Lecture 5 - Cranial Nerves Flashcards
How do Cranial Nerves compare to other peripheral nerves? What is similar about their structure, and what is unique?
- most CN target structures are located ipsilaterally (some have contralateral structures)
- motor branches are multipolar
- somatosensory branches are psuedounipolar
- most special sensory are bipolar
What are the major components of a peripheral nerve?
- epineurium (outermost) - contains blood vessels
- Perineurium (middle) - bind groupings of axons into fascicles
- Endoneurium (connective tissue) - surrounds nerve fiber
What is the function of the olfactory nerve?
smell
What can be found in the olfactory epithelium, and what are their functions?
- olfactory sensory receptor cells (hair cells) - help dissolve odor
- supporting cells - nourish, insulate, detoxify olfactory cells
- basal stem cells - regulate new olfactory receptor cells
- olfactory glands - create mucous that covers surface of epithelium
What transfers smells into electrical signals?
olfactory epithelium - sensory organ of nose
Describe the olfactory pathway, including neuroanatomical structures involved and areas of synapse between first, second, and third order neurons.
1st - Olfactory Nerve
- odor enters and dissolved in surface mucus, then odor molecules bind to ligand-gated chemoreceptors on CN 1 in neuroepithelium, then synapse with 2nd order neuron, CN 1 goes through cribiform plate in ethmoid bone and synapses w/ olfactory bulb
2nd - Olfactory Bulb
- travels rostrally to synapse w/ olfactory tract
3rd - Olfactory tract
- projects to ipsilateral and contralateral limbic structures
What is the function of the optic nerve?
- vision
- carries information about visual input from retina to brain
What are accessory structures of the eye?
- eye lid
- eyebrow
- eye lashes
- muscles
- lacrimal apparatus
What are structures of the eye?
- fibrous outer layer (avascular)
- vascular middle layer
- retinal layer
- lens
- vitreous humor
- anterior cavity
What are the major structures found in fibrous outer layer of eye? What do they do?
Sclera - attaches eye w/ eyelid, dural sheath of CN 2, and tendons of extra-ocular muscles
Cornea - outermost lens of eye - controls and focuses incoming light
What is the function of the vascular middle layer? What are its major components and their function?
- provide vascularization and suspend lens
- Choroid - contains blood vessels
- Ciliary body - contains ciliary processes which contain capillaries and attach to ligaments that help suspend lens, and ciliary muscle
- Iris - contains smooth muscle fibers that act on pupil
What are they layers of the retinal inner layer of eye?
7 layer dip 1) pigment epithelium 2) photoreceptor layer (rods and cons) 3/4) outer and inner nuclear layers 5/6) outer and inner synaptic layers 7) ganglion cell layer
Where are rods and cones found? What are their functions?
- photoreceptor layer
Rods - dim light vision, no color, low acuity
Cones - bright light, color, high acuity
What is found in the ganglion cell layer of retinal inner layer?
ganglia (cluster of gray mater) - cell bodies of optic nerve
What is the optic disc? Can you see via the optic disc?
- site where optic nerve and blood vessels enter/exit the eye
- No, blind spot
Where is the highest visual resolution in the eye found? Is it made up of rods or cones?
- macula lutea that contains central fovea (cones only)
What is the function of the lens?
- bend light to focus image on retina
What is the function of vitreous humor? Where is it found? What does it contain?
- between lens and retina
- holds retina in place
- contains phagocytes to remove debris
What is the function of anterior cavity? Where is it found? What does it contain?
- between cornea and lens
- contains aqueous humor that filters blood plasma that nourishes lens and cornea
Describe the optic pathway, including neuroanatomical structures involved and the areas of synapse between first, second, and third order neurons.
1st order - retinal cells
- photoreceptor cells send impulses to retinal cell layers where signal is processed, impulses gather at optic disc, AP propagated through CN 2
2nd order - Optic Nerve
- Optic nerve travels through optic canal and converges w/ contralateral optic nerve at optic chiasm, nerve exits optic chiasm via optic tract and goes to thalamus (lateral geniculate nuclei) or midbrain (superior colliculus and pretectal nuclei), synapse w/ 3rd order neuron
3rd order - Optic radiations
- thalamus projects to primary visual cortex of contralateral side in occipital lobe via optic radiations
What fibers cross contralaterally at optic chiasm? Ipsilaterally?
contralaterally - nasal visual fibers
ipsilaterally - temporal visual fibers
What part of the visual field does the right vs left primary visual cortices process?
contralateral side
right visual field - left primary visual cortex
left visual field - right primary visual cortex
What are the functions of the oculomotor, trochlear, and abducens nerve?
motor efferents to 6 sets of extraocular muscles
- move the eye
What specific muscles and associated eye movements are innervated by the oculomotor nerve?
- medial rectus - adduction
- superior rectus - elevation and intorsion
- interior rectus - depression and extorsion
- inferior oblique - extorsion and elevation
What specific muscles and associated eye movements are innervated by the trochlear nerve?
superior oblique - intorsion and depression
What specific muscles and associated eye movements are innervated by the abducens nerve?
lateral rectus - abduction
Describe the oculomotor pathway, including how it exits the skull, neuroanatomical structures involved and the areas of synapse between first and second order neurons.
1st order neuron - oculomotor nerve travels from nuclei in midbrain, exits skull via superior orbital fissure and splits into superior and inferior divisions, then synapses in ciliary ganglion
2nd order - ciliary ganglion neurons project to muscles for accommodation and muscles for pupil constriction