(13) brainstem and cerebellum

Question 1

What is the homoncular distribition for the parts of the cerebellum? (vermis , paravermian, cerebellar hemispheres, flocculonodular lobe)

Answer 1

vermis and paravermian = neck and trunk

cerebellar hemispaheres = limbs

flocculonodular = balance

Question 2

what nuclei are found in the cerebellum; name the part of the cerebellum in which they are found

Answer 2

hemispheres have dentate nuclei

paravermian have globulose and emboliform nuclei

vermis has fastigial nuclei

Question 3

What are the purkinjie cells?

Answer 3

only output cell of the cerebellum for motor coordination

Question 4

describe the cellular connections that are made to the purkinjie cells

Answer 4

outside input only from climbing fibers (comes from olivary nuclei)

inside the cerebellum:

• stellate cells and basket cells inhibit Purkinje cells
• Mossy fibers transmit afferent signals from outside the cerebeillum but their signals reach the pukinje fibers via granule cells that excite the perkinje cells **mossy fibers synapse in the cerebellar glomerulus with the granule and golgi cells (mossy fibers activate granule cells which activate purkinjie cells or activate golgi cells which inhibit granule cells which means the purkinje cells are inhibited)

Question 5

function of the vestibulocerebellum

Answer 5

coordinate eye, head, neck movements and maintain balance

Question 6

function of the spinocerebellum

Answer 6

coordinate trunk and proximal limb movements

Question 7

function of the cerebrocerebellum

Answer 7

1. fine motor planning of limbs (eye hand coordination)
2. cognitive memory of motor functions
3. anticipates sensory consequences of movements

Question 8

what happens when a person throws darts with prisms on? normal pt and a pt with cerebellar degeneration

Answer 8

normal: put prism on and they will eventually become accurate, when they are taken off they eill throw inaccurately but will eventually correct

cerebellar degeneration: cannot compensate for the prism and throws will always be inaccurate

Question 9

clinical signs of cerebellar dysfunction

Answer 9

unstable gait, ataxia, jerky motion, dysmetria, eye movement disorders, speech disorders (difficulty to maintain speech rhythm)

Question 10

functions in the processing of autonomic and limbic activities, as well as modulation of nociception


Answer 10

periaqueductal grey matter

Question 11

functions in the control of reflex movements that orient the eyes, head, and neck in response to visual, auditory, and somatic stimuli


Answer 11

superior colliculus

Question 12

fiber pathway to thalamus for pain/temperature from the periphery


Answer 12

spinothalamic tract

Question 13

parasympathetic cell bodies found here that innervate of the eye to constrict the iris and to the ciliary muscle to alter lens shape for accommodation


Answer 13

Nucleus of Edinger-Westphal

Question 14

passageway connecting the third and fourth ventricles


Answer 14

aqueduct

Question 15

sensory pathway for proprioception connecting the nucleus gracilis and cuneatus with the thalamus


Answer 15

medial lemniscus

Question 16

thalamic relay nuclei for visual information


Answer 16

lateral geniculate

Question 17

fiber bundles of the corticospinal tract connecting the cerebral cortex to the brainstem


Answer 17

cerebral peduncle

Question 18

one of several nuclei involved in smooth motor control; degenerates in Parkinson’s disease


Answer 18

substantia nigra

Question 19

relay nuclei between the cerebellum to the thalamus


Answer 19

red nucleus

Question 20

thalamic relay nuclei for auditory information 


Answer 20

medial geniculate

Question 21

fiber pathway between the vestibular nuclei and the CN nuclei III, IV, VI to coordinate head/eye movements




Answer 21

medial longitudinal fasiculus

Question 22

optic fibers from optic chiasm to the lateral geniculate


Answer 22

optic tract

Question 23

ponitine nuclei receive input from ___ and send crossing fibers through ____

Answer 23

input from neocortex and fibers through the middle cerebellar peduncle (to the cerebellum?)

Question 24

a noradrenergic brainstem nucleus involved in mood, sleep/wake cycle

Answer 24

locus coeruleus

Question 25

one of several serotonin type nuclei involved in mood, sleep/wake cycle (found in the pons)

Answer 25

raphe nucleus pontis

Question 26

location of the corticospinal tract in the pons

Answer 26

anterior (but posterior to ponitine nuclei)

Question 27

nuclei of the vestibular system that regulate balance

Answer 27

inferior and medial vestibular nuclei

Question 28

sensory nucleus for taste (from CN VII), glands, chemo/baroreceptors (CNs IX, X)


Answer 28

nucleus and tractus solitarius

Question 29

origin of the climbing fibers to the Cerebellar Purkinje cells


Answer 29

inferior olivary nucleus

Question 30

a network of neurons and axons that reside in the brain stem tegmentum involved in arousal, respiration, heart rate control


Answer 30

reticular formation

Question 31

Where is the lesion?

left side tremor with right sided loss of pupillary contriction

Answer 31

right midbrain lesion

slide 21

Question 32

Where is the lesion?

loss on pain and temp perception on the right side of body from neck down + right sided gait ataxia + loss of pain and temp sensation on left side of face + dysarthria and dysphagia

Answer 32

left medullary lesion

slide 25

Question 33

Where is the lesion?

right sided gaze disorder + loss of discriminative touch, vibration, and proprioception on the left side of the body + left sided hemiparesis

Answer 33

right pons lesion