Wernicke's Area is located in the superior temporal cortex near the temporal - parietal junction. Wernicke's Area was originally discovered by Dr. Carl Wernicke who observed that people with damage to Wernicke's Area had trouble producing speech that was intelligible and also had trouble with speech comprehension. Based on that observation, Dr. Wernicke proposed that this region was responsible for speech comprehension - translating the audio code sent from the primary auditory cortex into language. It turns out this is not true entirely - more on this next week!
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The Hypothalamus is a midbrain structure that is a part of the Limbic System. The best way to summarize that the Hypothalamus does is to think of it as a low level management system for some of your bodies natural responses and functions. Some of the things that the Hypothalamus does:
1.Control of the Pituitary gland and Thyroid gland and to control blood pressure 2.Autonomic control- The Sympathetic and pParasympathetic nervous systems. 3.Temperature regulation 4.Fluid balance: Drinking control 5.Eating control: Feeding centre and satiety centre 6.Sleep and wake regulation (Supra-chiasmatic nucleus) 7.Sexual responses 8.Linkage to other parts of the Limbic system The best way to think of the Thalamus is that it is a relay station - incoming signals go through the thalamus to the cortex and outgoing signals go through the thalamus to the motor system and other regions of the peripheral nervous system.
Now, another key thing to understand about the Thalamus is that it is not a single structure, but it is a name for a collection of nuclei, each of which is a "mini" relay station. For example, incoming visual information from the eyes goes through the Pulvinar nucleus of the Thalamus to the Primary Visual Cortex. Thalamic Nuclei (and their role) Anterior Nucleus Memory and Emotion Dorsomedial Nucleus Executive Function Ventral Posterolateral Nucleus Relays information about pain, temperature, and touch Ventral Posteromedial Nucleus Sensory information from the face Ventral Anterior Nucleus. Relays information from the muscles about movement Ventrolateral Nucleus Relays motor information Lateral Posterior Nucleus Attention - helps prioritize sensory information Pulvinar Nucleus Visual processing Medial Geniculate Nucleus Processes auditory information Lateral Geniculate Nucleus Visual processing Reticular Nucleus Sort of controls the Thalamus as a whole - the outer layer |
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