Switching station for messages going to and from the brain.
Routes incoming stimuli from the sense organs to the appropriate parts of the brain.
Links upper and lower centers of the brain.
Also plays a role in preliminary processing of sensory info.
Hypothalamus:
Located just below the thalamus size of a finger tip.
Most important function is homeostasis the keeping of a steady internal environment.
---- > regulation of body temperature.
---- > osmotic pressure in blood.
---- > appetite and emotions related to se.
Vital look between the brain and endocrine system.
Limbic System
Some of the pleasure areas are in the limbic system.
Doughnut shaped structures amygdale and hippo campus.
Basic functions are.
Eating.
Aggression.
Reproduction.
Emotions, learning, memory.
Amygdalla:
Plays a key role in aggression as well as processing information about stimuli.
Injury to amygdalla in animals can turn them into very wild sauages, conversely animals that are wild can become meek and obedient.
Pleasure Centers:
Research on rats has concluded that when filled with electrodes implanted in their head, they would pvers it again and again to receive pleasurable electric stimulation.
Even when they are on the way to food.
In humans too the experience has been reported to be immensely pleasurable, similar to some respects to sexual orgasam.
Some rats would actually stimulate themselves literally thousands of time an hours until they collapsed with fatigue.
Hippocampus.
Involved in the formation of new memories for example a patient whose hippo campus is damaged might be able to talk to other persons but even a few minutes later he would be unable to recall what had been discussed.
Also involved in processing emotions related information and comparing it to the stored information.
Cerebral Cortex.
Largest structure in forebrain.
This is what makes us humans.
Involved in all voluntary actions language and intelligence.
Involved in human ability to think evaluate and make difficult judgments.
Contains a lot of grey matters (cell bodies of neurons).
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