brain

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.