Brain Tour

A Tour of the Wonderful Brain

Ashley Andres

Rasmussen College

Author Note

This paper has been written for Ashley Andres’ G148, General Psychology, to be submitted on October 14, 2015.

A Tour of the Wonderful Brain

The brain and central nervous system are very complex systems. The brain is the powerhouse of the body. It controls everything from processing what we hear to walking one step at a time. In this tour, we will examine the main areas of this amazing organ and what they are each responsible for.

The brain can be split into three main areas: the forebrain, midbrain, and hindbrain. Located just behind the forehead, the forebrain is the largest area in the brain. Main structures in the forebrain are the cerebrum, thalamus, and hypothalamus. Most of what the forebrain controls is located in our next stop- the cerebrum- which is split into four lobes: the frontal, parietal, occipital, and temporal. Each of the four lobes is responsible for different tasks. The frontal lobe is in charge of emotions, problem solving, certain parts of speech, and motor control. Next up is the parietal lobe. The parietal lobe plays a role in language recognition. It also interprets sensory information from the skin. The thalamus receives this information and sends it on to the parietal lobe for processing. Inside the back of the skull is the occipital lobe. This lobe is very important for vision and visual perception. It is extremely important for reading comprehension. It allows us to not just see words, but understand what they mean. Lastly is the temporal lobe. The temporal lobe assists with long term memory recall. It also is critical in language recognition.

Aside from the cerebrum, as previously mentioned, the forebrain also contains the thalamus and hypothalamus. The thalamus is located at the base of the brain and relays information from the column into the cerebrum. It serves as a sensory processing center, sending the information into its correct lobe to be...