BIO 2215 Lecture Notes - Arachnoid Mater, Dura Mater, Pia Mater
Document Summary
Large part of emotional or affective brain: recognizes angry or fearful facial expressions, assesses danger, and elicits a fear response, plays role in expressing emotions via gestures and resolves mental conflict. Limbic system puts emotional responses to odors: ex: skinks smell bad. Hippocampus and amygdaloid body also play a role in memory. Performs a variety of tasks and has an activating system. Reticular activating system (ras: sends impulses to the cerebral cortex to keep it conscious and alert, filters out repetitive, familiar, or weak stimuli (99% of all stimuli is not relayed to consciousness) Inhibited by sleep centers, alcohol, drugs: severe injury can result in permanent unconsciousness (coma) Motor function of reticular formation helps control coarse limb movements. Reticular autonomic centers regulate visceral motor functions: vasomotor centers, cardiac center, respiratory centers. Function of meninges: cover and protect cns, protect blood vessels and enclose venous sinuses, contain cerebrospinal fluid (csf, form partitions in the skull.
