Bones of the Skull Flashcards
What are the 5 compartments of the head?
Cranial cavity
Ears
Orbits
Nasal cavities
Oral cavity
What is the name of a hole in a bone in the skull?
Foramina
What reduces the weight of the skull?
Paranasal sinuses
How many bones are in the skull?
22 (excluding ear ossicles)
How are bones attached in the skull?
Via sutures
Which bone does not join via a suture in the skull?
How is it joined instead?
The mandible - via the temperomandibular joint.
What type of joint is the temperomandibular joint?
Synovial joint
Apart from the TMJ, where else are synovial joints found in the skull?
In the inner ear - malleus to incus AND incus to stapes
What are unossified gaps in infants called?
Fontanelles
What is the structure of bone in the skull?
Consists of two tables (external and internal) which are separated by diploe (spongy bone)
What is spongy bone in the skull called? What is its function?
Diploe - to lessen the weight of the skull.
How is the cranium divided?
Into neurocranium & viscerocranium.
What does the neurocranium contain?
Brain
What is the domed part of the cranium called?
Calvary - contains the brain.
What does the viscerocranium contain?
Viscera of sense organs (includes mandible).
Which bones make up the base of the cranium?
Occipital, sphenoid & temporal bones
What is the junction of the sagittal suture and coronal suture called?
Bregma
What is the junction of the sagittal suture with the lambdoid suture called?
Lambda
What is the junction between the parietal bone, frontal bone, temporal bone and sphenoid bone called?
Pterion
Why is the Pterion clinically important?
Lies adjacent to medial meningeal artery - if injury occurs extradural haemorrhage is common here.
What is the junction of the parietal, occipital & temporal bone called?
Asterion
What is CNI?
Olfactory Nerve
What is CNII?
Optic Nerve
What is CNIII?
Oculomotor Nerve
What is CN IV?
Trocholear Nerve
What is CN V?
Trigeminal Nerve
How many branches does the trigeminal nerve have?
3 - Ophthalmic, Maxillary & Mandibular
What is the CN V(1)?
Opthalmic nerve
What is CN V(2)?
Maxillary Nerve
What is CN V(3)?
Mandibular nerve
What is CN VI?
Abducens nerve
What is CN VII?
Facial nerve
What is CN VIII?
Vestibulocochlear nerve
What is CN IX?
Glossopharyngeal nerve
What is CN X?
Vagus nerve
What is CN XI?
Accessory nerve
What is CN XII?
Hypoglossal nerve
What is the mneumonic for whether cranial nerves are sensory or motor nerves?
Some Say Marry Money But My Brother Says Big Boobs Matter More
S - Somatic
M - Motor
B - Both
What is the mneumonic for the names of the cranial nerves?
Ooh Ooh Ooh To Touch A French Virgin Girl’s Vagina And Hymen
Where does the spinal cord pass through the skull to the brain?
Through the Foramen Magnum.
Which muscle attaches to the mastoid process?
The sternocleidomastoid muscle.
What is the pterygoid plate and what is its function?
Projections from the sphenoid bone - medially and laterally = Medial Pterygoid plate and Lateral Pterygoid plate.
Function = site for muscular attachment.
What is the floor of the cranial cavity divided into?
3 Fossa
- Anterior
- Middle
- Posterior
What is the Anterior Fossa comprised of?
Body & lesser wings of Sphenoid, ethmoid bone & floor of frontal bone.
(Sphenoid, Ethmoid & Frontal)
What is the Middle Fossa comprised of?
Sphenoid & Temporal bone
What is the Posterior Fossa comprised of?
Part of the occipital, temporal, sphenoid & parietal bone
Which part of the brain is in the anterior cranial fossa?
Frontal lobes
What does the falx cerebri attach to?
Frontal crest and crista galli
What does the foramen cecum do?
Allows venous drainage from nasal cavity into superior sagittal sinus
What does the cribriform plate do?
Contains olfactory foramina - allowing for passage of olfactory nerves (CN I) to the roof of the nasal cavity
Where does the tentorium cerebelli attach?
To the anterior crinoid processes.
What does the frontal crest turn into?
The Crista galli
What is special about the ethmoid bone?
It is perforated with foramen to allow olfactory nerve fibres to pass through.
Where are the cribriform plates?
Either side of the Crista Galli
What is special about the roof of the orbit?
It forms two bulges in the thin part of the frontal bone - located in the anterior cranial fossa.
What is the horizontal dura in the brain called?
The tentorium cerebelli
Where does the tentorium cerebelli attach in the anterior cranial fossa?
To the anterior clinoid process.
What is the dura called that divides the brain and where does it attach?
Falx cerebri
Attaches to the frontal crest
What is the dura called that divides the cerebellum?
Falx cerebelli
Which bones make up the middle cranial fossa?
Sphenoid & temporal bones
What are the boundaries of the middle cranial fossa?
Anterior edge of prechiasmatic sulcus
Anterior surface of petrous temporal bone
What part of the brain does the middle cranial fossa contain?
The temporal lobes
Where is the pituitary found?
In the sella turcica
What does the tentorium cerebelli attach to in the middle cranial fossa?
The posterior clinoid processes.
Which foramen is this?
Superior orbital fissure
Which nerves pass through the superior orbital fissure?
Which vein also passes through?
III
IV
V(1)
VI
Ophthalmic vein
Which nerves pass through the foramen rotundum?
Where does it pass to?
V (2) - Maxillary nerve
Passes into pterygopalatine fossa
Which opening is this?
The foramen rotundum
Where is the foramen rotundum found?
Just below the superior orbital fissure.
Which opening is this?
Foramen ovale
What nerves pass through the foramen ovale?
Where do they go to?
V(3) & lesser petrosal nerve
The infratemporal fossa
Which opening is this?
Foramen spinosum
What passes through the foramen spinosum and where does it travel to?
Middle meningeal artery
Passes from Infratemporal fossa into cranium.
Which is the middle meningeal artery in the infratemporal fossa an important site clinically?
Because if injured here it can produce intracranial haemorrhage.