Brain anatomy Flashcards
What is the brain composed of?
Brain stem and cerebral hemispheres
What are the three components of the cerebral hemispheres?
Cortex, sub-cortical structures, white-matter tracts
What is the corpus callosum?
white matter tracts (numerous axons) connecting the two hemispheres
Where are gyri (gyrus)
plateau on cortical surface
Where are sulci (sulcus)?
fold/ditch in cortical surface
What are major sulci referred to as?
fissures
What are the three main sulci/fissures?
Central sulcus of rolando,
patrieto-occipital sulcus,
sylvian or lateral fissure
How are the four lobes in the brain divided?
By three major sulci: the central, lateral and parietal-occipital sulci
What are the coordinates and orientations of the brain?
Superior (dorsal) - up
anterior (rostral) - front
posterior (caudal) - back
inferior (ventral) - down
What are three types of slice?
Axial, coronal, sagittal
What is a axial slice?
Cut horizontally
What is a coronal slice?
Cut top to bottom
What is a sagittal slice?
Cut front to back
Who divided the cortex into a number of areas?
Brodmann
What are some specific groups of neurons?
Reticular formation, suprachiasmatic nucleus, ventromedial nucleus
What does the reticular formation do?
Involved in control of arousal and sleep
What does the suprachiasmatic nucleus do?
Controls the circadian rhythm
What does the ventromedial nucleus do?
Controls the conversion fo blood glucose
What is equipotentiality?
different parts of the brain may be equally involved with functions
Who investigated equipotentiality?
Flourens
What is the process of perception?
- cortical areas where sensory info arrives
- info passed to secondary sensory areas fro sophisticated processing
- processing moves to association area
How do cells in the temporal lobe (fusiform gyrus) respond to complex visual stimuli
highly
What is prosopagnosia?
Damage to fusiform area cor cell loss due to degeneration which results in impaired face recognition
What is the hierarchical organisation?
- primary motor cortex exerts control over movement
- other areas (e.g. premotor) plan movement
- sub-cortical structures (e.g. basal ganglia) are involved in fine-grained co-ordination
What does the substantia nigra produce?
dopamine
What can cause parkinson?
excess dopamine given from the substantia nigra
Which region of the brain expanded more than any other in the course of evolution in primates?
Dorso-lateral prefrontal cortex
Why is little brain space dedicated to vital functions?
Because they are not subject to plasticity
What are higher-order cognitive functions supported by?
Cortical and sub-cortical structures
What do primary sensory and motor regions take up a small area of the cortex compared to?
secondary and association areas
