Brain Parts and Their Functions

Basal Ganglia

movement regulationskill learninghabit formationreward systems

Brain Stem

maintaining homeostasis by controlling autonomic functions (including blood pressure, breathing, digestion, heart rate, perspiration and temperature)alertnesssleepbalancestartle response

Pons

regulating breathing, taste, and autonomic functions

Cerebellum

coordination of voluntary movementmotor-learningbalancereflex memoryposturetimingsequence learning

Corpus Callosum

connects right and left hemispheres and allows information to pass between them

Frontal Lobe

Executive processes (voluntary behavior such as decision making, planning, problem-solving, and thinking), voluntary motor control, cognition, intelligence, attention, language processing and comprehension, and many others.

Broca's Area

language production (both speech and sign)comprehension of complex syntax

Prefrontal Cortex

executive processes (voluntary behavior such as decision-making, planning, problem-solving, and thinking)attentioninhibitionintelligencesocial skills

Premotor Cortex

planning and executing motor movementsimitationempathy

Primary Motor Cortex

coordination and initiation of motor movement

Limbic System

memory formation and storageregulating emotionprocessing smellssexual arousal

Amygdala

fear-processingemotion processinglearningfight-or-flight responsereward-processing

Cingulate Gyrus

pain processingemotionmemoryself-regulation

Dentate Gyrus

memory formationpossible role in memory recall

Entorhinal Cortex

declarative memoryspatial memoryself-localization

Hippocampus

early memory storageformation of long-term memoryspatial navigation

Hypothalamus

hungerthirstbody temperaturesexual activityarousalparentingperspirationblood pressureheart rate shiveringpupil dilationcircadian rhythmssleep

Subiculum

memory processingregulation of the body's response to stressspatial navigationinformation processing

Occipital Lobes

vision

Parietal lobes

perception and integration of somatosensory information (e.g. touch, pressure, temperature, and pain)visuospatial processingspatial attentionspatial mappingnumber representation

Somatosensory Cortex/Postcentral Gyrus

sensory processing and integration

Temporal Lobes

RecognitionPerception (hearing, vision, smell)Understanding languageLearning and memory

Middle and Inferior Temporal Gyri

word retrievallanguage and semantic memory processingvisual perceptionmultimodal sensory integrationautobiographical memoryvisual recognition

Perirhinal Cortex

object recognitionmemory formation and storage

Superior Temporal Gyrus

sound processingspeech processing and comprehensionauditory memory

Wernicke's Area

language comprehension

Thalamus

relaying motor and sensory informationmemoryalertnessconsciousnesscontributes to perception and cognition