Case Study: Laila's Brain

The first way Laila’s brain guesses that her fiends have ordered pizza at the dorm is because of her ability to smell the pizza. Her ability to smell is because her first cranial nerve, also known as the olfactory nerve, is functioning well. This nerve is responsible for relaying sensory data to the brain and results in the sense of smell. Olfactory receptors are located in the mucosa in the nasal cavity. When airborne chemicals and particles travel to the nasal cavity, they interact with the receptors. Despite the olfactory nerve being part of the nervous system, it does not join the brainstem and is considered the shortest cranial nerve. When Laila breathes in air, the molecules attach to her olfactory mucosa and her olfactory receptors

Laila confirms that her friends have ordered pizza using her visual system. Through the sensation of light, sensory information is processed and Laila is then able to see the pizza. The pupil absorbs light, by allowing light to enter the eye, and light will then be transferred to the lens. The lens is responsible for refracting light and focusing the light inside of the eye, also known as the retina. The second cranial nerve, or optic nerve, is responsible for carrying the visual signal from the eye to the optic chiasm. The optic nerve, or second cranial nerve, is located in the back of the eye. This cranial nerve transfers visual information to visual centers in the brain through many electric impulses. The optic chiasm has temporal fibers that travel ipsilaterally as nasal fibers transmit information contralaterally, to the opposite side of the associated visual field. The visual cortex can then process sensory information from the opposite eye. Laila’s blind spot is where the optic nerve begins and there are no rod or cone cells in the optic nerve. The brain has to try to compensate for the lack of photosensitive

First, the planned action of walking allows Laila to move in order to get to her desired spot. Through this planned action, Laila walks towards her friends and the pizza with assistance from her motor system. Laila’s brainstem and cerebellum, specifically, are responsible for controlling involuntary movement. Her lower areas in the brain such as the brainstem and cerebellum typically control involuntary movements. Areas that are anatomically higher areas in the brain, control voluntary movements, such as Laila’s cortex. These voluntary movements require Laila is capable of planning and executing the various actions she wants to make. Laila is able to utilize her planning system through association areas of the motor cortex. These areas help with general motor acts. For instance, Laila wants to have the pizza, and her premotor areas, anterior to the motor cortex, are involved in planning to walk towards the pizza. Laila’s ability to walk to the pizza required working premotor areas in her frontal lobe. The areas that plan actions for Laila involve input from the environment in order to initiate a motor plan. Laila’s premotor areas receive input from prefrontal areas and her parietal lobe. These areas deal with motor intention and tactile and visual signals, respectively. The premotor areas also help to