Lecture 4: Anatomy And Function Of The Nervous System

Question 0

Sulci

Answer 0

Depressions in the cortex surface

Question 1

Longitudinal fissure

Answer 1

Separates the right and left hemispheres of the vertebrate brain

Question 2

What are the general functions of each of the 4 lobes of the cortex?

Answer 2

• frontal: movement and cognition
• parietal: somatosensation (touch, pain)
• temporal: hearing, emotion, and learning
• occipital: vision

Question 3

In what 2 main anatomical ways are the human brain and the rodent brain different?

Answer 3

• presence/absence of sulci and gyri

- larger rostral area

Question 4

What is a Brodmann area?

Answer 4

-based on cytoarchitectonics: the study of differences in layers between cortical areas (appearance/histology)

Question 5

Motor cortex

Answer 5

• controls skeletal/voluntary muscles
• includes primary motor cortex, supplementary motor area, and promotor cortex
• located within frontal lobe
• more???

Question 6

Promotor cortex

Answer 6

• can project directly to spinal cord
• may playa role in the direct control of behavior, planning movement, spatial and sensory guidance of movement, understanding actions do others, and using abstract rules to perform tasks
• more???

Question 7

Prefrontal cortex

Answer 7

• located at rostral part of frontal lobe
• includes 3 areas:
  
  • ventromedial
  • orbitofrontal
  • dorsolateral

Question 8

Ventromedial prefrontal cortex

Answer 8

• important area of prefrontal cortex
• implicated in the processing of risk and fear
• plays a role in emotional inhibition
• plays a role in the process of decision making

Question 9

Orbitofrontal prefrontal cortex

Answer 9

• important area of the prefrontal cortex

- implicated in assessing rewards and punishments for decision making

Question 10

Dorsolateral prefrontal cortex

Answer 10

• important part of prefrontal cortex

- functions in executive functions (eg, working memory, cognitive flexibility, planning, inhibition, and abstract …

Question 11

insular cortex (insula)

Answer 11

• portion of the cerebral cortex folded deep within the lateral sulcus
• involved in consciousness
• play a role in diverse functions usually related to emotion or regulation of homeostasis
  
  • perception, motor control, self-awareness, cognitive functioning, and interpersonal experience

Question 12

What areas of the cortex are involved in speech?

Answer 12

• Broca’s area

- Wernicke’s area

Question 13

corpus callosum

Answer 13

• structure of the mammalian brain under the longitudinal fissure that connects the left and right cerebral hemispheres and facilitates communication between them
• largest white-matter structure in the brain

Question 14

What are the main subcortical structures?

Answer 14

• white matter (fiber tracts)
• gray matter
• fluid ventricles
• cerebellum
• basal ganglia (older cortical structure)
• thalami (part of cerebrum, but not cortex)
• brain stem (pons)
• hippocampi (older cortical structure)
• amygdalas (older cortical structure)\

Question 15

thalamus

Answer 15

• largest structure of diencephalon
• sits on top of brain stem, near 3rd and lateral ventricles
• situated b/w cerebral cortex and midbrain, both in terms of location and neurological connections
• functions include relaying sensation, special sense and motor signals from cerebellum and to cerebral cortex, regulation of consciousness, sleep, and alertness
• composed of many nuclei, most of which project into cortex
• most connections reciprocal, with many feedback connections