11: CNS Flashcards
What kind of tissue are the meninges?
Connective tissue
What are the 3 layers of the meninges from superficial to deep?
Dura mater
Arachnoid mater
Pia mater
What is the space between to arachnoid mater and pia mater called? What is it filled with?
Subarachnoid space
Filled with CSF
What are the 3 functions of CSF?
Buoyancy
Protection (Cushion)
Environmental stability
Where is the CSF produced?
Choroid plexus
Eppendymal cells
What is the name of the structure that acts as a one-way passage for blood and CSF from the subarachnoid space back to the heart (through the superior sagittal sinus)?
Arachnoid granulation or arachnoid villi
What is the name of the infoldings of the dura?
Dural septa
What condition results from excessive CSF? What causes it?
Hydrocephalus
Obstruction of CSF flow
Overproduction of CSF
Impaired drainage of CSF
What is the location of conscious thought processes and complex intellectual functions?
Cerebrum
What lobe is responsible for decision making, personality, verbal communication, and voluntary motor control of skeletal muscles?
Frontal lobe
What lobe is responsible for sensory interpretation of textures and shapes, and understanding speech?
Parietal lobe
What lobe is responsible for the auditory and olfactory experiences?
Temporal lobe
What lobe is responsible for vision?
Occipital lobe
What lobe is responsible for taste?
Insula
What does homunculus mean?
Little person
What gyrus is also known as the primary somatosensory cortex?
Postcentral gyrus
What gyrus is also known as the primary motor cortex?
Precentral gyrus
Is the cortex grey matter or white matter?
Grey matter
What is another name for groups of axons in the CNS?
Tracts (or fasciculi but who would use that instead)
What are the three classifications of axons within a tract?
Association fibers
Commissural fibers
Projection fibers
What do association fibers do?
Connect gyrus to gyrus and lobe to lobe within the same hemisphere
What do commissural fibers do?
Cross over the midline, connecting hemisphere to hemisphere
What is the largest commissural fiber bundle in the brain?
Corpus callosum
What do projection fibers do?
Connect different brain structures and regions to each other, like the thalamus to the cerebral cortex
What do subcortical nuclei aid with?
Long-term memory formation
emotional responses
starting, stopping, and monitoring movement
What is the one region of the brain that has the same name from birth to adulthood?
Diencephalon
What is the diencephalon composed of?
Anything with “thalamus” in the name
Thalamus, hypothalamus, epithalamus, subthalamus
What does the thalamus do?
Acts as a relay station for sensory and motor information entering the cerebrum
What does the hypothalamus do?
B (Behavior)
E (Endocrine)
E (Emotion)
T (Temperature control)
S (Sleep/wake cycles)
H (Hunger/thirst)
A (Autonomic control)
M (Memory)
What is the hypothalamus composed of?
Infundibulum
Pituitary gland
What does the word cerebellum mean?
Little brain
What is the cerebellar equivalent to a gyrus?
Folia
What does the cerebellum do?
Fine-tunes, smoothens, and coordinates muscle movements
Balance/equilibrium
What three structures constitute the brainstem?
Midbrain
Pons
Medulla
What does the brainstem do?
Acts as a bidirectional passageway between cerebrum and spinal cord
Contains autonomic reflex centers essential for survival
Is a point of attachment for cranial nerves
What is the medulla responsible for?
Cardiac center
Vasomotor center
Respiratory center
Reflexes (coughing, sneezing, gagging, vomiting, etc.)
What does the limbic system do?
Involved in emotion, memory, and motivation
“Emotional Brain”
What parts of the brain constitute the limbic system?
Fornix
Cingulate gyrus
Parahippocampal gyrus
Amygdala
Hippocampus
How many cervical, thoracic, lumbar, sacral, and coccygeal nerves are there?
C1-8
T1-12
L1-5
S1-5
Co1
The spinal cord has more prominent lateral horns when passing through which vertebrae?
Thoracic
What do ascending pathways of the spinal cord transmit?
Sensory info
What do descending tracts on the spinal cord transmit?
Motor info
