Major Functions of the Brain

The five major structures of the brain are myelencephalon, Metencephalon, mesencephalon, diencephalon and telencephalon. The myelencephalon carries signals from the brain to the entire parts of the human body and it is also uniquely shaped looking like a little net. The Metencephalon is made up of ascending and descending tracts just like the myelencephalon. It has two major divisions which are pons and the cerebellum. The mesencephalon has two divisions also and they are the tectum and the tegmentum. The diencephalon is composed of two structures which are thalamus and hypothalamus. These two structures play a lot in our senses and important roles like sexual activity and sleep. The telecephalon initiates voluntary movement and interprets sensory input. It also mediates complex processes such as speaking, learning, and problem solving. The information below will be describing the five major structures and the functions that take place in the human body from the major structures in the brain. The myelencephalon is made up of tracts that carry signals from the rest of the brain throughout the entire part of the body. The myelencephalon has a unique shape. It has a reticular shape meaning it looks like a little net. It is made up of about 100 tiny nuclei that occupies the central core of the brainstem.

Parts of the myelencephalon play a part in arousal. The functions of the myelencephalon include sleep, attention, and movement, the maintenance of muscle tone and various cardiac, circulatory and respiratory reflexes. According to this collection of nuclei, it is an activating system and this means that it can be misleading to us. Metencephalon is also made up of many ascending and descending tracts that are also a part of the reticular formation. The structure creates a bulge which these are pons, and it is located on the brain stems ventral surface. There are two major divisions of the Metencephalon which are the pons and the cerebellum. The cerebellum is a sensorimotor structure. If the cerebellar gets damaged then the ability to precisely control ones movements are eliminated. The cerebellar damage can also produce a variety of cognitive deficits in decision making and also the use of language suggests that the functions of the cerebellum are not restricted to sensorimotor control. Mesencephalon has two divisions like the Metencephalon. Tectum and the tegmentum are the two divisions. The tectum is composed of the two pairs of bumps that is located in the brain on mammals.

The posterior pair have an auditory function and the anterior pair have a visual function. The tegmentum is the division that contains also the reticular formation and it contains three colorful structures. The three colorful structures are the periaqueductal gray, the substantia nigra, and the red nucleus. The Diencephalon is composed of two structures which are the thalamus and the hypothalamus. The thalamic nuclei are the sensory relay nuclei that receive signals from the sensory receptors, process them and then they send them to the areas of the sensory cortex. The hypothalamus plays in a lot of important roles like sexual arousal and sleep. It exerts its affects in part by regulating the release of hormones from the pituitary gland. The hypothalamus has a few structures that are in the inferior surface.

Telemcephalon is the largest division of the human brain and it mediates the brains complex functions. The telencephalon initiates voluntary movement, interprets sensory input and mediates complex processes such as speaking, learning and problem solving. These are all complex cognitive processes. The cerebral hemispheres are covered by a layer of tissue called the cerebal cortex. There are two fissures that will partially divide each hemisphere into four lobes. The four lobes are the frontal lobe, the parietal lobe, the temporal lobe and the occipital lobe. The cerebral lobes are not functional.