Cerebrum

The Cerebrum

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• published: 20 Mar 2013
• views: 21505

A quick video reviewing some key concepts about the cerebrum section of the brain. (Please excuse the incorrect pronunciations!) Enjoy anyway! A Copy of the Script: The crowning jewel of the human race. The singular cause of the many differences between humans and lower animals: the cerebrum. It is responsible for human's unique abilities to reason, speak, and think. Its surface or cerebral cortex is covered in deep wrinkles and convolutions which allow for a higher surface area to exist. More surface area equates to more brain power. Inside our heads at least, wrinkles seem to be a good thing. The Cerebrum is divided into two distinct sections: the right and left hemisphere. Each is in charge of controlling very distinct different components of our lives. But I'll get into that in a bit. The most important thing to remember is these two hemisphere would be incapable of communicating with each other if it were not for the wonderful connecting powers of the corpus callosum. This bundle of nerves is the only reason our two hemispheres can relay information back and forth. Without it, our brain becomes split and for all those who love psychology check out the research done on this phenomenon by Michael Gazzaniga and Roger Sperry. Anyway, back to the cerebrum. Each hemisphere contains the following four lobes: occipital, temporal, parietal, and frontal. The occipital lobe is responsible for sight. When light hits the eye, neurons here are stimulated allowing an image to be formed. Artificial stimulation of this lobe will also produce the phenomena of seeing an image, even if the eyes are not currently working. The temporal lobe is responsible for creating sound and the ability to hear. No surprise, it is located by the temples of the person, right near the ears. When the small structures in the ears relay signals to the neurons in the temporal lobe, the result is noise. The parietal lobe contains the somatosensory cortex which lies near the front of the lobe. This cortex is responsible for registering the sensations such as warmth, cold, touch, and pain. It is essentially responsible for all the skin senses; however, the actual map of the body formed by the somatosensory cortex is extremely ill-proportioned. Ever wonder why your face and hands are so sensitive to touch but not, say, your thigh? The reason rests with how certain areas are over-represented in the somatosensory cortex. Arguably the most important cortex of the cerebrum is the frontal lobe. Not only is this area the CEO of the brain, acting as decision maker and information processor, but it also holds the motor cortex. Like the somatosensory cortex, the motor cortex contains massive over-representation of the face and hands allowing these areas to have better fine muscle control. I hope you now understand the importance of your own cerebrum and will think about all that it does for you the next time you're sitting there lost in your thoughts.