Brain and Nervous system Flashcards
what are efferent neurones?
- exit the brain
- carry impulses away from CNS to the muscles and glands
what are afferent neurones?
- carry information from sense organs to the CNS
what are the different directions when referring to the body?
superior = top
inferior = bottom
anterior/ventral = front
posterior/dorsal = back
cephalic = towards the brain
caudal = towards the bottom
medial = middle
lateral = towards the outside
proximal = towards the trunk (e.g., shoulder, hips)
distal = away from the trunk (e.g., hands and feet)
what are the directions when referring to the brain?
superior/dorsal = top
inferior/ventral = bottom
anterior = front/rostral
posterior = back/caudal
coronal = frontal section
sagittal = middle section
axial = horizontal section
what does the corpus callosum do?
connects the two hemispheres of the brain
what is the difference between suclus and gyrus? (infolding of the cortical sheet)
gyrus = crowns of folded tissue on the surface
sulcus = crevice
- if sulcus is deep, it is called a fissure
what were the early ideas on the brain
- originally believed to release heat
- no feeling in the brain, so it was assumed to be unimportant
- early scientists believed the brain interacted with the soul through the pineal gland
what is gross anatomy and microscopic anatomy
gross = overall structures, can be seen by eye
microscopic = cellular, connections between cells
what makes up the CNS?
cerebrum = touch, vision, hearing, speech, reasoning, emotions, learning, fine control movements
cerebellum = co-ordinate muscle movements, maintain posture, balance
brain stem = relay centre connecting cerebrum and cerebellum, unconscious actions such as breathing/heartrate
what does the amygdala do?
- role in emotions
what is contralateral representation
information seen by left eye is processed by the right side of the brain, and vice versa
what is a microcircuit
localised interconnected neurones
what is the central sulcus?
separates the parietal lobe from the frontal lobe
what is the sylvian fissure?
separates the temporal lobe from the frontal and parietal lobes
what are the two main divisions of the nervous system?
CNS - brain and spinal cord
- acts as a control centre
PNS (peripheral nervous system) - nerves and ganglia, which are clumps of nerve cell bodies
- gives and receives information to and from the CNS
what is the difference between grey matter and white matter
apart from their physical difference in colour:
- white matter consists of axons and glial cells
- lipid myelin sheaths on axons cause white colour
- grey matter consists of neuronal cell bodies
what is a commissure, and give an example
axons may project from one cerebral hemisphere to the other in bundles that are called commissures
e.g., corpus callosum
what is the purpose of the folds in the cortex
- enables more cortical surface to be packed into the skull
- brings far apart neurone closer together (gyri are much closer together when folded than if they were flat
what is the purpose of the parieto-occipital sulcus
separates the occipital lobe from the parietal and temporal lobes
what is the hemispheric/longitudinal fissure?
separates the two hemispheres
what is cytoarchitectonics?
- translates to cell architecture
- uses the micro-anatomy of cells and their organisation to subdivide the cortex
what are the two main functional subdivisions of the frontal lobe?
pre-frontal cortex
motor cortex
what is the function of the parietal lobe?
receives sensory information about touch, pain, temperature, limb position via receptor cells on the skin
what is the function of the temporal lobe?
hearing
