Reflection on work done in December

December 31 / 2017

Stage: c) taking action

Approaches to learning: Reflection skills because I am looking back to my process during the month of December, acknowledging some mistakes and the ways in which I will keep them from happening next month.

This month, my work and level of productivity has been good but not outstanding, I say this because even though I worked really hard at the beginning of the month through researching and posting complete entries, towards the end I lacked in constance and effort because I was distracted by vacation, and to be completely honest, I could not gather myself to write the book about the brain because I was constantly stressed out.

I am well aware that it is not okay for me to lack in effort and work, specially in this stage of the personal project because we are very close to finishing it, and it is required for us to give our maximum effort and commitment, so from now on I will try to focus mainly on this and give my absolute best.

Interview with Dr. Javier Mejia

December 21 / 2017

Stage: c) taking action

Today, I went to see Dr. Javier Mejia, the director of pediatrics of the Clinica del Country, I considered him to be a good source because he is a pediatrician, and he is supposed to know about every part of the human body, including the brain. The interview went smoothly, and he answered the questions very nicely and enthusiastically, however, I will not be carrying out anymore interviews because I am already too far along on my process, and I don't actually believe this interviews will help in the development of my book because the questions I designed were not very specific, meaning this interview was the first and last of my project.

=> What is the part of the brain that you consider is the most interesting?
The frontal lobe

=> What part of the brain do you consider to be the most important?
The hypothalamus

=> Which part of the brain do you consider is the most complex to understand?
The cerebral cortex

=> Which part of the brain do you consider to be the easiest to understand?
None

=> Do you know any interesting facts about the brain that you would like to share?
There are cerebral transplants taking place in Italy by the neurosurgeon Sergio Canavero

Final explanation of frontal lobe

December 16 / 2017

Stage: c) taking action

Approaches to learning: Transference and affective skills because I was able to use all the knowledge I acquired about the frontal lobe to write its final definition for my book, I was also able to be persistence even though I faced a lot of stress during the process of writing this book.

During the creation of this entry I found my previous planning of the lobes to be very helpful because it was the base for every definition I wrote about the lobes. I also have to admit that it took me a long amount of time, reflection and a lot of procrastination to finally sit down and be able to write this definition due to the fact that it was the first final definition I have written. In the process I didn't know how to write nor what to write, there was also a lot of pressure because I kept on thinking this would be final, and I practically turned the process of writing this definition into an apocalypse, but eventually, I got over it and was able to write the following:

FRONTAL LOBE: The frontal lobe is one of the four lobes of the human brain, you will find it in the cerebral cortex at the front of the head, it sits on top of the temporal lobe and in front of the parietal lobe. It is basically in charge of your cognitive skills which are the set of abilities your brain has that make a part of every action you perform, such as thinking, problem solving, sexual behavior, and language amongst others.

The frontal lobe is also involved in basic motor functions, they are physical actions that take place when you command them to, such as walking or grabbing an object. Thanks to motor functions, you are able to act upon your body and command it to perform actions, something you wouldn't be able to do if you had a motor skills disorder (elsewhere in the page write a small explanation about it).

In the frontal lobe lies the Broca's area, a region of the brain that is basically in charge of producing language. It is paired with the Wernicke's area that is in charge of comprehending the language spoken. Damage to the Broca's area can result in problems moving the tongue or facial muscles.

The orbitofrontal cortex makes a part of the frontal lobe as well, it's job is to control impulses, in other words, an injury to the will result in you turning into  premature human being unable to behave correctly according to the situation.

Even though it is the last part of the brain to develop in young adulthood, in humans it is larger and more developed than in any other organism. Making us quite unique and the frontal lobe very important, for instance, in the case that any harm is inflicted to the frontal lobe, we would be facing consequences such as changes in personality, difficulties controlling facial expressions or problems assessing risk and danger.

There are four very important regions in the frontal lobe; the medial frontal lobe, the lateral frontal lobe, the polar region and the orbital frontal lobe. The medial frontal lobe is the region that contains the cingulate gyrus, a very important part of the limbic system, as well as the frontal gyrus, which is thought to be in charge of self awareness according to researchers. The lateral frontal lobe is a part that aids in self awareness and language processing. In the polar region lie the frontomarginal gyrus and the transverse frontopolar gyri. Finally, the orbital frontal lobe is connected to the vagus nerve, which makes a part of the limbic system, it coordinates emotional and automatic reactions.

Reflection stage B (planning)

December 13 / 2017

Stage c) taking action

Approaches to learning: Reflection skills because I am looking back to my process during the planning stage and reflecting upon my performance.

Stage b of the personal project is based upon planning, for me it was basically researching and planning for what I wanted to say about the parts of the brain in my book. I wrote down around ten small facts about the specific part that I would later expand in the book.

I found myself constantly going back to web pages such as "teach me anatomy" and "the brain made simple" because I found the information they provided very useful and complete, as well as easy to understand.

This stage was very important and useful for my personal project because this is where I decided what parts of the brain I would explain and how I would do it.

Particularly in this stage I believe I did a good job because I was constant in my research and in my diary entries.

Now that this stage has ended it is time to take on the taking action stage and creating my book.

References Stage B

Stage: b) planning

The following are all the sources I consulted during the development of stage b in my personal project.

November 11 / 2017

Spinal cord.com. (N.D). Temporal lobe. Retrieved from: https://www.spinalcord.com/temporal-lobe

Spinal cord.com. (N.D). Parietal lobe. Retrieved from: https://www.spinalcord.com/parietal-lobe

November 16 / 2017

Healthline. (March 5, 2015). Cerebellum. Retrieved from: https://www.healthline.com/human-body-maps/cerebellum

Dummies. (N.D). How the human brain works. Retrieved from: http://www.dummies.com/education/science/biology/how-the-human-brain-works/

Leopold, C. (October 5, 2016). Cerebellum: What is its function?. Retrieved from: https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/313265.php

Healthline. (March 2, 2015). Hypothalamus. Retrieved from: https://www.healthline.com/human-body-maps/hypothalamus

Johnson, J. (September 2, 2016). What is the function of the hypothalamus?. Retrieved from: https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/312628.php

November 18 / 2017

Healthline. (April 14, 2015). Hippocampus. Retrieved from: https://www.healthline.com/human-body-maps/hippocampus

Live Science. (February 5, 2014). Declarative memory: definitions and examples. Retrieved from: https://www.livescience.com/43153-declarative-memory.html

Psych Education.org. (December 2014). Memory, learning, and emotion: the hippocampus. Retrieved from: http://psycheducation.org/brain-tours/memory-learning-and-emotion-the-hippocampus/

November 19 / 2017

Healthline. (March 2, 2015). Frontal lobe. Retrieved from: https://www.healthline.com/human-body-maps/frontal-lobe/male
Mayfield. (N.D). Anatomy of the brain. Retrieved from: https://www.mayfieldclinic.com/PE-AnatBrain.htm
The Brainwaves center. (N.D). Your brain and what it does. Retrieved from: http://www.brainwaves.com
Innerbody. (N.D). Brain stem. Retrieved from: http://www.innerbody.com/image_nerv01/nerv46.html
Teachmeanatomy. (N.D). The midbrain. Retrieved from: http://teachmeanatomy.info/neuro/structures/midbrain/
Stroke education. (N.D). Brain Stem. Retrieved from: http://www.strokeeducation.info/brain/brainstem/
The brain made simple. (N.D). Medulla oblongata. Retrieved from: http://brainmadesimple.com/medulla-oblongata.html

November 25 / 2017

Spinal cord.com. (N.D). Occipital lobe. Retrieved from: https://www.spinalcord.com/occipital-lobe
Bailey, R. (March 6, 2017). Occipital lobes and visual perception. Retrieved from: https://www.thoughtco.com/occipital-lobes-anatomy-373224


November 27 / 2017

Jose Gabriel Luque (medical surgeon)

November 30 / 2017

Cianchi, M. (1998). Leonardo.Anatomy. (Pages 16-19 and 46-47). Florence: GIUNTI.

December 1 / 2017

Mayfield. (N.D). Anatomy of the brain. Retrieved from: https://www.mayfieldclinic.com/PE-AnatBrain.htm
The human memory. (N.D). Parts of the brain. Retrieved from: http://www.human-memory.net/brain_parts.html
The brain from top to bottom. (N.D). The amygdala and its allies. Retrieved from: http://thebrain.mcgill.ca/flash/d/d_04/d_04_cr/d_04_cr_peu/d_04_cr_peu.html
The brain made simple. (N.D). Amygdala. Retrieved from: http://brainmadesimple.com/amygdala.html

Bailey, R. (N.D). Cingulate gyrus and the limbic system. Retrieved from: https://www.thoughtco.com/cingulate-gyrus-and-the-limbic-system-4078935

The brain made simple. (N.D). Corpus callosum. Retrieved from: http://brainmadesimple.com/corpus-callosum.html
Healthline. (April 14, 2015). Corpus callosum. Retrieved from: https://www.healthline.com/human-body-maps/corpus-callosum
Stroke Education. (N.D). Thalamus. Retrieved from: http://www.strokeeducation.info/brain/brainstem/thalamus/index.htm
The brain made simple. (N.D). Thalamus. Retrieved from: http://brainmadesimple.com/thalamus.html
Doc Neuro.com. (N.D). Hypothalamus, Subthalamus and Epithalamus. Retrieved from: https://www.docneuro.com/hypothalamus-subthalamus-and-epithalamus.html
Crystalinks. (N.D). Third eye - Pineal gland. Retrieved from: http://www.crystalinks.com/thirdeyepineal.html
Innerbody. (N.D). Pineal gland. Retrieved from: http://www.innerbody.com/image_nerv02/nerv64-new.html

Ken Hub. (N.D). Habenular Nuclei. Retrieved from: https://www.kenhub.com/en/library/anatomy/the-habenular-nuclei

Neuroscientifically Challenged. (February 27, 2017). Know your brain: mammillary bodies. Retrieved from: https://www.neuroscientificallychallenged.com/blog/know-your-brain-mammillary-bodies

December 3 / 2017

Mayfield. (N.D). Anatomy of the brain. Retrieved from: https://www.mayfieldclinic.com/PE-AnatBrain.htm

Pituitary foundation. (N.D). What is the pituitary gland?. Retrieved from: https://www.pituitary.org.uk/information/what-is-the-pituitary-gland/
Healthline. (March 5, 2015). Pituitary gland. Retrieved from: https://www.healthline.com/human-body-maps/pituitary-gland

wiseGEEK. (N.D). What is the pituitary stalk?. Retrieved from: http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-the-pituitary-stalk.htm
Gaillard, F. (N.D). Pituitary stalk. Retrieved from: https://radiopaedia.org/articles/pituitary-stalk

Bailey, R. (August 5, 2017). Anatomy of the brain - cerebral cortex function. Retrieved from: https://www.thoughtco.com/anatomy-of-the-brain-cerebral-cortex-373217

December 4 / 2017

Mayfield. (N.D). Anatomy of the brain. Retrieved from: https://www.mayfieldclinic.com/PE-AnatBrain.htm
NCBI. (December 2012).  Functional neuroanatomy of the basal ganglia. Retrieved from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3543080/
Healthline. (March 5, 2015). Putamen. Retrieved from: https://www.healthline.com/human-body-maps/putamen
Boeree, G. (N.D). The Basal Ganglia. Retrieved from: http://webspace.ship.edu/cgboer/basalganglia.html
Healthline. (March 4, 2015). Medial globus pallidus. Retrieved from:  https://www.healthline.com/human-body-maps/medial-globus-pallidus
Jones, J. (N.D). Globus pallidus. Retrieved from: https://radiopaedia.org/articles/globus-pallidus
Neuroscientifically Challenged. (November 15, 2014). Know your brain: substantia nigra. Retrieved from: https://www.neuroscientificallychallenged.com/blog/know-your-brain-substantia-nigra

December 5 / 2017

Mayfield. (N.D). Anatomy of the brain. Retrieved from: https://www.mayfieldclinic.com/PE-AnatBrain.htm
NCBI. (N.D). The right cerebral hemisphere: emotion, music, visual-spatial skills, body-image, dreams, and awareness. Retrieved from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/2461390
The brain made simple. (N.D). Right hemisphere - Left hemisphere. Retrieved from: http://brainmadesimple.com/left-and-right-hemispheres.html
Everything on brain injury in plain language. (N.D). Injury in left hemisphere. Retrieved from: http://www.braininjury-explanation.com/consequences/impact-by-brain-area/left-hemisphere

December 8 / 2017

Teach me anatomy. (N.D). Summary of the cranial nerves. Retrieved from: http://teachmeanatomy.info/head/cranial-nerves/summary/
Teach me anatomy. (N.D). The meninges. Retrieved from: http://teachmeanatomy.info/neuro/structures/meninges/

December 10 / 2017

Mayfield. (N.D). Anatomy of the brain. Retrieved from: https://www.mayfieldclinic.com/PE-AnatBrain.htm
Healthline. (N.D). 11 Fun facts about the nervous system. Retrieved from: https://www.healthline.com/health/fun-facts-about-the-nervous-system

Questions for interviews

December 12 / 2017

Stage: b) planning

Approaches to learning: Creative thinking skills because I generated ideas on how to solve the problem I had on the lack of sources and came up with interesting questions that I will be asking the specialists.

During the process of developing my personal project I have not carried out interviews with  specialists, that has been quite a big mistake from my end because I believe getting a second and third opinion is very important. The closest I have been to an interview was when I asked for Jose Gabriel Luque´s opinion on my blog, however I do not consider that an interview because there were no specific questions asked to him by me. In the next few weeks, I will try and get appointments with specialists I can interview and that could help me extend by knowledge on the topic and meet up to the criteria of having diverse sources. The questions I will ask them are:

=> What is the part of the brain that you consider is the most interesting?

=> What part of the brain do you consider to be the most important?

=> Which part of the brain do you consider is the most complex to understand?

=> Which part of the brain do you consider to be the easiest to understand?

=> Do you know any interesting facts about the brain that you would like to share?

Translated to spanish:
=> ¿Cual es la parte del cerebro que mas interesante te parece?
=> ¿Cual es la parte del cerebro que mas importante te parece?
=> ¿Que parte del cerebro consideras que es la mas compleja para comprender?
=> ¿Que parte del cerebro consideras que es la mas simple y facil de comprender?
=> ¿Tienes algún dato interesante sobre el cerebro que te gustaría compartir?

Personal project rubric

December 11 / 2017

Stage: b) planning

Approaches to learning: Communication skills because I was able to listen to suggestions coming from Lizbeth and interpreted them in order for her comments to help me on the process of developing my project.

Today in regional, our teacher Lizbeth, that is also the personal project manager and my supervisor handed us a rubric about the criteria of our personal project and all the stages through which we all have to go through and the things we have to do in order to get a good grade. She read it out loud and also added some comments and recommendations to the speech, I wrote those I considered important and very valuable, they were the following:

- In every entry I should always link back to my global context

- Always analyze everything about my process and the knowledge I acquire.

- I should try and use the sources in my OPVL chart

- In order to get a good grade, my sources should be diverse.

- It would be recommended to lengthen the OPVL chart with a lot more sources.

- I should try and link the work plan to most diary entries.

Of the things I wrote down, I will try and do my best to meet up to them in order to get a good grade in my personal project, I guess the most complex thing to meet up to will be the one where all sources most be diverse because I only have access to internet, book and a few specialists, therefore I will try my best to find different sources from which I can extract valuable information for my project.

Reflection on change in theme

December 10 / 2017

Stage: b) planning

Approaches to learning: Reflection skills because I am reflecting upon my process and the consequences to a mistake I made and corrected 3 months ago.

Back in September, I took the decision to change my personal project theme, even though the amount of work I have had this past months has been quite a lot due to the catching up I have had to do, I can surely say I still love my new theme, it still makes me want to work and research more about it, unlike the past one that after about a month of work I was already done and bored.

This project I can say is still a big challenge for me because it turns out the brain is much more complicated and difficult to understand than I originally thought, however I am ready to take on this challenge because as I mentioned before, I really like it.

I want to thank my supervisor Lizbeth for being there through all the process and always supporting me and giving me advises.

In a little bit more than a month I already have to deliver my final book and finish my project, I am fully aware it will be very difficult to have it in time and it will take a lot of effort and commitment from me, however, I am prepared and excited for the challenge.

Planning cells of the brain

December 10 / 2017

Stage: b) planning

Approaches to learning: Information management and media literacy skills because I searched for information about the cells of the brain and wrote down the most important points of the research.

In the making of this entry I found myself knowing a lot more about this topic than I expected thanks to what I saw in biology last year. When researching about the different types of neurons it was fun to discover I knew the function of each neuron and the different parts of the neuron and what they are meant to do. 

Nerve cells: - Also known as neurons, they transmit information through electrical and chemical signals.

- They all consist of a cell body, an axon and dendrites.

- Neurons transmit the energy they have when they are stimulated through a tiny gap called synapse.

- The dendrites are in charge of receiving the messages from other neurons.

- Messages pass through the cell body, also known as the axon that determines wether the message is important and should be passed down to the synapse or not.

- Once a neuron dies, there shall never be one exactly the same.

- There are around 100 billion neurons in the brain and 13.5 million in the spinal cord.

- There are four types of neurons; receptor, sensory, motor and interneurons neurons.

- The receptor neuron is the one that receives stimuli from the senses and it passes a signal to the sensory neuron.

- The sensory neuron carries the message all the way to the spinal cord or other pars of the body.

- The motor neuron carries out the action after being stimulated.

- The interneurons are the ones that sent messages from one neuron to another.

https://www.mayfieldclinic.com/PE-AnatBrain.htm

https://www.healthline.com/health/fun-facts-about-the-nervous-system

Glia cells: - They are the cells of the brain that provide neurons with nourishment, protection and structural support.

- They are the most common type of cells involved in bran tumors.

- There are about 10 to 50 more glia cells than nerve cells in the brain

- Oligondendroglia cells provide myelin to neurons

- Microglia cells digest dead neurons and pathogens

- Ependymal cells line the ventricles and secrete cerebrospinal fluid.

- Astroglia cells nourish neutrons, holds them in place,  digest their dead parts and regulate the blood brain barrier.

https://www.mayfieldclinic.com/PE-AnatBrain.htm

Planning cranial nerves and meninges

December 8 / 2017

Stage: b) planning

Approaches to learning: Media literacy and information management skills because I searched for the information in different sources and chose the best to reference and use during this research. 

During the making of this research I found myself using only the web page "teach me anatomy" because the information it provides is very complete and easy to understand, I tried researching in other sources but I found the information to be not very complete nor relevant enough. I was very surprised when researching about the meninges because I did not expect it to be divided into three very different parts, however, it was very interesting to learn about them all.

Cranial nerves: - There are 12 paired nerves that come from the brain.

- 2 nerves (olfactory and optic) come from the cerebrum, and the other 10 come from the brain stem.

- In the midbrain there is the trochlear nerve.

- In the pons there is the trigeminal nerve

- In the medulla oblongata there are the vagus, accessory, hypoglossal and glossopharyngeal nerves.

- In the midbrain-pontine junction there is the oculomotor nerve

- In the pontine-medulla junction there are the abducens, facial and vestibulocochlear nerves.

http://teachmeanatomy.info/head/cranial-nerves/summary/

Meninges: - They are three layers that cover the brain and the spinal cord.

- They are called the dura mater, arachnoid mater and the pia mater.

- They all have two very important functions; working with cerebrospinal fluid to protect the CNS from mechanical damage and providing a supportive framework for the cerebral and cranial vasculature.

- Often involved in cerebral pathology 

- It is a common site of infection and inter cranial bleeds.

- The dura matter is the outermost layer of the meninges, it is thick and inextensible. It has two connective tissue sheets; the endosteal layer that lines the inner surface of the bones of the cranium and the meningeal layer that lanes the endosteal layer inside the cranial cavity.  

- Between those layers, there are the dural venous sinuses, they are responsible for the venous vasculature of the cranium.

- The arachnoid mater is the middle layer of the meninges, it basically is a connective tissue that does not receive any innervation.

- The pia matter is located underneath the arachnoid mater, it is very thin and adhered to the surface of the brain and spinal cord. It is highly vascularized.

http://teachmeanatomy.info/neuro/structures/meninges/

Fifth meeting with my supervisor

December 6 / 2017

Stage: b) planning

Approaches to learning: Colaboration and  organization skills because I took Lizbeth’s opinion regarding my project into account and will implement all of her suggestions. I also met up to the calendar and dates set on Lizbeth’s work plan through meeting with her on the date I was supposed to.

Today I had my fifth meeting with Lizbeth (my supervisor). She first opened my blog and read some entries, she said she liked the entries regarding planning of certain parts of the brain and that my entries seemed complete, but a little bit boring, so she recommended I add images to my entries.

She said I should try and link most entries to my work plan because it is very important, as well as adding more reflections regarding my process. She also mentioned every entry should have at least an approach to learning, and I told her all my recent entries have it and I will add the approaches to some old entries that I consider important.

This meeting I had was the last one of this year (2017), reason why I consider it vital for the development of my project because during vacation I will work on my project all by myself, I found the meeting and the information Lizbeth gave me very helpful, reason for which I am ready to take the challenge of working very hard during vacation.

Planning hemispheres of the brain

December 5 / 2017

Stage: b) planning

Approaches to learning: Information management and media literacy skills because I searched for relevant information through a lot of different sources that I constantly evaluated and decided wether they were reliable or not.

During the creation of this entry, I found myself constantly struggling when finding information about the hemispheres. Even though there is a lot of information regarding the lobes, cells, neurons and other parts of the brain, there is not much information available about the right and left hemispheres. Eventually, after looking through a lot of different sources I was able to find some interesting facts about each hemisphere of the human brain.

Right hemisphere: - It controls the left side of the body

- It is the more artistic and creative side of the brain

- It perceives and identifies environmental and nonverbal sounds

- It appears it can independently recall on certain memories and act upon them without any help from the other side (left hemisphere).

- Involved in the analysis of visual stimuli such as depth perception and visual closure.

- It is involved in the production of dreams during REM sleeps.

- It controls the comprehension of visual, facial and verbal emotions.

- When the right hemisphere is injured, there might be mental consequences such as depression, hysteria, emotional disinhibition and impulsivity amongst others.

- Has an influence in art awareness and intuition 

https://www.mayfieldclinic.com/PE-AnatBrain.htm

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/2461390

http://brainmadesimple.com/left-and-right-hemispheres.html

Left hemisphere: - It controls speech, comprehension, arithmetics and writing

- It controls the right side of the body

- It is the academic and logical side of the brain.

- It aids in science and mathematics

- Involved in reasoning, language, number skills, logic, and analytical thoughts amongst others.

- Injury to this area may result in aphasia (problems with language and speech)

https://www.mayfieldclinic.com/PE-AnatBrain.htm

http://brainmadesimple.com/left-and-right-hemispheres.html

http://www.braininjury-explanation.com/consequences/impact-by-brain-area/left-hemisphere

Planning basal ganglia

December 4 / 2017

Stage: b) planning

Approaches to learning: Information management and media literacy skills because I looked for various sources that would hopefully provide me with information about the basal ganglia and its parts, I synthesized the information and organized it in a proper way.

In this research about the basal ganglia, I had some trouble finding information about the parts I researched about, I guess that happened due to the fact that the basal ganglia for quite some years was thought to be one simple part, however recently,  it has been found that the basal ganglia is constituted by more parts and sections, parts that are yet to be thoroughly investigated. Taking into account I have very few information about this part of the brain, I will look for information and answers elsewhere different from web pages, such as specialists and books to hopefully, find more information about this section of the human brain.

Basal ganglia: - It includes the caudate, putamen, globus pallidus and substantia nigra .
- It was introduced about two decades ago

https://www.mayfieldclinic.com/PE-AnatBrain.htm
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3543080/

Caudate nucleus: - It sends messages to the frontal lobe informing us something is not right and we should do something about it.
- It begins behind the frontal lobe and curves back to the occipital lobe.

http://webspace.ship.edu/cgboer/basalganglia.html

Putamen: - It is involved in the movement of the limbs.
- Closely related to the caudate nucleus, nucleus accumbens, and globes pallidus.
- Parkinson´s and Huntington´s diseases affect the putamen.
- It coordinates automatic behaviors.

https://www.healthline.com/human-body-maps/putamen
http://webspace.ship.edu/cgboer/basalganglia.html

Globus pallidus: - It consists of neurons that contain GABA
- It is located at the base of the forebrain.
- It is close to the nucleus subthalamicus, the putamen and the mesencephalon.
- It receives inputs from the putamen and caudate nucleus and provides outputs to the substantia nigra
- It has an outer part and an inner part.

https://www.healthline.com/human-body-maps/medial-globus-pallidus
https://radiopaedia.org/articles/globus-pallidus
http://webspace.ship.edu/cgboer/basalganglia.html

Substantia nigra: - It is a nucleus in the midbrain
- It is made up of two different parts.
- Most dopamine neurons of the brain originate from here.

https://www.neuroscientificallychallenged.com/blog/know-your-brain-substantia-nigra

Deep structures planning

December 3 / 2017

Stage: b) planning

Approaches to learning: Information management and media literacy skills because specially during this research I had to look for a lot of different sources that answered my questions, where some worked and some didn't. Taking into account this parts are somewhat complicated I really had to organize my ideas and write the information in a simple and understandable way.

Pituitary gland: - It is connected to the hypothalamus by the pituitary stalk,  a part of the brain that also takes the hormones produced by the pituitary gland down to the bloodstream.

- Also known as the master gland.

- It controls other endocrine glands in the body.

- It secretes hormones that control sexual development, promote growth in the muscles and bones, respond to stress and fight disease amongst others.

- It lies in the sella turcica (a small pocket of bone in the skull), just behind the bridge of your nose.

- The hypothalamus controls it by sending messages

- If it stops producing enough hormones it is going through something known as hypopituitarism.

- Most common problems in the pituitary gland relate to benign tumors.
- Divided into three parts, anterior, intermediate and posterior lobes. The anterior lobe is in charge in the development of the body, the intermediate releases a hormone that stimulates the cells that control pigmentation, and the posterior produces a hormone that prevents dehydration.

https://www.mayfieldclinic.com/PE-AnatBrain.htm

https://www.pituitary.org.uk/information/what-is-the-pituitary-gland/
https://www.healthline.com/human-body-maps/pituitary-gland

Pituitary stalk: - Also known as infundibulum or infundibular stalk.
- It connects the pituitary gland to the hypothalamus.

http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-the-pituitary-stalk.htm
https://radiopaedia.org/articles/pituitary-stalk

Cerebral cortex: - It covers the outer portion of the cerebrum.
- Referred to as grey matter.
- It is covered by the meninges.
- It is responsible for perceiving, producing, thinking and understanding language.
- The four lobes (frontal, occipital, temporal and parietal lobes) make a part of it.

https://www.thoughtco.com/anatomy-of-the-brain-cerebral-cortex-373217

Planning limbic system

December 1 / 2017

Stage: b) planning

Approaches to learning: Information management and media literacy skills because I searched for information about the topics I am researching and synthesized it in order for it to be a lot easier to understand.

During the process of planning every single part of the brain I came to the conclusion that I was writing a lot of entries and just mentioning around two or three parts, if I continued doing that it would take me hundreds of entries to entirely plan the brain, so, I decided to divide the parts that I was missing and research them in groups, such as the limbic system or the basal ganglia that inside of them have a lot of tiny parts that require explanation. This way, I will be able to explain a lot more in greater quantities and diminish the working time.

Limbic system: - Included in this system are the hypothalamus, amygdala, cingulate gyrus, thalamus, epithalamus, mammillary body and the hippocampus.

https://www.mayfieldclinic.com/PE-AnatBrain.htm
http://www.human-memory.net/brain_parts.html

Amygdala: - It is essencial in the ability to feel, perceive and remember certain emotions such as fear.
- It is located at the end of the hippocampus in the medial temporal lobe.
- It is the reason we are afraid of things that are out of our control
- It controls the way we react to certain stimuli.
- If you take it away you will no longer have fear.
- It is an almond shaped set of neurons.

http://thebrain.mcgill.ca/flash/d/d_04/d_04_cr/d_04_cr_peu/d_04_cr_peu.html
http://brainmadesimple.com/amygdala.html

Cingulate gyrus: - It covers the corpus callosum
- It is involved in processing emotions and behavior regulation
- Regulates autonomic motor functions
- It can be divided into anterior and posterior segments
- Some of its functions include maternal bonding, emotional responses to pain, decision making, communication, and it regulates aggressive behavior amongst others.
- The anterior cingulate gyrus has connections with speech and vocalization areas in the frontal lobe.
- It is involved in bonding and attachment.
- It as connections with the amygdala.
- Depression, anxiety and obsessive compulsive disorders may be associated with problems regarding the cingulate gyrus.
- The posterior cingulate gyrus plays a role in spatial memory, it also relays signals between the spinal cord and brain.

https://www.thoughtco.com/cingulate-gyrus-and-the-limbic-system-4078935

Corpus callosum: - It allows communication between the two hemispheres of the brain through transmitting neural messages.
- Located above the thalamus and under the cortex
- It is a bundle of nerve tissue that contains over 200 million axons.
- Largest collection of white matter within the brain (white matter allows communication between different parts of the brain).
- It has a high myelin content.
- In preventing seizures, doctors can cut the corpus callosum because it disrupts contact between the hemispheres and it isolates the seizure keeping it from spreading.

http://brainmadesimple.com/corpus-callosum.html
https://www.healthline.com/human-body-maps/corpus-callosum

Thalamus: - It is located between the brain and the cerebral cortex.
- Located below the corpus callosum.
- It relays information from sensory receptors to areas of the brain where it can be processed.
- Involved in sensory and motor signal relay as well as the regulation of consciousness and sleep.
- It sends signals to the cortex and receives signals from the cortex as well.
- It also regulates the senses (sight, sound, taste.....).
- Involved in regulation of some types of memory.

http://www.strokeeducation.info/brain/brainstem/thalamus/index.htm
http://brainmadesimple.com/thalamus.html

Epithalamus: - It consists of the pineal gland and the habenular nuclei

https://www.docneuro.com/hypothalamus-subthalamus-and-epithalamus.html

Pineal gland: - Curiously known as the third eye

- It is an endocrine gland that produces a hormone called melatonin, that has a very important role in the sleep-wake cycle and the body´s response to  

- Located near to the center of the brain between the left and right hemispheres

- It is shaped like a tiny pine cone of around 8mm in humans with a reddish gray color.

- It is surrounded by a layer of pia mater, the innermost layer of the meninges that covers the brain and the spinal cord.

- It resembles very much the structure of nervous tissue because it mostly consists of astrocytes and pinealocytes.

http://www.crystalinks.com/thirdeyepineal.html
http://www.innerbody.com/image_nerv02/nerv64-new.html

Habenular nuclei: - It seems to connect the limbic system and the reticular formation of the brainstem
- It is a nucleus of the diencephalon.

https://www.docneuro.com/hypothalamus-subthalamus-and-epithalamus.html
https://www.kenhub.com/en/library/anatomy/the-habenular-nuclei

Mammillary body: - They are are a paired structure, meaning there are two.
- They have a role in memory and and maintaining a sense of direction.
- They are connected to the hippocampus, the thalamus and the midbrain.

https://www.neuroscientificallychallenged.com/blog/know-your-brain-mammillary-bodies