Breedlove - Chapter 2 Flashcards
Gyri & Sulci
Gyri are separated by sulci
Folding of cerebral tissue increases cerebral surface area (2/3 of cerebral surface = folds)
4 Sectors of cerebral hemispheres
- -> Boundaries
- -> Cortex
- Frontal lobes
- Parietal lobes
- Temporal lobes: receuve abd process information from the ears -> sense of smell, aspects of learning & memory
- Occipital lobes: receives and processes information from the eyes -> sense of vision
Four lobes collaborate, but some processing categories are particularly associated
Sometimes, boundaries between lobes are very clear:
- Silvian fissure: demarcates the temporal lobe
- Central sulcus: divides frontal lobe from parietal lobe
- Postcentral gyrus: strip of parietal cortex, behind central sulcus - recieves somatosensory information from entire body -> sense of touch
- Precentral gyrus: strip of frontal lobes, just in front of central sulcus - crucial for motor control
Cerebral cortex: outer covering of the cerebral hemispheres
-> “seat of complex cognition” - damage might impair higher functions (e.g.: speeach memory, visual processing
Corpus callosum
Bundle of axons crossing midlne,
allowing communication between right & left cerebral hemispheres
White & Grey Matter
W: light-colored, shiny layer underneath cortex that consists largely of axons with white myelin sheats
G: dominated by nerve cell bodies and dendrited, lack myelin
Planes
Sagittal Plane: bisects body into right and left halves
-> Midsgital plane goes through brain
Coronal/frontal/traverse plane: divides body into anterior and posterior part
Horizontal plane: divides body into upper and lower parts
Directional terms
Medial: towards midlle - Lateral: towards side
Ipsilateral: same side of body - Contralateral: opposite side of body
Anterior / rostral: head end - Posterior / caudal: tail end
Proximal: near the center - Distal: towards periphery
Dorsal: towards back - Ventral: toward front
Terms for decsribing information flow through nervous system
Afferent: carrying information into region of interest
Efferent: carrying information away from region of interest
Few weeks after conception, human neural tube begins to show THREE SEPERATE SWELLINGS at the head end
Forebrain / Prosencephalon:
frontal division of neural tube, containing cerebral hemispheres, thalamus and hypothalamus
Midbrain / Mesencephalon:
middle division of brain
Hindbrain / Rhombencephalon
rear division of brain, in mature vertebrates contains cerebellum, pons and medulla
Around 50 days after conception, forebrain and hindbrain have developed clear subdivision:
- > Subdivisions of forebrain
- > Subdivisions of hindbrain
- >
- Telencephalon: frontal subdivision of forebrain, becomes cerebral hemispheres (cortex + basel ganglia and limbic system)
- Diencephalon: posterior part of forebrain, includes thalamus and hypothalamus
- >
- Metencephalon: will develop into cerebellum & pons
- Myelencephalon: also called medulla
- Brainstem: midbrain + pons + medulla
Subdivisions of 5 main sections
LOOK AT PICTURE IN NOTES
Basel Ganglia
includes 4 nuclei: 1. caudate nucleus, 2. putamen, 3. globus pallidus, 4. substantia nigra These nuclei are reciprocally coneected among themselves and with the cortex -> looping neural system Important in motor control
Limbic System
Involved in emotion and learning, consists of:
Amygdala: located in temporal lobe, responsible for emotional regulation and odor perception
Hippocampus: located in medial temporal lobe, important for learning and memory
Fornix: fiber tract that extends from hippocampus to mammillary body, also important for learning and memory
Cingulate gyrus: strip of cortex found in frontal and parietal midline, functions include attention direction
Olfactory bulb: involved in sense of smell
Mammilary body: pair of nuclei at the base of the brain
Divison of Diencephalon
into..
1. Thalamus
cluster of nuclei that acts as way station to the cerebral cortex
sensory information enters thalamus before being sent to cortex
Cortical cells in turn innervate thalamus, thereby controlling which sensory information is transmitted
- Hypothalamus
lays under thalamus, relatively small but packed with many distinct nuclei
Implicated in hunger, thirst, temperature regulation, reproductive behaviors, and more
Controls pituitary gland, which controls almost all hormone secretion
Midbrain
- > Tectum
- > Important motor centers
- > Reticular formation
Two sets of paired structures on dorsal surface of midbrain:
- Superior colliculi: rostral to inferior colliculi, receive visual information
- Inferior colliculi, caudal to superior colliculi, receive auditory information
- -> Together = tectum
Two important motor centers embedded in midbrain
- Substantia nigra: contains neurons that release dopamine into the caudate
- Red nucleus: lays within the brainstem, communicates with motoneurons in spinal cord
Reticular formation is also contained in midbrain. It stretches from midbrain to medulla. Its associated with sleep and arousal, temperature regulation, and motor control
Cerebellum
Important for motor coordination and control, integration of some sensory and motor functions, and aspects of cognition
Cerebellar cells consists of three layers:
1. Granule cell layer
2. Purkinje cell layer
3. Molecular layer containing parallel fibers
Immediately ventral to the cerebellum lies the pons
