Location and functions of various parts of the brain and spinal cord (3.2) Flashcards
Where is the hypothalamus located?
This part of the brain lies below the thalamus and above the pituitary glands.
What is the function of the hypothalamus?
Where is the medulla oblongata located?
What is the function of the Medulla Oblongata?
____ fibres between the spinal cord and the brain ___ __ in the medulla. This means that the left cerebral hemisphere is connected to and controls the ____ side of the body and vice versa.
Nerves
Cross over
Right
What is the spinal cord?
It is an elogated rod of nervous tissue that extends from the medulla oblongata through the foramen magnum.
Where is the spinal cord?
Situated in the verterbral canal of the vertebral column and is approx. 45 cm long.
Vertebral column
It is the backbone.
Vertebrae
Vertebral canal
Is a hollow tube formed in the vertebral column
Discs of cartilage
Occur between successive vertebrae to stabilise the vertebrae and allow bending.
Spinal cord
Central Canal
Runs through the spinal cord and is filled with cerebrospinal fluid.
What is the shape of the spinal cord?
H shaped central area of grey matter made up of nerve cell bodies, dendrites and synapses.
What surrounds the white matter?
The white matter surrounds the grey matter and is made up of axons with myelin sheaths.
The central canals occurs in the centre of the ___ ____. It is filled with _____ _____ fluid. The central canal runs down from the ventricles in the ____.
Grey Matter
Cerebrospinal fluid
Brain
The cord is partly divided into right and left sides by two _____.
grooves
What leaves and enters the spinal cord?
A pair of special nerves enters and leaves the spinal cord between succcesive vertebrae. There are 31 pairs of spinal cord.
What does every spinal nerve have?
Each spinal nerve has a dorsal root that enters the grey matter and a ventral root that leaves the grey matter.
What forms the ganglion?
A collection or neuron cell bodies forms a ganglion in the dorsal root.
Define Ganglion.
A small mass of neuron cell bodies, found mainly in the peripheral nervous system.
What is the function of spinal cord? (2)
- The spinal cord serves as a pathway for impulses from receptors to the brain and from the brain effectors.
- It has an integrative function in that it is the seat of primitive reflex actions called spinal reflexes. They serve to protect the body, eg. knee, jerk reflex, response to contact with a dmaaging stimulus, bladder reflex.
