Lecture 13- Regional neuroanatomy and function Flashcards
What is the major pathway between the brain and skin, muscle, joints and organs?
spinal cord
what are the 4 levels of the spinal cord?
cervical
thoracic
lumbar
sacral
After L1-L2 what does the spinal cord consist of?
cauda equina which are thick elongated nerve roots
what are the two segments that the spinal cord is organized into?
dorsal (sensory)
ventral (control/ motor)
what is the overall function of the spinal cord?
mediates simple reflexes and generates complicated control programs (such as rhythmic patterns used for walking)
what is connected to the spinal cord? (4)
rootlets
ventral root
dorsal root
meninges
what does the dorsal root do?
what does the ventral root do?
dorsal: carries sensory (afferent) information to CNS
ventral: carries motor (efferent) information to muscles and glands
where is the white and grey matter in the spinal cord?
white matter is outside and gray matter is found in the center (opposite of the brain)
what are the 4 different types of nuclei that can be found in the grey matter of the spinal cord?
visceral sensory nuclei
somatic sensory nuclei
autonomic efferent nuclei
somatic motor control nuclei (skeletal muscle)
what are the two tracts that are apart of white matter of the spinal cord?
ascending tract
descending tract
what is the difference between ascending tract and descending tract?
ascending: carry sensory information from the body up the spinal cord to the brain
descending: carry motor information from the brain down the spinal cord to the body
what does the brainstem consist of?
midbrain
pons
medulla
what important nerves arise from the brainstem? why are these nerves so important? what do they do?
cranial nerves (they carry sensory, motor, or both sensory and motor information to the CNS or target organs)
what is the function of the medulla?
controls heart and blood vessel function, respiration and many digestive functions
what is the function of the pons? 3
receives and processes motor information for the cerebellum and cerebrum
regulates muscle reflexes involves in equilibrium and posture
what is the function of the midbrain?
relays visual and auditory information
governs movement of the eyes
-gives rise to groups of diffuse modulatory neurons
what set of interconnected nuclei are located throughout the brainstem?
reticular formation (receives and integrates incoming sensory input and plays roles in arousal)
-gives rise to groups of diffuse modulatory neurons
what are modulatory systems/ neurons?
there are 4 different modulatory neurons and each one has a place in either the pons or brainstem. these neurons have nuclei that produce the specific hormone the hormone gets circulated throughout the brain
where are there the most neurons in the brain?
cerebellum thats why its called little brain
it has more neurons than there is in the rest of the brain combined!
what is the function of the cerebellum? 4
processes sensory information (muscles, joints, vestibular system, eyes)
enhances muscle tone and coordinates skilled voluntary movements
role in planning and initiating voluntary activity
stores procedure memories (motor learning. ex. how to ride a bike, you are able to remember how to ride a bike forever “its like riding a bike”)
what is diencephalon in the adult brain?
thalamus
hypothalamus
what is the function of the thalamus? 5
main center for most types of information
receives and sends information from all of the CNS
sensory
emotional
motor
arousal
what is the overall function of the hypothalamus?
directly regulates internally environment
what are the functions of the hypothalamus? 12
controls body temperature, thirst and urine output, food intake, hunger, anterior pituitary hormone secretion, uterine contractions and milk ejection
produces vasopressin and oxytocin
major ANS coordinating center
role in emotional and behavioral patterns (reproduction+sexual orientation)
what did Simon LeVay discover when experimenting with the nucleus of the hypothalamus?
the the nucleus of the hypothalamus in gay men was anatomically more similar to females. therefore, he suggested that “sexual orientation has a biological substrate”
what is the largest part of the brain? why does it have so many gyri and sulci?
cerebrum (makes up 80% of brain weight)
the folds and flat parts increase surface area
what are the 4 major parts of the cerebrum?
cortex
white matter
basal ganglia
limbic system
what is the function of the cortex?
tole in most sophisticated neural functions (as it is the most complex integrating area of the brain)
what are the 5 major lobes that the cortex is divided into?
occipital
temporal
parietal
frontal
insular
what is the function of the occipital lobe? how does it work?
primary visual cortex is the first level of processing VISUAL info, then sends info to visual association area
what is the function of the temporal lobe?
hearing
what is the function of the parietal lobe?
they are the first neurons to receive sensory information so they do a lot, including… sensory perception and integration (management of taste, hearing, sight, touch, and smell)
what is the function of the frontal lobe?
skeletal muscle movement
what is the function of the insular cortex and where is it located?
located inside the brain (have to open it up)
functions include taste and smell
for most people on what side of the brain is language and math processing?
left side
(20% left handed people are right dominant for language, many left handed people process language on both sides of the brain)
for most people what does the right side of the brain do?
spatial recognition, face recognition, aspects of emotion processing and artistic functions
what is the function of wernicke and broca’s area?
understanding and speaking words
how does the input of hearing words get processed?
sensory input goes from audio or visual cortex to wernicke’s then to broca’s then to motor cortex to initiate spoken or written action
what occurs if you have damage to wernicke or broca’s area?
aphasia (inability to comprehend or formulate language)
what happens when you have damage to wernicke’s area? what type of aphasia? 2
receptive aphasia: difficulty understanding spoken or visual language
jargon aphasia (word salad): speech may be nonsensical because of trouble connecting words with meaning
what happens when you have damage to broca’s area? 3
can still interpret simple words or sentences
difficulty expressing complex ideas
words are distorted (expressive aphasia)
what are ganglia?
groups of neurons (cell bodies)
what do the neurons within basal ganglia do?
communicate with each other and with other brain areas
components of the basal ganglia form a complex circuit, what does this circuit contain?
motor cortex
premotor cortex
cerebellum
thalamus
what are two diseases that occur when you lose a part of the basal ganglia?
parkinson’s disease
huntington’s disease
what is parkinsons disease? what part of basal ganglia do you lose to get this disease
loss of dopaminergic neurons in basal ganglia (causes tremors)
what is huntington’s disease? what part of basal ganglia do you lose to get this disease?
loss of cholinergic neurons in basal ganglia (causes uncontrollable movements)
why might people with parkinson’s disease be very jittery?
because parkinson’s and huntington’s disease balance eachother out, therefore, with parkinson’s if youre shaking a lot it’s because you now have overstimulated cholinergic neurons
what is the newest part of the brain?
cerebrum
what is the purpose of the limbic system?
to link higher processing with primitive emotions (fear, aggression, reward, social and sexual behavior)
what is the limbic system made of? how does it work?
amygdala, hippocampus and cingulate gyrus are strongly connected with other areas (such as thalamus…)
what happened to phineas gage?
gage was a very happy go lucky guy
job was to push dynamite into a hole to explode it for the railway
dynamite blew up and he wasn’t paying attention
poking stick went through the frontal lobe in the CNS
survived but became an ass and no one liked him
