2.6 - Neuroanatomy

Question 1

What do the terms rostral and caudal mean for humans at the spinal cord level?

Answer 1

• rostral - towards the head / superior
• caudal - towards the lower end of the spinal cord / inferior

Question 2

What do the terms rostral and caudal mean for humans at the brain level?

Answer 2

• rostral - anterior part of brain
• caudal - posterior part of brain

Question 3

What do the terms dorsal and ventral mean for humans at the spinal cord level?

Answer 3

• dorsal - posterior
• ventral - anterior

Question 4

What do the terms dorsal and ventral mean for humans at the brain level?

Answer 4

• dorsal - superior and posterior (top and back)
• ventral - inferior (bottom of front and brainstem)

Question 5

Describe three ways that the brain can be examined? i.e. the different planes of the brain

Answer 5

• axial / horizontal / transverse section - perpendicular to the long axis of the body
• sagittal section - divides brain into two separate halves
• coronal / frontal section - parallel to long axis of the body

Question 6

What are cranial fossae?

Answer 6

• any of the three large depressions in the posterior, middle and anterior aspects of the floor of the cranial cavity
• houses the lobes of the brain

Question 7

Which part of the brain lies in the anterior cranial fossa?

Answer 7

Frontal lobe of the cerebral hemisphere

Question 8

Which part of the brain lies in the middle cranial fossa?

Answer 8

Temporal lobe of the cerebral hemisphere

Question 9

Which part of the brain lies in the posterior cranial fossa?

Answer 9

Cerebellum

Question 10

Which part of the brain lies directly above the body of the sphenoid bone?

Answer 10

Hypothalamus

Question 11

Which part of the brain passes through the foramen magnum?

Answer 11

Medulla

Question 12

What is the ventricular system?

Answer 12

• network of cavities filled with cerebrospinal fluid
• composed of two lateral ventricles (one in each cerebral hemisphere), third ventricle (diencephalon), cerebral aqueduct (midbrain) and fourth ventricle (hindbrain)
• cerebral aqueduct allows CSF to flow between third and fourth ventricles

Question 13

Which part of the ventricular system relates to the cerebral hemisphere?

Answer 13

Lateral ventricle

Question 14

Which part of the ventricular system relates to the diencephalon?

Answer 14

Third ventricle

• the diencephalon consists of the thalamus, hypothalamus, epithalamus, subthalamus

Question 15

Which part of the ventricular system relates to the midbrain?

Answer 15

Cerebral aqueduct

Question 16

Which part of the ventricular system relates to the pons and medulla?

Answer 16

Fourth ventricle

Question 17

What are the lobes of the brain?

Answer 17

• frontal lobe - front of brain
• parietal lobe - top of brain
• temporal lobe - sides of brain
• occipital lobe - back of brain

Question 18

What are the sulci and gyri of the brain?

Answer 18

• gyrus - ridge on surface of brain
• sulcus - surrounds gyri, shallow grooves
• fissure - deeper grooves
• central sulcus - where the precentral gyrus of the frontal lobe meets the postcentral gyrus of the parietal lobe
• lateral sulcus / fissure - top of superior temporal gyrus of the temporal lobe

Question 19

What are the twelve cranial nerves going into the brain?

Answer 19

• Oh Oh Oh To Touch And Feel Very Good Velvet Ah Heaven
• olfactory
• optic
• oculomotor
• trigeminal
• trochlear
• abducens
• facial
• vestibulocochlear (/auditory)
• glossopharyngeal
• vagus
• accessory
• hypoglossal

Question 20

Areas of the cerebral cortex

Answer 20

• Broca’s area - frontal lobe region of dominant hemisphere (left hemisphere if right handed) - linked with speech production
• Wernicke’s area - temporal lobe of left hemisphere - language development, comprehension of speech
• primary auditory cortex - perception of tones and pitch - temporal lobe
• visual cortex - occipital lobe - integrates and processes visual information
• primary motor cortex - frontal lobe, before central sulcus
• primary somatosensory cortex - parietal lobe, after central sulcus

Question 21

The circle of Willis - top to bottom

Answer 21

• anterior cerebral arteries
• anterior communicating artery
• internal carotid arteries
• middle cerebral arteries
• posterior communicating arteries
• posterior cerebral arteries
• basilar artery
• vertebral arteries

Question 22

Why can the circle of Willis maintain perfusion of the brain even if there is a blockage in one part of the structure?

Answer 22

• the structure is a circular connection of blood vessels, so that blood coming up from one of the arteries can flow in either direction around the circle and avoid any blockage or narrowing of the blood vessels

Question 23

What is somatotopy?

Answer 23

• when a specific part of the body is associated with a distinct location in the central nervous system
• mapping of the body’s surface sensation onto a structure in the brain

Question 24

What artery supplies the primary motor cortex for the face and arm?

Answer 24

Middle cerebral artery

Question 25

What artery supplies the motor cortex for the foot and leg?

Answer 25

Anterior cerebral artery

Question 26

What artery supplies the somatosensory cortex for the arm?

Answer 26

Middle cerebral artery

Question 27

What artery supplies the primary visual cortex?

Answer 27

Posterior cerebral artery

Question 28

What artery supplies the primary auditory cortex, Broca’s area and Wernicke’s area?

Answer 28

Middle cerebral artery