The Brain’s Functions III: Managing Thought and Memory

What part of the brain process thoughts and memories?

The association cortex which makes up the unspecified areas of the cerebral cortex, is concerned with consciousness—awareness of self and the ability to think about the past and imagine the future.

The association areas called frontal lobes play a key role in such human capabilities as solving problems, planning, and relating the past to the present.

The hippocampus appears to be essential in transforming new information into semantic and episodic memories, but not procedural memories.

In what ways does the brain grow and develop after birth?

How do the left and right hemispheres differ?

The right hemisphere of the brain deals with the left side of the body. The left hemisphere controls the right side of the body and the use of language; in most people, it is the dominant hemisphere.

The two hemispheres are in constant communication through the corpus callosum, a thick cable of interconnecting neurons.

Experiments with patients whose corpus callosum has been cut—split-brain patients—indicate that the left hemisphere specializes in individual items of information, logic, and reasoning; the right hemisphere specializes in information about from, space, music, and entire patterns and is the intuitive half of the brain.

The Brain’s Functions III: Managing Thought & Memory: Definitions
Association Cortex	Diverse areas of the cortex that contribute to self-awareness and the ability to think about the past and imagine the future.
Frontal lobes	The front portions of the brain that play a key role in problem solving and planning.
Hippocampus	The part of the brain that transfers information from short-term memory to long-term memory.
Corpus callosum	The structure of the brain that connects the right and left hemispheres of the cerebrum and enables these hemispheres to interact