PSYC 1000 Lecture Notes - Lecture 6: Amygdala, Midbrain

• School: University of Guelph
• Department: Psychology
• Course: PSYC 1000
• Professor: Benjamin Giguere

Document Summary

5: pons, helps coordinate unconscious movements, midbrain, associated with movement, tracking of visual stimuli and reflexes triggered by sound, reticular formation, a collection of numerous small neural networks spread throughout the brain stem, most known for role in sleep and consciousness (arousal control, helps filter incoming sensory information (discriminate relevant vs. irrelevant stimuli) Relay centre for sensory and motor information to different parts of the cerebral cortex: except smell, also sends information from the cortex to the medulla and cerebellum, located on both side of the thalamus, collection of structures, hippocampus, amygdala, hypothalamus, functions, processes information about our internal states, e. g. , heart rate, blood pressure, plays a key role in emotional experiences and memory formation. Associated with emotions and motivations: helps in the regulation of hunger and thirst, involved in the experience of rewards (pleasure), including sexual motivation, adjusts body temperature as a function of changing environment, directs the endocrine system via messages to the pituitary gland.