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- Glossary
Lateral inhibition
Lateral inhibition is a principle of neural stimulus processing, according to which the retina, among other things, is structured. There, the nerve cells of an area are interconnected in such a way that when they are excited, they inhibit the activity of the surrounding neurons.
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- Glossary
Medulla oblongata
Area of the brain that transitions into the spinal cord. The medulla oblongata comprises nerve pathways between the spinal cord and higher brain regions, as well as numerous core areas with functions that are in some cases vital, such as breathing, heartbeat, and certain reflexes.
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- Glossary
Mesolimbic pathway
A system of neurons that use dopamine as a neurotransmitter and play a crucial role in emotion, reward, and substance abuse. The cell bodies are located in the subtegmental area and extend to the amygdala, the hippocampus, and – most importantly – the nucleus accumbens, where they have their terminal buttons.
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Nose
The olfactory organ of vertebrates. In the nasal cavity, the air is cleaned by cilia, and in the upper area is the olfactory epithelium, which detects odors.
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- Glossary
Nucleus accumbens
The nucleus accumbens is a nucleus in the basal ganglia that receives dopaminergic (dopamine-responsive) inputs from the ventral tegmental area. It is associated with reward and attention, but also with addiction. In pain processing, it is involved in motivational aspects of pain (reward, pain reduction) and in the effect of placebos.
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- Glossary
Caudate nucleus
Part of the basal ganglia, it forms the striatum together with the putamen. Anatomically, the caudate nucleus is located frontally in the center of the brain and extends backward, forming a C shape. It consists of a head (caput nuclei caudati), a body (corpus nuclei caudati), and a tail (cauda nuclei caudati). In contrast to the more motor-related parts of the basal ganglia, this area is strongly connected to the prefrontal cortex in addition to its motor functions. As a result, this part of the striatum is also heavily involved in cognition, motivation, and emotion.
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- Glossary
Supraoptic nucleus
A core area of the hypothalamus, located above the optic nerves. This is where the peptide hormones vasopressin and oxytocin are produced.
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- Glossary
Occipital lobe
One of the four large lobes of the cerebral cortex. The occipital lobe lies above the cerebellum. It borders the parietal and temporal lobes at the front. The calcarine sulcus divides the occipital lobe into an upper and lower half, the cuneus and the lingual gyrus. Functionally, this area of the brain is responsible for the central processing of visual information – both the primary and secondary visual cortex are located in the occipital lobe.
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- Glossary
Place cells
Pyramidal cells in the hippocampus that encode a specific location in a specific environment – for example, a section of a maze. When a test animal is in the center of this area, the cell fires most strongly. Place cells were discovered in 1971 by John O'Keefe and Jonathon Dostrovsky.
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- Glossary
Pons
Area in the brain stem between the medulla oblongata and the mesencephalon. It acts as a switching station for many nerve pathways between the brain and spinal cord and contains numerous nuclei, including cranial nerves and those involved in controlling motor function in cooperation with the cerebellum.
