What part(s) of the brain controls: thinking, sight, hearing, concentration, and balance?

Answer 1

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The real answer is much more complicated than what has been posted so far, and really is beyond the scope of what can be explained here.

Thinking involves many areas of the brain. Higher-level thought is felt to be controlled mostly by the frontal lobes, but it would also involve areas of association cortex that are predominantly in the parietal lobes. If recall from memory is involved, the hippocampus as well as several other areas would be involved.

The cortical areas involved in the processing of visual stimuli are located in the occipital lobe, but the control of eye movements also involves many other areas in the midbrain/brainstem such as the Edinger-Westphal nucleus, and the motor nuclei that control the third, fourth and sixth cranial nerves. The signals that leave the retina also travel through several other areas on their way to the occipital cortex, including the optic nerve, optic chiasm, optic tract, lateral geniculate nuclei, and the optic radiations, among others.

Similarly there are several areas of the brain associated with hearing. The cortical part of the brain is the auditory cortex, which is in the temporal lobe, but there are several important stops in the brainstem here as well. These connections play a role in being able to localize the origin of the sound. Also, if what you're listening to is language, then many other areas become involved in the processing of those sounds into something that your brain can make sense out of.

Concentration is also thought to originate in the frontal cortex, but may also involve part of the limbic system.

Balance is predominantly controlled by the cerebellum, but this is achieved through many connections involving the thalamus, the vestibular system, and the motor cortex to name a few.

The way the brain works is very complicated - so much so that no one really gets it all. While certain areas are involved in certain functions, all parts of the brain work only in conjunction with other areas. For example, it doesn't make any difference if the occipital cortex is intact and working well if it's unable to project to the visual association cortex so that you become aware that you're seeing something. I hope that helps a little bit.

Source(s):

I'm a neurosurgery resident.

Answer 2

Thinking and concentration are thought to occur in the frontal lobes, sight is the occipital cortex, hearing in the temporal cortex and balance involves many nuclei including the cerebellum and of course the inner ear (semi-circular canals).

Answer 3

The anterior cingulate cortex generates concentration and thought. Occipital lobe generates sight, auditory cortex generates sound, and the cerebellum and inner ear generate balance.