The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to the human brain:
Structure of the human brain
Visible anatomy Human brain – central organ of the nervous system located in the head of a human being Neuroanatomy Regions in the human brain: Cerebrum Cerebral cortex Frontal lobe Parietal lobe Occipital lobe Temporal lobe Limbic lobe Hippocampus Basal ganglia Cerebellum Hypothalamus Amygdala Brain stem Medulla oblongata Midbrain Pons Significant components: Arcuate fasciculus – neural pathway connecting the junction between the temporal and parietal lobes with the frontal cortex in the brain Broca's area – region of the brain with functions linked to speech production Triangular part of inferior frontal gyrus – part of Broca's area that contributes to propositional (true/false) language comprehension Caudate nucleus – located within the basal ganglia and involved in learning and memory Central nucleus of the amygdala – the major output nucleus of the amygdala, participates in receiving and processing pain information Nucleus accumbens – collection of neurons in the pleasure center that is thought to play a role in reward, pleasure, laughter, addiction, aggression, fear, and the placebo effect Pineal gland – a small endocrine gland in the vertebrate brain that produces melatonin, a hormone that affects wake/sleep patterns Ventricular system – set of structures containing cerebrospinal fluid which bathes and cushions the brain and spinal cord within the skull Cranial nerve – neuron bundles that connect to the brain on one end, and to locations outside the brain on the other, without having a junction inside the spinal column Cranial nerve zero – controversial but commonly found nerve which may be vestigial or may be related to sensing pheromones Olfactory nerve (cranial nerve 1) – smell Optic nerve (cranial nerve 2) – sight Oculomotor nerve (cranial nerve 3) – eye movement (except rotation) Trochlear nerve (cranial nerve 4) – eye rotation Trigeminal nerve (cranial nerve 5) – sensation from the face and certain motor functions such as biting and chewing Abducens nerve (cranial nerve 6) – certain eye rotation Facial nerve (cranial nerve 7) – facial expression and taste sensations from the tongue Vestibulocochlear nerve (cranial nerve 8) – hearing and balance Glossopharyngeal nerve (cranial nerve 9) – sensation from the throat, tonsils, part of the tongue, heart, and stomach. Also facilitates swallowing. Vagus nerve (cranial nerve 10) – output to the intestines and heart, taste information, deep/crude touch, pain, temperature of outer ear Accessory nerve (cranial nerve 11) – specific muscles of the shoulder and neck. Modern descriptions often consider the cranial component as part of the vagus nerve, calling what is left the spinal accessory nerve. Hypoglossal nerve (cranial nerve 12) – muscles of the tongue Spinal cord – bundle of neurons that connects the brain to the peripheral nervous system and coordinates certain automatic reflexes Peripheral nervous system – nerves outside the brain and spinal cord
Microscopic level anatomy Neuron – electrically excitable cells that make up the brain Place cell Grid cell Border cell Head direction cell Spatial view cell Pyramidal cell Granule cell Synapse Chemical synapse Electrical synapse Neurotransmitter Synaptic vesicle Active zone Neural network Nervous tissue Cytochrome c oxidase – correlated with neuronal activity, and used for mapping regional brain metabolism in animals
History of the human brain Brain evolution History of neuroscience History of neurochemistry History of neuroimaging History of neurology History of psychiatry History of psychology History of neuropsychology
Brain development
This development section covers changes in brain structure over time. It includes both the normal development of the human brain from infant to adult and genetic and evolutionary changes over many generations.
Neural development in humans Neuroplasticity – changes in a brain due to behavior, environment, aging, injury etc. Nonsynaptic plasticity – changes in the axon, dendrites, and soma of individual neurons Parental brain – patterns in the brain of a new parent such as sensitivity towards infant cues, processing those cues and being motivated to engage with the infant Postpartum depression Interpersonal relationship Attachment theory Human bonding Interpersonal attraction Interpersonal ties Empathy Mirror neuron Antisocial personality disorder Cognitive genomics – genes and genome related to health and activity of the brain Neuroanthropology
Typical brain function
This section covers typical brain function as opposed to atypical function discussed below.
Sensory input Sense Sensory system Sensation (psychology) Sight Visual object recognition – the ability to visually perceive an object's physical properties Optic nerve (cranial nerve 2) – main sight-related cranial nerve Hearing Culture in music cognition – the impact that a person's culture has on their music cognition Aphasia – "speechlessness", a disturbance of the comprehension and formulation of language Cochlear nerve (part of cranial nerve 8) – the main hearing-related cranial nerve Smell Olfactory nerve (cranial nerve 1) – the main smell-related cranial nerve Taste Taste-related cranial nerves: Facial nerve (cranial nerve 7) Glossopharyngeal nerve (cranial nerve 9) Vagus nerve (cranial nerve 10) Somatosensory system Haptic perception Thermoception – sense of heat and coldness by the skin Proprioception – sense of the relative position of the parts of the body Nociception – signals pain in response to nerve-damage or damage to tissue Equilibrioception – sense of body movement, direction, acceleration, and balance Vestibular nerve (part of cranial nerve 8) – the main equilibrioception-related cranial nerve Peripheral chemoreceptor in the brain – monitors the carbon dioxide and oxygen levels in the brain Chemoreceptor trigger zone – area in the brain that receives inputs from drugs and hormones, and controls vomiting Reflex arc – neural pathway that controls an action reflex (activation of spinal motor neurons without the delay of routing signals through the brain)
Integration Functional integration – the hypothesis that the integration within and among specialized areas of the brain is mediated by effective connectivity Neurophilosophy – some observations on this type of approach and localization of function Receptor cell – cells that sense external stimuli and conducted that information to the brain Multisensory integration – organization of sensation from one's own body and the environment into usable functional outputs Lateralization of brain function Neurocomputational speech processing – computer-simulation of speech production and speech perception by referring to the natural neuronal processes
Affect Affective neuroscience Somatic marker hypothesis – postulate that emotional processes can guide behavior, particularly decision-making
Mind / body Philosophy of mind Body integrity identity disorder – when an individual feels they would be happier living as an amputee Phantom limb – when an individual has had a limb removed from the body but still receives sensory input from it Supernumerary phantom limb – when an individual receives sensory input from limbs of the body that never have existed
Memory Methods used to study memory – cumulation of evidence from human, animal, and developmental research in order to make broad theories about how memory works Chunking Object permanence Memory and aging Exceptional memory Memory disorder Eureka effect – the common human experience of suddenly understanding a previously incomprehensible problem or concept Muscle memory – the retention in the brain of memories of certain muscle movements, often enabling those specific movement to be duplicated in the future False memory Choice-supportive bias – the tendency to retroactively ascribe positive attributes to an option one has selected Fundamental attribution error – the tendency to overestimate the effect of disposition or personality and underestimate the effect of the situation in explaining social behavior Actor–observer asymmetry – discrepancy between attributions for one's own behavior and for that of others Reconstructive memory – theory that the act of remembering is influenced by various other cognitive processes including perception, imagination, semantic memory and beliefs Confabulation – a memory disturbance characterized by verbal statements or actions that inaccurately describe history, background, and present situations List of memory biases
Integration and cognition
Sleep Neuroscience of sleep – the study of the neuroscientific and physiological basis of the nature of sleep and its functions Sleep and memory – memory processes have been shown to be stabilized and sped up by sleep. Certain sleep stages are noted to improve an individual's memory. Microsleep – an episode of sleep lasting from fraction of a second to thirty seconds Dreaming Abstraction – a process by which concepts are derived from the usage and classification of literal concepts Imagination – the ability to form new images and sensations that are not perceived through sight, hearing, or other senses Wakefulness Pre-attentive processing – the unconscious accumulation of information from the environment Preconscious – information that is available for cognitive processing but that currently lies outside conscious awareness Neural oscillation Resting state fMRI Default mode network – network of brain regions that are active when the individual is awake but not focused on the outside world Task-positive network – network of brain regions that are active during goal-oriented activity Attention Mindfulness Brain activity and meditation Research on meditation – a growing subfield of neurological research regarding what happens in the bodies and brains of people who meditate regularly Yoga-nidra – conscious awareness of the deep sleep state
Logic, computation, and information aspects Logic Cognitive neuropsychology Neuroinformatics – application of computational models and analytical tools to neuroscience Computational neuroscience Mind uploading – copying a brain state into a computer Bio-inspired computing Artificial intelligence Artificial neural network Artificial general intelligence – artificial intelligence that matches or exceeds human intelligence Natural computing – topics such as swarm intelligence, artificial immune systems, and artificial life
Executive function Supervisory attentional system – higher level system involved with elements of planning, inhibition, and abstraction of logical rules Metastability in the brain – the ability to make sense out of seemingly random environmental cues Neuroscience of free will – some actions are initiated and processed unconsciously at first, and only consciousnessly afterward Neuroeconomics – studying human decision making using techniques from neuroscience, psychology, and economics Neurophilosophy – exploration of the relevance of neuroscientific studies to the arguments traditionally categorized as philosophy of mind Neural basis of self – using modern concepts of neuroscience to describe a human's perception of self-understanding Mentalism (psychology) – branches of study that concentrate on mental perception and thought processes Theory of mind Animal cognition Lying Lie detection – questioning techniques and technologies to discern truth from falsehood
Motor output and behavior Motor skill – a learned sequence of movements that combine to produce a smooth, efficient action to master a particular task