Page 37 - Biblical Counseling II

The Reticular Formation
Inside the brainstem, between your
ears, lies your reticular formation.
This finger-shaped network of
neurons extends upward from your
spinal cord, through your brainstem,
and into your thalamus. This long
structure acts as a filter for some of
the sensory messages traveling from
your spinal cord to your thalamus,
relaying important information to
other areas of your brain. (Myers,
2009)
(photo from studyblue.com)

Dr. Adnan Shah explains, “The
reticular formation is responsible for
the level of consciousness and
arousal, control of skeletal muscle,
and control of the autonomic nervous system (ANS). (We will talk about the ANS more in a later chapter). The
reticular formation is also responsible for the control of the endocrine nervous system, as well as its
influence on the biological clocks. In addition, respiration, heart rate, blood pressure, and other vegetative
functions are impacted by the reticular formation in the brainstem. It regulates levels of consciousness,
alertness, respiration, blood pressure, skeletal muscle tone, heart rate, and other vegetative functions. It
modulates the impulses in the pain pathways (Shah, p. 2, 2019).

The Cerebellum
At the rear of the brainstem is the cerebellum, meaning “little brain,” which is what its
two wrinkled halves resemble. This baseball-sized structure plays an important role in
a lot that happens just outside your awareness. Quickly, answer these questions: How
much time has passed since you woke up this morning? Does your chair feel different
from the back of your hand? How’s your mood? If you answered those questions
easily, thank your cerebellum. It helps you judge time, discriminate sounds and
textures, and control your emotions. It also coordinates voluntary movement. If you
injured your cerebellum or damaged it with alcohol, you would have trouble walking,
keeping your balance, or shaking hands. The cerebellum also helps process and store
memories for things we cannot consciously recall, such as why we link the sound of
thunder to a flash of lightning (Myers, 2009). (photo from: www.blogmicroscopeworld.com)

The Limbic System

We’ve traveled through the brain’s oldest parts, but we’ve not yet reached its highest regions, the cerebral
hemispheres (the two halves of the brain). In between the oldest and newest brain areas lies the limbic
system. This system contains the amygdala, the hypothalamus, and the hippocampus. The hippocampus
processes conscious memories. Animals or humans who lose their hippocampus to surgery or injury also lose
their ability to form new memories of facts and events (Myers, 2009).

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