Chapter 1 Central Nervous System

Question 1

Central Nervous System (CNS)

Answer 1

composed of the spinal cord and the brain.
The brain gathers information about the environment from the PNS and then sends impulses that lead to actions.

Question 2

Basic Principles

Answer 2

*The brain gathers information about the environment from the PNS and then sends impulses that lead to actions.
*The brain acts as a “central station” that coordinates this activity, integrates information, and issues commands.
*The CNS is composed of the brain and the spinal cord, it acts as a motor command center for planning, originating, and carrying out the transmission of messages.
*The CNS is enclosed within the vertebral column and the cranial structure. The spinal cord is an elongated structure within the spinal canal of the vertebral columns
*Pairs of spinal nerves branch out on either side of the vertebral column and reach most parts of the body. The upper portion of the spinal cord is continuous with the lower portion of the brain
* The brain is the most important structure in the body for speech, language and hearing. It is housed in and protected by the cranial cavity of the skull.

Question 3

Brainstem

Answer 3

said to be the oldest part of the brain, connects to the spinal cord with the brain via the diencephalon. It also serves as a bridge between the cerebellum and all other CNS structures, including the spinal cord, thalamus, the basal ganglia, and the cerebrum

Question 4

Parts of the Brain Stem

Answer 4

consists of the longitudinal fiber tracts, cranial nerve nuclei, and the reticular formation internally and outwardly the the midbrain, the pons, and the medulla.

Question 5

Midbrain

Answer 5

AKA the mesencephalon, narrow structure that lies superior to the pons and inferior to the diencephalon.
It’s structures control many motor and sensory functions, including postural reflexes, visual reflexes, eye movements, and coordination of vestibular-generated eye and head movements.
Contains the cranial nerve nuclei for the trochlear (IV) and oculomotor (III) nerves

Question 6

Superior peduncles

Answer 6

part of the brainstem, help connect the brainstem and the cerebellum

Question 7

Pons

Answer 7

AKA the metencephalon, is a roundish, bulging structure that bridges the two halves of the cerebellum. It is located directly inferior to the midbrain
* serves with the midbrain as a connection point between the cerebellum and various cerebral structures through the inferior and middle peduncles.
* Transmits information relative to movement from the cerebral hemispheres to the cerebellum
* contains many descending motor fibers and is involved with hearing and balance.

Question 8

Medulla

Answer 8

AKA myelencephalon, inferior to the midbrain and the pons. Uppermost portion of the spinal cord, which enters the cranial cavity through the foramen magnum at the base of the skull
* contains all the fibers that originate in the cerebellum and cerebrum and move downward to form the spinal cord. It includes several centers that control vital, automatic bodily functions, such as breathing, digestion, heart rate, and blood pressure. It also facilitates many reflexes, including sneezing, coughing, blinking, and vomiting.
* very important for speech because it contains descending fibers that transmit motor information to several cranial nuclei
* contains several nerve fibers that carry commands from the motor center of the brain to various muscles.

Question 9

Pyramidal Tracts

Answer 9

control many movements and supply some of the muscles that are involved in speech