The functions of the brain as part of the Central Nervous System (CNS) is to regulate the majority of our body and mind purpose. This includes vital functions like breathing or heart rate, to basic functions like sleeping, eating, or sexual instinct, and even superior functions like thinking, remembering, reasoning, or talking. In order to carry-out any seemingly simple task, our brain has to perform thousands of processes to ensure that we properly complete the task. Proper brain function is the key to a healthy life.
On our parts of the brain page, we mention that basic vital functions are measured by the oldest brain structures. In other words, the structures located in the hindbrain (medulla, pons, cerebellum), and in the midbrain. However, superior brain functions, like reasoning, memory, and attention, are controlled by the hemispheres and lobes that form part of the cortex. Good stimulation can help improve the state of different cognitive skills
Cognitive functions are the mental processes that allow us to receive, select, store, transform, develop, and recover information that we've received from external stimuli. This process allows us to understand and to relate to the world more effectively.
Often times when we talk about superior cognitive functions, we're referring to the cognitive skills that we use in order to understand and interact with the world. Although sometimes we study them as separate ideas, we have to remember that cognitive functions are always interrelated and that sometimes they overlap. We'll take a look at the main brain functions:
FOCUSED ATTENTION: Being alert. The ability to respond to a stimulus.
SUSTAINED ATTENTION: The ability to hold attention during a period of at least 3 minutes. It is was we more commonly call "concentration". When we read a book we are concentrating.
SELECTIVE ATTENTION: The ability that allows us to maintain attention on a task and inhibit distractions from the environment around us, like background noise or activities. Following the previous example, selective attention allows us to read a book while listening to music or the TV on.
ALTERNATING ATTENTION: The mental flexibility that allows us to change our focus from one task to another fluidly. For example, when we are reading and a song we like comes on, we are able to stop for a moment while we listen or sing, and then quickly get back to the book where we left off.
DIVIDED ATTENTION: The ability to respond to more than one task at a time, or do two things at once. For example, when we talk to a friend while write a text to someone else, or when we talk on the phone while cooking.
There is not one single anatomic structure that is in charge of attention, but there are actually various circuits that are implied in this process. According to Posner and Petersen (1990), there are an additional three systems
Reticular activating system (RAS) or arousal system: This is the state or base level of consciousness that optimizes the processing of sensory stimuli that reach the cerebral cortex. It is made up of the reticular activation system, the thalamus, the limbic system, the basal ganglia, and the frontal cortex.
Posterior attention system: Permits the orientation and localization of stimuli, especially visual. It is used in perception, visual-spatial attention, the processing of new information... The main structures related to it are in the posterior parietal cortex, the lateral pulvinar, the hippocampus, and the anterior cingulate.
Anterior attentional system: Allows us to direct our attention to the action. It regulated and controls the make complex cognitive tasks possible. This system makes up part of the anterior cingulate, the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, the orbital-frontal cortex, the neostriatum, the suplemental motor area, and the ventral tegmental area.
1-TEMPORAL CRITERION:
Short-term memory:
-Immediate memory
Operative or working memory: Short-term passive storage system that allows us to work with information. For example, when we try to remember a telephone number before writing it on a piece of paper.
Long-Term Memory
Declarative (explicit) memory: References memories that may be consciously evoked.
-Episodic: the autobiographical memory that allows us to remember concepts and events from our past. For example, where did we go on vacation last year? When did I graduate? When did I get married?
Semantic: This memory references what we've learned and our general knowledge of the world. What is the capital of France? What is a square root?
The medial temporal lobe and the diencephalon are the structures associated with this kind of memory.
Non-declarative or implicit memory: References subconscious memories and some skills like riding a bike or ice-skating. The neocortex, the amygdala (when emotions are involved), the striatum, and the reflex arcs.
We also have to keep in mind that the storage zones are in the temporal lobes, but the more strategic components are more related to the frontal lobes
1- Goal setting:
-Motivation
-Self-awareness
- Pre-frontal area: Involved in the motivational processes of language. It is where both verbal and written communication starts (related to the executive functions).
Broca's area: Located in the left frontal lobe. It is related to speech production and spoken language processing.
-Primary motor cortex: Starts the movements to start to pronounce words and movements to guide writing.
2-LANGUAGE RECEPTION AREA: Includes:
Occipital Lobe: Allows us to identify linguistic images.
Parietal lobe: In charge of integrating visual and auditory stimuli.
Left temporal lobe: In charge of synthesizing and understanding spoken sounds. It is integrated by: Helsch's Area (primary auditory area. It receives the sounds to code them in the multimodal area) and the Wernicke's Area (related to language comprehension. It gives meaning to these perceived sounds.
Aside from the cortical areas, other areas are also essential for proper language function. The interconnection between these cortical areas with other subcortical structures, like the arcuate fasciculus (connects the Broca's area to the Wernicke's area), the thalamus (important for language regulation, as it connects sympathetic with expressive areas), the pulvinar nucleus and geniculate, basal ganglia, and the cerebellum (which intervenes in language fluency, rhythm, and tone), etc.
Visual-spatial functions are used to analyze, comprehend, and mange the space in which we live (whether it be in two or three dimensions). These functions include processes like mental navigation, distance and depth perception, visual-spatial construction, and mental rotation. We use visual-spatial functions when we read a map, orient ourselves in a city, or estimate distances.
If the left hemisphere is dominant for language tasks, the right is dominant in perception. Spatial analysis, facial recognition, recognizing maps or objects, music processing, somaesthetic sensations, facial mimicry, and motor activities that don't require verbal control are predominantly regulated by the occipital and parietal lobes in the right hemispheres and their connections with the rest of the brain.
In the course of just one day, we use our cerebral functions constantly. Thousands of tasks are being performed, which require millions of complex mental calculations from different parts of the brain. Here we will show you some examples of you will use these cognitive skills and cerebral functions daily in a multitude of tasks.