Brain and Cranial Nerves

Question 1

CRANIAL MENINGES

Answer 1

Three connective tissue layers that separate and support the soft tissue of the brain from the bones of the cranium, enclose and protect some of the blood vessels that supply the brain, and contain and help circulate cerebrospinal fluid

Three layers: the pia mater, the arachnoid mater, and the dura mater

Question 2

TENTORIUM CEREBELLI

Answer 2

Horizontally oriented fold of dura mater that separates both the occipital and temporal lobes of the cerebrum from the cerebellum. Forms a rural “tent” over the cerebellum

Question 3

FALX CEREBELLI

Answer 3

A sickle-shaped, vertical partition that divides the left and right cerebellar hemispheres

Question 4

SEPTUM PELLUCIDUM

Answer 4

A thin medial partition separating the two lateral ventricles I. The cerebrum

Question 5

CEREBROSPINAL FLUID (CSF)

Answer 5

A clear, colorless liquid that circulates within the ventricles and subarachnoid space.

Functions: buoyancy, protection, and environmental stability

Question 6

BLOOD-BRAIN BARRIER

Answer 6

The barrier that protects the brain from the contents within the blood. The BBB helps prevent exposure of neurons in the brain to drugs, waste products in the blood, and variations in levels of normal substances

Question 7

THIRD VENTRICLE

Answer 7

Smaller ventricle within the diencephalon

Question 8

FOURTH VENTRICLE

Answer 8

Located between the pons/medulla and the cerebellum

Question 9

CEREBRUM

Answer 9

The location of conscious thought processes and the origin of all complex intellectual functions

Question 10

SUBARACHNOID SPACE

Answer 10

Space between the arachnoid and pia mater

Question 11

CEREBRAL AQUEDUCT

Answer 11

Connects the third ventricle with the fourth ventricle

Question 12

ASTROCYTES

Answer 12

Cells that act as “gatekeepers” that permit materials to pass to the neurons of the brain from the capillaries

Question 13

SUBDURAL SPACE

Answer 13

Space between the arachnoid mater and the dura mater

Question 14

CORPUS CALLOSUM

Answer 14

Largest of the white matter tracts, the corpus callosum connects the hemispheres. The CC provides the main method of communication between these hemispheres

Question 15

CEREBRAL LATERALIZATION

Answer 15

The term describing how the two cerebral hemispheres appear as an atomic mirror images, but they display some functional differences

Question 16

FIVE LOBES OF THE CEREBRAL HEMISPHERE

Answer 16

1. Frontal
2. Parietal
3. Temporal
4. Occipital
5. Insula*

*The insula is not visible at the surface of the hemispheres

Question 17

PARIETAL LOBE

Answer 17

Touch and proprioception

Question 18

TEMPORAL LOBE

Answer 18

Hearing and smell. This lobe is essentially between our ears and nose

Question 19

OCCIPITAL LOBE

Answer 19

Vision (we have “eyes” in the back of our head)

Question 20

INSULA LOBE

Answer 20

Taste

Question 21

WERNICKE AREA

Answer 21

Typically located only within the left hemisphere. The Wernicke area is involved in recognizing, understanding, and comprehending spoken or written language

Question 22

PETALIAS

Answer 22

Shape asymmetries of the frontal and occipital lobes of the brain. Humans tend to have these

Question 23

ANGULAR GYRUS

Answer 23

A region of the brain that processes the words we read into a form that we can speak