Thalamus

midbrain locomotor area. The direct pathway consists of the the substantia nigra via the nigrostriadal pathway sends dopamine cells that are excitatory to the globus pallidis internus . The globus pallidus is inhibited creating disinhibition of the thalamus and excitory neurons are sent to the motor cortex. The result is facilitation to the lower motor neurons that innervate the voluntary muscles. In the indirect pathway the dopamine acts as a inhibitory…

information to the primary motor cortex via thalamus, thus fine-tuning a movement (19). It was also believed that the Basal ganglia was involved with the inhibition and selection of action commands (19). These views suggest the involvement of both cerebellum and Basal ganglia(BG) in purely motor function. But that is not the case, recent studies have found a connection between the BG and cerebellum and projections from these areas to the cortex through the thalamus. Premotor, prefrontal,…

of the bilateral right frontal and subcortical regions, including dorsal parts of the superior and middle frontal gyri, lateral and medial orbitofrontal gyri, orbital parts of the inferior and superior frontal gyri, right anterior insula, putamen, thalamus, and caudate, and pons and midbrain. They also found that underestimating functioning was correlated with atrophy in the right rostral anterior cingulate (Shany-Ur, et al., 2014). These brain regions that are correlated with deficits in…

The hypothalamus is located in the midbrain below the thalamus. It controls bodily maintenance activities such as eating and drinking. I believe that their hypothalamus is affected because they have an insatiable hunger for human flesh and not normal food and water. The thalamus is the “brain’s sensory switchboard, located on the top of the brainstem…” (pg.64) It helps control alertness and regulates sleep cycles…

When there is a stimulus, such as a sound or movement, your brain sends sensory data to the thalamus. The thalamus, not knowing if itś dangerous or not, sends the information to the amygdala. The amygdala receives the information and takes action to protect you, resulting in fight-or-flight. The long process transports the information from the stimulus to the thalamus. The thalamus then takes this information to the sensory cortex, where it is interpreted for meaning and the sensory cortex…

Chapter two, “The Neuroscience of Learning and Memory”, was an overview of how our brain functions and how it is developed. Neuroscience is the study of the brain and the rest of the nervous system. Reading through the section of what brains are like, it was interesting the difference between the Central nervous system and the Peripheral nervous system. The Central nervous system only consists of the brain and the spinal cord, but the Peripheral nervous system consists of motor and sensory…

choroidal artery is a branch of the internal carotid and it supplies the choroid plexus in the lateral ventricles, parts of the visual pathway, the putamen, the thalamus, and the hippocampus. The posterior choroidal artery is a branch of the posterior cerebral artery. It supplies blood to the choroid plexus of the third ventricle and parts of the thalamus and hippocampus. An occlusion of the choroidal arteries is a very serious event due to the many structures it supplies with blood. Occlusion…

Drug abuse is one of the environmental factors that contribute to schizophrenia. According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, “Most drugs of abuse directly or indirectly target the brain’s reward system by flooding the circuit with dopamine.” Drugs such as cannabis and heroine can activate neurons because of their chemical structures resembling that of the natural neurotransmitter, dopamine, as was discussed earlier. These drugs can release two to ten times the amount of dopamine than…

Back in the late 1960s, Walter Mischel, a Stanford University psychologist, conducted a psychological experiment known as the Marshmallow test. The experiment was conducted at the Stanford University nursery. He wanted to understand the concept of delayed gratification in a small child between the ages of 4 and 6. The idea was to create a situation for the child to choose between a small reward now and a large reward later, thus causing a conflict situation. They were deliberately placed in a…

The amygdala is often called the “aggression center” of the brain. There are two of them in one’s limbic system, and they are located on either side of the thalamus, at the end of the hippocampus, a little bit in front of the brain stem. When the amygdalas are stimulated, one feels anger, violence, fear, and anxiety. When the amygdalas are completely destroyed, a person has what is called Kluver-Bucy syndrome. The effects of this syndrome include hyperorality, hypersexuality, and…