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Here is a diagram of the human brain.
For your GCSE biology you should be able to label this diagram and explain
what the various parts do. There are three main regions of the brain: the
fore-brain (green), mid-brain (red), and hind-brain (blue).
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Click the green bullet
to expand the label list.
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Labels
- cerebral hemisphere
- cerebro-spinal fluid
- mid-brain
- cerebellum
- hind-brain
- spinal cord
- medulla
- pituitary gland
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There are two cerebral hemispheres, one on each
side. They are very important because much of your behaviour is controlled
by this part of the brain. Various areas of these hemispheres receive
information from our sense organs. These sensory areas include the hearing
centre, taste centre and the sight centre. Other areas are responsible for
producing responses. There is a speech centre, a salivation centre and so
on. When an area of the brain is damaged, e.g. by a stroke, a person can
lose the ability to feel in a part of the body, or the ability to make a
limb move. It is possible to lose both the feeling and the ability to move
a limb.
The cerebellum is responsible for co-ordination
movement. We learn how to walk, run and jump at a very early age. Although
you were able to make movements when you were first born, you were not
able to co-ordinate them properly and so could not walk or crawl. When you
got a bit stronger, you could crawl but not walk. Balancing oneself on two
feet requires information from the eyes, ears and muscles. The cerebellum
puts all this information together and allows us to adjust the positions
of our arms and legs when we move around.
The pituitary gland is the master endocrine
gland. It is controlled by an area of the mid-brain just above called the
hypothalamus. It produces hormones and controls the activities of all the
other endocrine glands in your body. The most interesting enzymes produced
by the pituitary gland control our sexual cycles. |
