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This website explained 11 tips as to what a portfolio should look like. Each were explained very well. I would recommend this to anyone that is interested in some sort of career in the arts.

This site was helpful for visualizing the Basal Ganglia. It has diagrams and depictions of the size of the basal ganglia system to the rest of the brain. It was useful when I was not sure what the basal ganglia system looked like, or what it did. Since the basal ganglia system is a main component of the brain (with the cortex and limbic system being the other important ones in the cerebrum) it is important to understand. I used this source in my brain portfolio, and I also plan to use it in a three dimensional model of the brain that would use the diagrams on the site to create an accurate depiction of the inner brain.

This site makes finding the major and finer structures of the brain easy. The intuitive layout lets the user go through the brain, slice by slice, to reveal actual MRI data and drawn pictures that are clearly labeled to indicate surface and subcortical structures. You can zoom in on actual microscope pictures to reveal cells in the brain and see detailed pictures of how they connect. The detailed pictures use horizontal axis (top of brain to bottom), coronal axis (front to back), and sagittal axis (side to side) scans so that you are able to develop a picture of a three dimensional map of the human brain, in your mind. One of the hardest things to picture when I first began researching about the anatomy of the human brain, was picturing where all the subcortical structures were positioned in relation to each other. By using the many informative anatomical and chemical maps, I was able to clear up the issues I had had with trying to visualize a three dimensional model. This source is very reliable, as it uses real images for the slices you see as you navigate the brain. This source also comes from the University Institut für Anatomie, so the data was observed first hand there, making it reliable. I will be using this information that I have gathered to add to my brain portfolio document, and will be a useful tool if I decide to make a three dimensional model of the brain.

This site really helped me understand how the limbic system was laid out. It shows diagrams of the limbic system, and detailed descriptions of what each of the parts do. It also describes how the limbic system influences the sympathetic nervous system, which is important in vigorous movements connected to preparing for danger, or fleeing. This is also known as the fight, flight, freeze, or fawn response, and the sympathetic nervous system will help by dilating large muscle blood vessels, dilating the eyes, and increasing heart rate.This source helped me understand the limbic system better and what roles it plays. This source is used in my brain portfolio, as it has a lot of great information.

This site helped me get the basic understanding of the brain, before I got into more specific study. It covers a wide variety of topics, including general descriptions of the cortex and inner brain. The different parts of the brain are labeled, and neurotransmitters are briefly explained to give the reader a general sense of the brain. The article helped me on the right track when researching the inner brain and its structures, as it summarized the basal ganglia and limbic systems. It explains that the basal ganglia is responsible for conscious movements, and the limbic system controls memory and emotion. This site is reliable because it is a government site that takes data straight from Health and Human Services, which is well known for its great research. This site was used when I made my brain portfolio, which is the compilation of research I have done in an organized document.

This site told me more about the cortex. The differences in how the depth of the cortex changes in different parts of the brain is explained, as its role changes as the white fibers below it have different input locations depending on where in the brain you observe. The different neural layering patterns are shown with colored images, and the differences in how the neurons are connected in varying parts of the brain are also shown. The article also explains the advantages of having gyri in the brain, and how the general structure of the cortex is set us so as to maximize space efficiency. Compared to a mouse brain, which is smooth and does not have any sulci, it makes clear how these oscillating structures provide higher levels of cortical processing. This source also gives insight to how the cortex works, and proved to be of use when I was creating my brain portfolio.

This article cleared up the confusion I had revolving around subcortical fibers. I was unclear on where the white matter was in the brain, what it did, and other information about it. This PDF answered my questions by explaining the roles of the white matter in the brain. It explains that the white matter is right under the gray matter of the cortices of the brain, and transfers information to and from the cortex, to other parts of the brain. It also explains the proportion of the different white matter fibers to each other, which play different roles. The long fibers that go across the brain are long, but there are not as many of them. The shorter fibers that connect closer distances are much shorter, but there are many more of them. This source was used in my brain portfolio, and gave me a generally clearer understanding of the structure that is directly below the cortex.