The Primitive Core: The Foundation of the Human Brain

The central core of the human brain, often referred to as the “old brain”, is the most primitive part of the brain and can be found in all vertebrates dating back more than 500 million years. The central core is designed to help the human body with basic survival functions such as breathing, heartbeat, movement, balance, and sleep. Without the central core, the brain would not be able to do major task like telling our hearts to beat and how fast. The central core of the human brain is separated in to sections.

The hindbrain, which contains the Medulla, Pons, and Cerebellum; the midbrain is made up of the reticular formation; and the forebrain that contains the thalamus. Each of these parts of the central core contributes to the life function of the human body. The cerebral cortex of the brain, the “new brain”, is the central processing center of the brain. In the cerebral cortex the brain processes motor, visual, auditory, and sensory functions.

Get quality help now

Writer Lyla

Verified writer

Proficient in: Brain

5 (876)

“ Have been using her for a while and please believe when I tell you, she never fail. Thanks Writer Lyla you are indeed awesome ”

+84 relevant experts are online

Hire writer

Like the central core the cerebral cortex is separated into different parts, these two parts are called the cerebral hemispheres. The corpus callosum acts as a bridge between each hemisphere.

Each hemisphere has four sections of its own, called lobes. The occipital, parietal, temporal, and frontal are the four lobes of the the cerebral cortex. These separate parts of the hemispheres each control a different function of the brain. Between the two hemispheres in the cerebral cortex there is the contralateral control arrangement by which one side of the brain controls the movement on the opposite side of the body.

Although the two separate sides of the cerebral cortex do not function in exactly the same way, they do work together as a team to make the human body operate correctly.

The left and right hemisphere, often referred to as the left and right brain, each have different functions in which they are in control of. The left hemisphere has speech, language, reading, and writing. The right hemisphere has facial recognition, nonverbal imagery, and other functions like sense of direction and emotional states. The phenomenon that lets this occur within the cerebral cortex is called lateralization. Ultimately the human body could not survive without either the cerebral cortex or the central core. Each plays a specific role in the survival of us all.

If the brain could tell the human body to breath, sleep, and wake; but could not tell it to walk straight that it was in pain, or that it hears something dangerous it would not matter. The human brain, without both these abilities, would be a walking mess. The brain needs both sections to survive and function properly. Sensation and perception play a large role in how the brain functions. Sensation is the brain picking up information from our sensory receptors and perception is the way that or brain interprets this information.

In the brain, the central core is considered the place where the early stage of sensory information is processed. At the end of the information’s travels through the cerebral cortex it has been interpreted to tell the brain what is happening. An example of how sensation and perception work together might be that of an object gradually growing smaller as we move farther and farther away from it. Although the visual sensors are saying the object is getting smaller, your brain processes this information and interprets that it is not. The brain senses one thing but perceives it in another manner.

This is why we need both of these portions of the brain. After taking the Assessing Brain Lateralization questionnaire I discovered that I am more left-brained oriented. This makes a large amount of sense for me since I am a list maker and huge on itineraries when traveling. I know, since taking this test, that I am more apt to function better with one piece of information at a time I can structure my school learning around this. Instead of sitting down and trying to process the entire week lesson all at once I can break it up into sections and hopefully help my brain to process the information more adequately.

There are many things in my life that I can apply this too and ultimately function on a higher level. CERTIFICATE OF ORIGINALITY I certify that the attached paper is my original work. I am familiar with and acknowledge my responsibilities, which are part of the University of Phoenix Student Code of Academic Integrity. I affirm that any section of the paper which has been submitted previously is attributed and cited as such, and that this paper has not been submitted by anyone else.

I have identified the sources of all information whether quoted verbatim or paraphrased, all images, and all quotations with citations and reference listings. Along with citations and reference listings, I have used quotation marks to identify quotations of fewer than 40 words and have used block indentation for quotations of 40 or more words. Nothing in this assignment violates copyright, trademark, or other intellectual property laws. I further agree that my name typed on the line below is intended to have, and shall have, the same validity as my handwritten signature.