Brain Anatomy Flashcards
meninges
surround the entire CNS
three layers; dura mater, arachnoid, pia mater
dura mater
tough, outermost layer
arachnoid
layer of blood vessels
connected to spine
pia mater
delicate, innermost layer that encloses the brain
ventricles
spaces filled with cerebrospinal fluid
types: lateral ventricles, third ventricle, fourth ventricle
ALL OF THEM ARE INTERCONNECTED
lateral ventricles
located at the front and topic of the brain on both hemispheres
third venticle
located at the center in the deep forebrain
has an aquaduct down to the fourth ventricle
fourth ventricle
located at the center and top of the brain in the brainstem
planes of view of the brain
sagittal
coronal
horizontal
sagittal view
sideways view
anterior to posterior
dorsal to ventral
coronal view
front or back view
medial (middle) to lateral (sides
horizontal view
top to bottom
can also see sagittal and coronal sections from this view
corpus callosum
joins the left and right hemispheres of the brain
major divisions of the brain
rhombencephalon
mesencephalon
diencephalon
telencephalon
rhombencephalon
major structures: pons, medulla oblongata, cerebellum, reticular system, raphe nucleus, locus coeruleus
houses the cranial nerve nucleus for each cranial nerve
has massive fiber tracts running up and down
reticular system
loose network important in sleep and arousal
spread out throughout the pons and medulla
raphe nucleus
source of serotonin
is anterior to the locus coeruleus
locus coeruleus
source of norepinephrine
mesencephalon
major structures: superior colliculus, inferior colliculus, substantia nigra, tegmentum, red nucleus
superior colliculus
aka optic tectum
involved in vison
inferior colliculus
aka torus semicircularis
involved in hearing
tegmentum
bottom half of the midbrain
important in reward and motivation
diencephalon
major structures: thalamus, pineal gland, hypothalamus
thalamus
primary sensory processor in the brain
involved in sensory relay (sends sensory info to the cortex)
pineal gland
involved in sleeping & waking, and circadian rhythms
hypothalamus
involved in motivation
telencephalon
major structures: hippocampus, striatum, nucleus accumbens, amygdala, septum, cortex
hippocampus
involved in learning and memory
striatum
involved in action patterns
parts: caudate, putamen, globus, pallidus
nucleus accumbens
involved in motivation, reward, and emotion
is the main target of mesolimbic dopamine
amygdala
involved in fear and other emotions; and motivation
septum
involved in motivation
located in the center of the telencephalon, and divides the left and right centers of it
cortex
folded sheet containing sulci and gyri
has 6 layers; neural connections between these layers form a column
divided into four lobes: frontal, parietal, temporal, occipital
cingulate cortex
considers a ‘5th lobe’ of the cortex
involved in emotion, motivation, and cognition
what are the causes of brain evolution
encephalization and increase in brain size
encephalization
growth of anterior structures of the brain over evolutionary time
elaborated the striatum, hippocampus, and pyriform cortex
brain size
generally increases with body weight
mammals have a large brain/body weight ratio
the human brain had a massive increase in size in the last 1.5 million years
encephalization quotient
comparison of actual brain size to growth equivalent
humans have a high one
consequence of encephalization
invasion of functions by rostral structures, which leads to loss of lower autonomy
effects of decortication
humans have lost subcortical autonomy; rats can recover for decortication
largest form of cortical damage
