headaches and anatomy of the head/meninges (A18) Flashcards
relationship between frontalis/occipitalis muscles and headaches
- these muscles are leading causes of headaches
- usually tension headaches are caused when these muscles are tight and contracting causing a lot of pressure on the bones and nerves
muscles involved in tension headaches
- frontalis and occipitalis (joined by the epicranial aponeurosis)
- > -usually tension headaches are caused when these muscles are tight and contracting causing a lot of pressure on the bones and nerves
- temporalis and masseter muscles can also be involved in tension headaches (the temporalis attaches onto side of skull, at inferior temporal line, and the coronoid process of the mandible, if contracted they pull on the temporal bones and put pressure on bones and nerves)
temporalis muscle
- jaw closing muscle
- attaches to inferior temporal line and coronoid process of mandible (coronoid process is the inferior attachment of the temporalis muscle tendon)
thinnest part of the skull
‘H’ shaped pterion
danger of fractures pterion
- anterior branches of the middle meningeal artery lie directly beneath
- fracture can cause damage to this artery causing bleeding in cranial cavity (if this happens, the extra blood accumulating increases the pressure which pushes on the brain causing issues)
- > this is a space occupying lesion (SOL) = anything that takes up space in cranial cavity that shouldn’t be there - eg. blood, csf
SOL
-space occupying lesion
= anything that takes up space in cranial cavity that shouldn’t be there - eg. blood, csf
important features of the brain
- control center of the nervous system (somatic nervous system, autonomic nervous system, endocrine function - the pituitary gland/the ‘master’ gland)
- somehow makes ‘us’ the individuals that we are
- connects with spinal cord inferiorly
- has anatomical and functional subdivisions
central nervous system
made up of:
- brain
- spinal cord
name of 2 divisions of the brain (when halved down sagittal plane)
cerebral (brain) hemispheres (half circle)
anatomical features of brain structure that give it the bumpy appearance
- gyrus (gyri = part that sticks out)
- sulcus = dip in brain
anatomical subdivisions of brain (naming of lobes)
- name lobes according to bones that they are lying against:
- frontal lobe
- temporal lobe
- parietal lobe
- occipital lobe
visual cortex
- located at posterior of occipital lobe
- the part of the cerebral cortex that receives and processes sensory nerve impulses from the eyes
- controls vision
- damage to visual cortex can cause visual impairment
cerebellum
- posterior and inferior aspect of brain
- ‘little brain’
- contains a lot of fine motor fibers
- controls precise motor activity
- medial aspect looks like a tree
brain stem
-leads between/joins cerebral hemispheres at the front of the cerebellum
divisions of the brainstem
- > important divisions with regards to connections with cranial nerves (different cranial nerves attach at different areas)
- > from superior to inferior:
- midbrain
- pons
- medulla oblongata
connections/attachments/associations of cranial nerves to divisions of brainstem
- CN3 (oculomotor nerve) and CN 4 (trochlear nerve) both associated with midbrain
- CN V (trigeminal nerve) associated with pons
- CN VI (abducens nerve), CN VII (facial nerve) and CN VIII (vestibulocochlear nerve) associated with junction between pons and medulla
- CN IX (glossopharyngeal nerve), CN X (vagus nerve) and CN XII (hypoglossal nerve) associated with medulla oblongata
- CN XI (spinal accessory nerve) comes from spinal cord
CN XI
- spinal accessory nerve
- supplied SCM and trapezius muscle
cranial nerves
- 12 pairs
- exit inferior aspect of brain
- CN I = olfactory
- CN II = optic
- CN III = oculomotor
- CN IV = trochlear
- CN V = trigeminal
- CN VI = abducens
- CN VII = facial
- CN VIII = vestibulocochlear
- CN IX = glossopharyngeal
- CN X = vagus
- CN XI = spinal accessory
- CN XII = hypoglossal
intra-cranial cause of headache
- brain and cranial nerve tumours:
- tumours can cause ‘headache’ pain due to increased pressure within the ‘closed box’ of the skull
brain tumours
- can affect any part of the brain (even pituitary gland tumours- near midbrain)
- tumours are an example of a ‘space occupying lesion’ which increase intra-cranial pressure