por He brain It is the upper and most massive part of the central nervous system, located in the skull and with functions of conduction and integration of information, reasoning, judgment or behavior control. It is divided into three distinct parts: the forebrain, the midbrain, and the rhombencephalon, also called the forebrain, midbrain, and hindbrain.
Each of these parts contains specific brain regions that perform different mental activities. On the other hand, the brain can be subdivided into three main regions: the forebrain, the midbrain, and the hindbrain.
The brain is located in the center of the brain -central nervous system- and performs very diverse functions. Of all the functions it performs, the control of the body’s activity and the reception of information from the inside and outside stand out.
In other words, the brain is in charge of associating the physical components with the psychological ones, as well as adapting the information from the brain with that which is received from the outside through the senses.
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parts of the brain
The brain is a very large region, in fact, it is the most voluminous structure in the human brain. For this reason, it contains thousands of different regions within it.
At the macroscopic level, it is divided into three distinct parts: the forebrain, the midbrain, and the rhombencephalon.
– Prosencephalon or forebrain
The forebrain is the anterior portion of the brain. During the gestation of the embryo, this is one of the first regions to develop. Subsequently, within the forebrain there are two regions that comprise its structure: the telencephalon and the diencephalon.
telencephalon
The telencephalon is the upper and most voluminous region of the forebrain. It represents the highest level of somatic and vegetative integration.
This region is different between amphibians and mammals. In the former, it is made up of highly developed olfactory bulbs, while in the latter it contains two cerebral hemispheres.
Inside the telencephalon we find:
Occipital lobe: performs visual sensory operations.
Parietal lobe: processes sensory and kinesic information.
Temporal lobe: performs auditory processes.
Frontal lobe: performs higher functions such as judgment, reasoning, perception, and motor control.
Striatum: receives information from the cerebral cortex and basal ganglia.
Rhinencephalon: brain region involved in smell.
Thus, the telencephalon contains multiple brain regions and performs multiple mental processes. The processing of information from the senses and other brain regions are the most important. But it also participates in more elaborate functions through the frontal lobe.
diencephalon
The diencephalon is the other subregion of the forebrain. It is located below the telencephalon and borders the midbrain at the bottom. This structure contains very important brain elements. The main ones are the thalamus and the hypothalamus.
hypothalamus
It is an organ of reduced dimensions. Forms the base of the thalamus, controls autonomic visceral functions and sexual drives. Likewise, it performs important activities in the regulation of appetite, thirst and sleep.
thalamus
It is the most voluminous and important region of the diencephalon. Its main function is to collect information from all the senses, except smell. It is directly connected to the cerebral cortex and plays important roles in the development of emotions and feelings.
subthalamus
This small region is located between the thalamus and the hypothalamus. It receives information from the cerebellum and the red nucleus, and is composed mainly of gray matter.
epithalamus
Above the thalamus is this structure, which comprises the pineal gland and the habenular nuclei. The epithalamus belongs to the limbic system and is responsible for producing melatonin.
metathalamus
Above the epithalamus is the metathalamus, a structure that acts as a passageway for nerve impulses that circulate from the inferior peduncle to the auditory cortex.
third ventricle
Finally, in the uppermost part of the diencephalon we find a ventricle that is responsible for cushioning craniocephalic blows, with the aim of protecting the lower regions of the diencephalon.
– Mesencephalon or midbrain
The midbrain or midbrain is the central part of the brain. It constitutes the upper structure of the brainstem and is responsible for joining the pons and the cerebellum with the diencephalon.
Within the midbrain we find three main regions:
Anterior: in this region we find the tuber cinereum and the posterior perforated substance. It is a small groove that has its origin in the oculomotor nerve.
Lateral: it is formed by the upper conjunctival arm and the optic tract. Its functions are simply to connect the tubercles and the geniculate bodies.
Posterior: here are the four quadrigeminal tubercles, rounded eminences divided into anterior and superior pairs that modulate visual reflexes, and posterior and inferior ones that modulate auditory reflexes.
The main function of the midbrain is therefore to conduct motor impulses from the cerebral cortex to the brain stem pons. Or what is the same, from the upper regions of the brain to the lower regions, so that they reach the muscles.
It mainly transmits sensory and reflex impulses, and connects the spinal cord with the thalamus.
– Rhombencephalon or hindbrain
The rhombencephalon or hindbrain is the lower portion of the brain. It surrounds the fourth cerebral ventricle and borders the spinal cord at the bottom.
It is made up of two main parts: the metencephalon, which contains the cerebellum and pons, and the myelencephalon, which contains the medulla oblongata.
metencephalon
It is the second vesicle of the brain, and forms the upper part of the rhombencephalon. It contains two main and highly important regions for brain function: the cerebellum and the pons.
Cerebellum: its main function is to integrate the sensory pathways and the motor pathways. It is a region filled with nerve connections that make it possible to establish a connection with the spinal cord and with the upper parts of the brain.
The pons is the portion of the brainstem that lies between the medulla oblongata and the midbrain. Its main function is similar to that of the cerebellum and is responsible for connecting the midbrain with the upper hemispheres of the brain.
myelencephalon
The myelencephalon is the lower part of the rhombencephalon. This region contains the medulla oblongata, a cone-shaped structure that transmits impulses from the spinal cord to the brain.
functions
The brain is made up of many different regions. In fact, their parts are differentiated based on their location, so some are closer to the upper regions and others border the spinal cord.
The main function of many of the parts of the brain, such as the myelencephalon, metencephalon, or midbrain, is to conduct information.
In this way, the most inferior region (the myelencephalon) collects the information from the spinal cord, and these impulses are subsequently conducted by the posterior regions of the brain.
In this sense, one of the main functions of the brain is to collect information from the body (from the spinal cord) and conduct it to higher regions of the brain (and vice versa).
This function is highly important since it is the mechanism that mammals have to integrate physical information with psychic information. Likewise, it allows the implementation of thousands of physiological processes.
On the other hand, in the regions of the brain (telencephalon and diencephalon) the information obtained is integrated and other mental processes are carried out. Regulation of hunger, thirst, sleep, sexual functioning, and sensory stimuli are the most important activities.
Likewise, the brain is also involved in more complex processes such as reasoning, judgment, the production of emotions and feelings, and behavior control.
Cell structure
In the brain we find two main types of cells: neurons and glial cells. Each of them performs different functions, although glial cells are much more numerous than neurons.
Glial cells are nervous tissue cells that perform auxiliary and complementary functions to neurons. In this way, these types of cells collaborate in neuronal transmission.
In addition, glial cells are also responsible for activating the brain’s processing of information in the body. In this way, these types of cells allow the exchange of information between body and mind, which is why they are so abundant in the brain.
Unlike glial cells, neurons are capable of sending signals over long distances, which is why they are less abundant than glial cells. Neurons are responsible for transmitting neuronal information from one part of the brain to another, and allow the functioning of the central nervous system.
Functioning
The functioning of the brain is produced by the action of the types of cells that we find inside it: glial cells and neurons. Information is transmitted between different parts of the brain, and between it and the spinal cord. This transmission is carried out by a long network of interconnected neurons.
The brain is adapted so that subtle changes in the neurotransmission mechanism cause different responses. In this way, the performance varies depending on the type of signal that is perceived.
For example, upon the perception of a burning stimulus in the hand, the brain quickly activates a network of nerve fibers that cause a motor movement (withdraw the hand) immediately.
However, other types of stimuli, such as obtaining visual information when reading an article, activate a much slower reasoning process.
In this way, the brain has an enormous capacity to adapt to the environment. It controls very different but at the same time interconnected functions, and modulates the functioning of multiple chemical substances.
In fact, it is estimated that more than 50 different molecules are found in the brain that can modify and modulate brain function. Likewise, it is estimated that a human brain has more than 150 billion neurons.
neuroplasticity
Neuroplasticity is the process by which the brain regulates its activity and adapts to different situations. Thanks to neuroplasticity, the brain has the ability to modify its neuronal organization to maximize its activity.
The brain is one of the main regions where this capacity is found, so it is concluded that its functioning is not static, and is constantly modified.
This paradigm shift in neuroscience, defined by the psychiatrist…