Sheep Brain Dissection

For our brain dissection in class, we used a sheep brain. There are many important structures in the brain. Usually since I end up doing the main cutting in the dissection, I wanted to give someone else a chance to take this role. Because I took a class over the summer on cognitive neuroscience, I feel like I know the brain's anatomy pretty well. So, I chose to be the photographer of this dissection. I saw (and felt a little) how squishy the brain can be. I've always been confused with the location of the optic chiasm as it didn't make much sense to me in 2D, but when I saw it on the brain, I was able to understand it's location and why it was placed there. 

Questions:
1. 

2.

Structure	Color	Function
Meninges	(not shown in our dissection)	Used to adhere to and protect the spinal cord and the brain.
Anterior side of brain	White	Front of the brain
Posterior side of the brain	Black	Back of the brain
Cerebrum	Yellow	Integration of complex sensory and neural functions and the initiation and coordination of voluntary activity in the body
Cerebellum	Green	Recieves information from the cerebrum, the brainstem, and the spinal cord. Coordinates voluntary movement, balance, coordination, speech, and movement of smooth muscle.
Brain stem	Red	Control the flow between the brain and the spinal cord/rest of the body. Controls primitive functions such as breathing, swallowing, heart-pumping, etc.

3.Myelin sheaths are also known as Schwann cells. They are useful because they help to speed up the relay time of an action potential. Instead of rushing down the axon's full length, the action potential jumps from Nodes of Ranvier. These nodes are created by the opening of the axon between axon covered in myelin sheaths. This image provides a visual for this: 

4. 

5.

Structure	Color	Function
Thalamus	Yellow	relay motor and sensory signals to the cerebral cortex.
Optic nerve	Green	transfer visual information from the retina to the vision centers of the brain via electrical impulses.
Medulla oblongata	Red	regulate breathing, heart and blood vessel function, digestion, sneezing, and swallowing, circulation
Pons	Green	Bridge between the cerebrum and the cerebellum Controls intensity, depth, and frequency of breathing Controls sleep cycles
Midbrain	Blue	Vision, hearing, motor control, sleep/wake, alertness, temperature regulation
Corpus callosum	Red	Connects two hemispheres of brain Integrate motor, sensory, and cognitive performance
Hypothalamus	Blue	Links nervous system to endocrine system via the pituitary gland temperature regulation, thirst, hunger, sleep, mood, sex drive, and the release of other hormones within the body.

6.