Ch 2: Neuroanatomy & Neuroimaging Flashcards
What percent of SCI have a co-occurring TBI?
60%
What three areas of the brain make up the brainstem?
Medulla, Pons, midbrain
What is the brain stem responsible for?
Info going in and out of the brain
What does the brainstem contain?
Centers for senses of hearing, touch, taste, and balance
Reticular Activating System (RAS)
A system (Collection of nerve cell fibers and nuclei) that modulates or changes arousal, alertness, concentration, and basic biological rhythms
Medulla
- First area in the lower part of the brain stem
- vital to life and death
contains reflex centers which control many involuntary functions such as breathing, HR, swallowing, BP, vomiting and sneezing.
Pons
- above the medulla
- essential for facial movements, facial sensation, hearing, and coordinating eye movements
Serves as a bridge of nerve fibers connecting the cerebral cortex (thinking part of the brain) to the cerebellum (movement part of the brain)
Disruption can cause a complete loss of ability to coordinate and control body movement
Midbrain
- Smallest part of the brain stem
- involved in elementary forms of seeing and hearing
- plays pivotal role in alertness/arousal.
Diencephalon
- Made up of the thalamus, hypothalamus and other structures
- located cm’s above the midbrain
- master relay center for forwarding g info, sensations, and movement
- at times, considered part of the limbic system
Thalamus
- Sits at the top of the brainstem, just below the cortex
- acts as major relay station for incoming/outgoing sensory info. (Each sense relays it’s impulses through the thalamus, with the exception of smell)
Injury to thalamus= severe attention and concentration problems, difficulty with memory storage/retrieval, weakened mental stamina, decreased sensory info, difficulty in reacting to stress, difficulty with excessive or weak emotional responses, and disorders in eating, drinking, sleeping, and sexual functioning
Hypothalamus
Control center for hunger, thirst, sexual response, endocrine levels, and temp regulation
Involved in complex responses:
- fight or flight
- anger
- fatigue
- memory
- calmness
Connected to pituitary gland- manages release of hormones
Limbic system
Emotions and basic feelings
Houses basic elemental drives, emotions, and survival instincts
The 2 basic structures associated with the it are the hippocampus and the amygdala
Hippocampus
Most commonly associated with memory functioning; facilitates the encoding and storage of info in a systematic manner that is associative
Susceptible to loss of oxygen
Sits in temporal lobe between ears
Amygdala
Closely tied with emotional memories and reactions
Fight or flight response to stimulus
Directly tied to olfactory fibers
Basal ganglia
Affects volitional motor nerves
Relay info from cerebral cortex to brainstem and cerebellum
Neurons in the BG respond when someone loses balance by sending a signal to the muscles to restore lost equilibrium