Lecture 3: Nervous system II Flashcards
What is the ventricular system?
4 fluid-filled cavities (~150 ml) within the
brain
2 lateral ventricles connected to midline 3rd ventricle (level of diencephalon) by inter- ventricular foramina (foramina of Monro)
3rd ventricle connected to 4th ventricle by the midline cerebral aqueduct (level of midbrain)
Floor and roof of 4th ventricle
floor is pons/medulla
roof is cerebellum
Flow of CSF in ventricular system
2 lateral ventricles into midline 3rd ventricle which drains into 4th ventricle via cerebral aqueduct (narrowest part of icv system)
4th ventricle drains into sub-arachnoid space of cranial cavity median aperture and 2 lateral apertures.
Circulates around brain and spinal cord
What produces the CSF? How much?
Choroid plexus (highly vascular tissue found within ventricles)
500 ml per day (volume of subarachnoid space is only 150 ml)
Constantly produced
What is the CSF?
clear fluid derived from plasma of
the highly vascularized choroid plexus
What does choroid plexus look like?
appears as tufts of material in all 4 ventricles (suspended within CSF of ventricles)
What is choroid plexus made of?
specialized epithelial cells that determine which solutes enter the CSF and which don’t
Where is CSF absorbed?
Absorbed into blood through arachnoid granulations in venous sinuses
What happens if production of CSF is higher than absorption?
Hydrocephalus
Also happens if CSF accumulates in the ventricles
CSF functions
- Provides protection: provides buoyancy of brain within cranium
- Maintains constancy of environment for brain tissue (provides nutrients & ions)
- Removes cellular waste products – CSF eventually goes to venous blood
Composition of CSF
relatively constant
change is indication of pathological process (examined by lumbar puncture; lumbar cistern is at base of spinal cord)
What drains the CSF from the subarachnoid space into the venous sinuses?
Arachnoid villi (tufts of arachnoid that extend through dura into venous sinus)
Where are the arachnoid villi most numerous?
superior sagittal sinus and are seen as arachnoid granulations
(see figure)
What supplies brain oxygen?
internal carotid (anterior) and vertebral arteries (posterior)
What part of brain do the internal carotids oxygenate?
telencephalon (ant., med., & lat.) and diencephalon
What part of brain do the vertebral arteries oxygenate?
posterior & inferior parts of telencephalon (occipital and inferior part of temporal lobes)
brainstem
cerebellum
cervicalspinal cord
Major branches of internal carotid
- Posterior communicating artery (connects anterior and posterior circulation)
- Anterior cerebral artery (medial and superior surfaces of frontal and parietal lobes)
- Middle cerebral artery (lateral cortical and subcortical)
(see figure)
What connects the anterior cerebral arteries?
Anterior communicating
What does occlusion of the anterior cerebral artery cause?
sensory and motor deficits of the contralateral body (lower limbs)
What parts of brain are supplied by the middle cerebral artery?
large portion of motor and pre-motor areas in frontal lobe
large area in parietal lobe
superior surface, and anterior pole of temporal lobe
What does occlusion of the middle cerebral artery cause?
sensory and motor deficits of the contralateral body (trunk upper limbs, head/face)
language deficits
What do the vertebral arteries form?
Basilar artery
Basilar artery ascends along the pons before splitting into posterior cerebral arteries (left and right)
What parts of the brain to the posterior cerebrals supply
Occipital lobe
Inferior surface of temporal lobe
What connects the posterior cerebral to the anterior cerebral?
Posterior communicating artery