Chapter 1. Anatomy of the Brain

1.1 Title slide

Demonstration 1.2
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Anatomy of the Brain

Interact with different views of the brain.

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The image is an fMRI showing brain activation while a participant listened to music.
Photo: Republished with permission of Society for Neuroscience, from Lahav A., et al. (2007) "Action representation of sound: audiomotor recognition network while listening to newly acquired actions." 27 (2): 308-314; permission conveyed through Copyright Clearance Center, Inc., 27(2): 308-314.

What Is the Functional Anatomy of the Human Brain?

The human brain is complex in both structure and function. It contains some 100 billion neurons organized into dozens of anatomically and functionally distinct regions. Within and between these regions, the brain’s neurons are intricately connected to one another in immense networks. Given that each neuron is connected to as many as several thousand other neurons and that each such connection typically consists of multiple synapses, the number of synapses in the brain is thought to exceed 100 trillion.

The brain consists of several major divisions. The most important are the right and left cerebral hemispheres, which are separated by the longitudinal fissure. Each cerebral hemisphere is divided into four lobes: the frontal lobe, temporal lobe, parietal lobe, and occipital lobe. The lateral sulcus separates the temporal lobe from the frontal lobe and the parietal lobe; the central sulcus separates the frontal and parietal lobes; and the parieto-occipital sulcus separates the parietal and occipital lobes.

The surface of the cerebral hemispheres is highly convoluted: each individual elongated bump is called a gyrus (plural gyri), and the indentation between two gyri is called a sulcus (plural sulci).

The outermost layer of the cerebral hemispheres is called the cerebral cortex, which mostly consists of the cell bodies of neurons. The interior parts of the cerebral hemispheres mostly consist of the axons of cortical neurons; these axons carry signals from one part of the cortex to another.

Three common views of the brain are the side (or lateral) view, top (or dorsal) view, and bottom (or ventral) view. Directional terms used in discussing the brain include anterior (toward the front), posterior (toward the back), dorsal (toward the top), and ventral (toward the bottom).

1.2 Explain - dnd

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Drag and drop each of the labels into the correct box on this view of the brain.

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Cerebellum
Occipital lobe
Central sulcus
Brain stem
Temporal lobe
Frontal lobe
Lateral sulcus
Parieto-occipital sulcus
Parietal lobe

1.3 Explain - dnd

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Drag and drop each of the labels into the correct box on these two views of the brain.

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Top or
view
Bottom or
view
Occipital lobe
Ventral
Frontal lobe
Longitudinal fissure
Brain stem
Temporal lobe
Cerebellum
Parietal lobe
Dorsal
Left cerebral hemisphere
Right cerebral hemisphere

1.4 Explain - dnd

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Drag and drop each of the directional labels into the correct box on this view of the brain.

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Side or
view
Ventral
Lateral
Dorsal
Posterior
Anterior

1.5 Explain

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What Is the Functional Anatomy of the Human Brain?

The human brain is complex in both structure and function. It contains some 100 billion neurons organized into dozens of anatomically and functionally distinct regions. Within and between these regions, the brain’s neurons are intricately connected to one another in immense networks. Given that each neuron is connected to as many as several thousand other neurons and that each such connection typically consists of multiple synapses, the number of synapses in the brain is thought to exceed 100 trillion.

The brain consists of several major divisions. The most important are the right and left cerebral hemispheres, which are separated by the longitudinal fissure. Each cerebral hemisphere is divided into four lobes: the frontal lobe, temporal lobe, parietal lobe, and occipital lobe. The lateral sulcus separates the temporal lobe from the frontal lobe and the parietal lobe; the central sulcus separates the frontal and parietal lobes; and the parieto-occipital sulcus separates the parietal and occipital lobes.

The surface of the cerebral hemispheres is highly convoluted: each individual elongated bump is called a gyrus (plural gyri), and the indentation between two gyri is called a sulcus (plural sulci).

The outermost layer of the cerebral hemispheres is called the cerebral cortex, which mostly consists of the cell bodies of neurons. The interior parts of the cerebral hemispheres mostly consist of the axons of cortical neurons; these axons carry signals from one part of the cortex to another.

Three common views of the brain are the side (or lateral) view, top (or dorsal) view, and bottom (or ventral) view. Directional terms used in discussing the brain include anterior (toward the front), posterior (toward the back), dorsal (toward the top), and ventral (toward the bottom).

1.6 Test - single choice

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Select your answer to the question below. Then click SUBMIT.

Question

eqU00wNwojGCw/gGASjWGzWg/QR+Dkj62uR/yhabGqnaEsnK06tIQXDdL9e9NVaEdRbtf0dZL/WPXdq7gV0I/DEMFiflyQ32In7nCsmxPXvb4MYaO8pHbjin6RI+LNXncVhPZPyf6m7qpa0P0mmVnGnL/1IfeV9S3CYKJ7FPnMPjohKhQ6/MVoqfpC0d5JcZbOAIR/4lgHOujevtYgmVMTYXIdWyhs9EBdems8SUJasto+Ay8lYdLjQH5+3i/T7f129kDOen5TvHmWVPA8ybLceaVqVDcP+g1jExhA==
Correct! Click EXPLAIN if you want to review this topic.
Incorrect. The correct answer is D. Click EXPLAIN if you want to review this topic.

1.7 Test - single choice

You must complete the question and then click SUBMIT before you can click proceed to the next screen.

Click on the ventral view of the brain. Then click SUBMIT.

Question

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
Correct!
Incorrect.
The correct answer is C.

1.8 Test - single choice

You must complete the question and then click SUBMIT before you can click proceed to the next screen.
test_single_choice

Select your answer to the question below. Then click SUBMIT.

Question

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
Correct! Click EXPLAIN if you want to review this topic.
Incorrect. The correct answer is D. Click EXPLAIN if you want to review this topic.

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