Medulla
Function: Controls heart rate, breathing, and b***d pressure.
Damage: Can be f***l—disrupts basic life functions.
Reticular Activating System
Function: Controls voluntary movement, learning, attention, and consciousness.
Damage: Coma or loss of alertness.
Cerebellum
Function: Coordinates muscle movement, balance, and procedural learning.
Damage: Loss of coordination, trouble walking, slurred speech.
Thalamus
Function: Sensory switchboard; routes incoming senses to correct brain areas.
Damage: Sensory confusion or complete sensory shutdown (except smell).
Hypothalamus
Function: Regulates hormones, hunger, body temp, and mood.
Damage: Hormonal imbalances, body temperature issues, appetite problems.
Pituitary Gland
Function: Works with hypothalamus; regulates thirst, sexual behavior, and parenting behavior.
Damage: Hormonal dysfunctions; growth and reproductive issues.
Hippocampus
Function: Transfers short-term memory into long-term memory.
Damage: Inability to form new memories (anterograde amnesia).
Amygdala
Function: Processes emotions like fear and aggression.
Damage: Reduced fear response; may result in overly passive behavior.
Corpus Callosum
Function: Connects the two hemispheres of the brain.
Damage (Split-Brain): Prevents communication between hemispheres—can’t name objects seen in left visual field.
Frontal Lobe (esp. Prefrontal Cortex)
Function: Higher-order thinking, planning, decision-making, speech production.
Damage: Poor judgment, impulsivity, personality change, trouble speaking (Broca’s area).
Parietal Lobe
Function: Processes sensory input and spatial orientation.
Damage: Trouble with touch perception, spatial awareness, or math.
Temporal Lobe
Function: Processes auditory info and language comprehension.
Damage: Difficulty understanding speech (Wernicke’s area); auditory processing problems.
Occipital Lobe
Function: Visual processing.
Damage: Blindness or visual hallucinations.
