Central Nervous System Flashcards
What are the components of the CNS?
Brain and the spinal co
What is the brain divided into two of
What is the brain divided into two of
What joins the two sides of the brain?
Neural bridge called the corpus callosum
What does the left hemisphere control?
Logic, numbers and language
What does the right hemisphere control?
Creativity, imagination and rhythm
What does the forebrain consist of?
Cerebrum, thalamus and hypothalamus
What does the midbrain consist of?
No divisions just midbrain
What does the hindbrain consist of?
Cerebellum, pons and medulla
What does the brainstem con
Midbrain, pons and medulla
Composition of the brainstem
Two mounds of folded tissue posterior to the brainstem to which it is connected by three peduncles (bands of neurons resembling a stalk) of neural tissue
Use of the cerebellum?
Involved in motor functions and motor learning (riding a bike)
Function of the thalamus
Relay point where most neural tracts headed for the cerebrum synapse before ascending further
Function of the hypothalamus
Homeostasis
Function of the cerebrum
Higher functions such as intelligence, personality etc
Why is the surface of the cerebrum highly folded or convoluted?
Increase the surface area increasing the amount of grey matter that is present
What does the cerebral cortex contain?
Cell bodies of neurones
Infoldings of brain. Often used to demarcate (mark the boundary of) different functional areas
Sulci
Sticky out bits between sulci. These are areas of functional grey matter. Adjacent gyri may have very different functions.
Gyri
What are the meninges?
Form a layer of tissue around the brain, physically separating it from the rest of the body and helping to cushion it
What is CSF?
Cerebro-spinal fluid, actively secreted from the blood
What are the ventricles of the brain?
Cavities within the brain tissue that form reservoirs for CSF
Composition of CSF
Clear fluid low in proteins, cells and most ions but more sodium, chloride and magnesium than blood plasma
Pathing of CSF
Circulates through ventricles in the brain before exiting onto the surface of the brain, reabsorbed into the venous circulation at specialised points called arachnoid granulations
Lumbar puncture
Not enough space around spinal cord to allow removal of CSF superior to its termination, fluid removed can be used to assess health (wbc count)
