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- Glossary
Supplementary motor area
Area of the association motor cortex in the frontal lobe that is involved in movement planning and the organization of movement sequences.
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- Glossary
Cortisol
A hormone produced by the adrenal cortex that is primarily an important stress hormone. It belongs to the group of glucocorticoids and influences carbohydrate and protein metabolism in the body, suppresses the immune system, and acts directly on certain neurons in the central nervous system.
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- Glossary
Pulvinar
The pulvinar is a fairly large nucleus in the posterior thalamus that is connected to many visual centers. It appears to increase the excitability of cells in the visual cortex as soon as a stimulus is noticed. Some studies suggest that the pulvinar may also indirectly support language processing via cortical connections.
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- Glossary
Nonspecific Thalamus
The "non-specific" thalamic nuclei, which have only a few connections to the cortex that are not limited to a specific area, are collectively referred to as the nonspecific thalamus and sometimes truncothalamus. It receives inputs from the reticular formation, the basal ganglia, and the cerebellum. Efferences go to most of the other thalamic nuclei.
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- Glossary
Basal ganglia
The basal ganglia are a group of subcortical nuclei (located beneath the cerebral cortex) in the telencephalon. The basal ganglia include the globus pallidus and the striatum, and, depending on the author, other structures such as the substantia nigra and the subthalamic nucleus. The basal ganglia are primarily associated with voluntary motor function, but they also influence motivation, learning, and emotion.
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- Glossary
Gray matter
Grey matter refers to a collection of nerve cell bodies, such as those found in nuclei or in the cortex.
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- Glossary
Lucid dream
During a lucid dream, the dreamer is aware of their state and able to control their actions. Although Aristotle reported on this phenomenon and up to 80 percent of all people say they have had lucid dreams, sleep researchers doubted the existence of this phenomenon until the end of the 1960s. Most observations of lucid dreams originate from the REM sleep phase. Scientists have found that lucid dreams are associated with altered activity in the prefrontal cortex, which is responsible for the critical evaluation of events. Lucid dreaming can be learned and is now also used in therapy, for example in the treatment of nightmares.
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- Glossary
Parietal lobe
The parietal lobe is one of the four large lobes of the cerebral cortex. It is located behind the frontal lobe and above the occipital lobe. Somatosensory processes take place in its anterior region, while sensory information is integrated in its posterior region, enabling the handling of objects and spatial orientation. In addition, the parietal lobe is involved in attention, the recognition of body parts and objects, as well as linguistic and mathematical abilities.
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- Glossary
Visual pathway
The visual pathway refers to the network of nerve cells involved in visual perception. In mammals, it runs from the retinal ganglion cells in the eye – as the optic nerve to the optic chiasm, then as the visual tract – via the only switching point in the lateral geniculate nucleus to the primary visual cortex.
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- Glossary
Dorsal pathway
The dorsal visual processing pathway is the part of visual information processing that is responsible for the spatial localization of objects and the perception of movement. It transmits visual information from the primary visual cortex (V1) and secondary visual areas (V2, V3) to the parietal lobes, where spatial orientation, motion analysis, and action planning take place.
