Brain Flashcards
Protecting CNS
skull and vertebral column
Meninges: 3 membranes that protect the brain and spinal cord.
Dura mater: outermost layer
Arachnoid:middle layer
Pia matter: innermost layer
Meningitis: caused by bacteria and virus infection and inflammation of the meninges
Cerebrospinal fluid: couchions the CNS
Blood-brain barrier
Cerebrospinal fluid
Space between meninges
Ventricles (interval cavities of brain)
Central canal (cavity within spinal cord)
Functions: shock absorption, support weight of brain, nourishment and waste removal, intercranial pressure buffer
Ventricles
2 Lateral ventricles, csf made there, anterior and posterior horn
Csf will drain into third ventricle and into fourth ventricle through cerebral aqueduct, then can flow between meninges and down into spinal cord through central canal and around it.
Blood brain barrier
Structure formed by tight junctions between cells in the walls of capillaries supplying the CNS,
Protects CNS by selecting substances that can enter the cerebrospinal fluid from the blood. Let’s pass oxygen and glucose. Inhibits inflection. Makes bringing medication to brain very hard
Major brain region
Cerebral hemispheres/ cerebral cortex/ cerebrum
Diencephalon (thalamus, hypothalamus. Other groups classified functionally, like the hypocampus )
Brain stem (midbrain, pons, medulla)
Cerebellum
Cerebrum
Parietal lob
Frontal lobe
Occipital love
Temporal lobe
Responsible for the ig her mental functions, including memory and reason
Made of sulci ( grooves inside) and gyrus (ridges outside).
Most obvious gyrus: Longitudinal tissue divinding the right and left hemisphere
Contralateral control
Each hemisphere processes information on the opposite side of the body
Corpus callosum
White matter
Ensures communication between left and right hemisphere
Lateral sulcus and central sulcus
Central: seperates frontal and parietal
Lateral: separates t’emportas from partita, and frontal
Temporal lobe
Contains region called Primary auditory cortex
Vestibular (balance and equilibrium)
Left temporal lobe Contains the wernickes area, which is essential for language comprehension
Occipital lobe
Contains primary visual reception area
Damage in the right makes you stop seeing on the right
Parietal lobe
Contains primary somatosensory cortex
Ability to sense the position of our body
Damage: clumsy movement som contralateral side, only dresses c side, distortion of body image
Primary somatosensory area
Receives information from receptors in skin,
Posterior to central sulcus, is primary somatosensory area
Posterior to somatosensory sea is a large association area, controls fine sensations (judgement of texture, weight, size, shape)
Frontal lobe
planning, organizing, problem solving, selective attention, personality and a variety of “higher cognitive functions” including behavior and emotions
Anterior portion called prefrontal cortex
Primary motor cortex
Ventral to central sulcus
Sends information to produce movement, lots of voluntary movement
In frontal lobe
In front of it, we have the motor association area
Damage in primary motor cortex can cause loss of fine movement, strength of arms
Premotor cortex
Also called Motor association area
Anterior to primary motor area
Serves to modify movements, storage of motor patter (playing music for example)
Cortical association area
Are found next to each primary sensory area
Premotor cortex is anterior to primary motor cortex
Somatosensory association area is dorsal to primary somatosensory cortex
Same for visual and authors areas
Necessary for perceptual activities, like recognizing
Prefrontal cortex
Most complicated of association areas
Receives projections of entire cortex
Important for guiding behaviours and inhibition
Concentrate and attend, elaboration of through, judgement
Personality
Working memory
Damage to the prefrontal cortex: caused impulsivity, dramatic change in social behaviour. Lobotomy’s
Limbic system
Organized by function
Primary responsible for emotional life and formation of memories
Hypothalamus, hippocampus, amygdala, thalamus
Hippocampus
2 horns
Important for conversion of short term memory into long term
If damaged, person cannot build new memories
Very close to olfactory, which explains why memory is sparked by smells
Thalamus
receives Conscious sensation and relay center to specific cortical areas
Somatosensory information arrives at the thalamus from the spinal cord, afférent impulses are routed by the thalamus to their proper destination
Part of the alert mechanism of the reticular activating system
Helps filter out unwanted stimuli
Amygdala
Emotions
Hypothalamus
Maintains homeostasis
Coordinates the nervous and endocrine systems by influencing the pituitary gland
Inputs ??
Reticular activating system
RAS
Neurons that runs through the medulla and project into the cerebral cortex
Relay station for incoming sensory impulses,ses
Keeps the cerebral cortex in an alert state, tells it to wake up
RAS relays to nonspecific areas
Damage: deep coma, brain is still receiving stimuli but person not waking up
