Anatomy & function of cerebral hemispheres* Flashcards
What does each cerebral hemisphere contain?
They contain a rim of grey matter (cortex) and a central core of white matter.
What fibres does the white matter contain and what do they connect?
White matter consists of axons bundled together as tracts (pathways) running in three directions.
Association fibres - connect different areas in the same hemispheres.
Commissural fibres - link left and right hemispheres.
Projection fibres - connect the cortex with other areas of the CNS or other areas of the CNS to the cortex to form motor and sensory tracts.
Explain how the primary motor cortex is arranged?
They are arranged somatotopically in the same way. The right motor cortex controls muscles on the left hand side of the body.
What will happen if the motor cortex is damaged?
It will produce spastic paralysis of the contralateral muscles controlled by the area of the cortex affected.
What happens if the sensory cortex is damaged?
It will produce loss of sensation (anesthesia) from the corresponding part of the body projecting to the damaged or diseased area of the cortex.
What do the areas outside of the primary areas of the cortex do?
Apart from 2 areas that are dedicated to language processing.
The rest of the cortex is designated as the association cortex.
What is the prefrontal cortex concerned with?
Mood and personality.
What happens if the prefrontal cortex is damaged?
It can cause short attention span, aggression, unaware of turn-taking, sensory neglect, and ignorant.
What is broca’s area involved with?
It is involved in language execution. Damage to this area causes broca’s aphasia with few words.
What is Wernicke’s area
It is involved in language comprehension. Damage causes Wernicke’s aphasia with the person being unable to understand you or reply meaningfully.
What does the left hemisphere deal with?
symbolic functions such as logic, language and maths.
What does the right hemisphere deal with?
visuospatial function such as facial recognition, artistic ability, pattern recognition and 3D problems.
What is the corpus callosum?
It is a bundle of axons connecting the two hemispheres.
