This link has been bookmarked by 1 people . It was first bookmarked on 30 Jul 2008, by Wendy Clark.
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30 Jul 08
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Though there is considerable overlap, parts of the brain appear to have their own responsibilities. The overarching cortex deals with motor functions — the cells controlling speech, vision and hearing being concentrated in certain areas. The hippocampus is responsible for long-term memory. The basal ganglia act with the cortex in choosing between plans of action. The cerebellum smooths gestures. The limbic system generates emotions. The reticulate formation (RF), situated at the top of the brainstem, but with nerve cells (RAS: reticulating activation system) reaching into the limbic system and cortex, is responsible for three matters. The first is consciousness: what part of sensory input reaches the brain. Second is control of the sleep/wake cycle: damage to the RF results in coma. Third is the level of activity in the brain — when stimulated, the RF generates neurotransmitters like dopamine, excess levels of which are associated with schizophrenia. {4} In fact, all parts of the brain are interconnected, and all are subject to multiple feedback. Nerve cells connect in synapses, in a multiple fashion, and these synaptic connections seem able to repattern their activities. Memory, therefore — apart from that of DNA replication, and possibly of antibodies formed by cell action — lies in the reflex actions of neurons, i.e. in re-categorization under the stimulus of the body as a whole and stimulus from the world outside. {5}
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reticulate formation (RF: attention, sleep-wake cycles, control of the body's physiological functions)
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By regulating sensory input through the reticular activating system, the RF decides which inputs need to be processed in consciousness, which should be inhibited, and which can be handled by unconscious stock responses
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