscles.
Term
Lateral Olfactory Tract
Definition
Runs from olfactory bulbs to pyriform and entorhinal cortex.
Term
Limbic System
Definition
System made up of (among others) hippocampus, amygdala, cingulate gyrus, parahippocampal gyrus, mammillary bodies, fornix, fimbria. The limbic system has a direct influence on neuroendocrine, autonomic, and behavior mechanisms, and has a role in functions such as fight or flight, homeostasis, self-maintenance, appetite, and sexuality. Structures of the limbic system are highly interconnected with the rest of the brain, and form a gateway for communication between the cerebral cortex and the hypothalamus.
Term
Mammilothalamic Tract
Definition
Tract that originates in the mammillary bodies and terminates in the anterior nucleus of the thalamus. It is involved in learning and memory.
Term
Medial Forebrain Bundle
Definition
An ascending and descending system of fibers connecting the olfactory centers with the POA and hypothalamus and the midbrain.
Term
Pineal
Definition
Makes melatonin, the hormone responsible for marking the length of night (and thus the length of the day, indirectly) and thus is responsible for regulating sleep and aspects of biological rhythms.
Term
Pyriform Cortex
Definition
Olfactory cortex responsible for olfactory perception.
Term
Septum
Definition
A thin, triangular, vertical membrane separating the lateral ventricles of the brain. It runs as a sheet from the corpus callosum down to the fornix. When the hemispheres are cut apart, the septum remains on one hemisphere, usually the left. It's function is still largely unknown, but it appears to have something to do with both emotion (pleasure and rage) as well as sexual gratification and reproduction (it contains large number of GnRH cells).
Term
Stria Medullaris
Definition
The major connections of the habenular nuclei of the thalamus. These are fibers are from the hippocampus, the septum, the amygdala and olfactory areas (such as Broca's band and the anterior perforated area). The habenular nuclei are a way station in the discharge of olfactory and other impulses to motor centers. The fibers of the stria medullaris end in the habenular nuclei. The largest efferent pathway from the habenular nuclei is the fasiculus retroflexus.
Term
Stria Terminalis
Definition
From the amygdala these fibers loop up to follow the caudate nucleus along the body of the lateral ventricle and terminate in the POA and other anterior hypothalamic nuclei, including the VMH. Carries olfactory information.
Term
Substantia Nigra
Definition
Loss of dopamine containing neurons here responsible for Parkinson's.
Term
Superior Colliculus
Definition
Relay station for vision.
Term
Ventricles
Definition
Spaces in the brain filled with cerebrospinal fluid that provides support to the brain so it doesn't crush itself in the skull.
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