Nervous system Flashcards
Agnosias
Due to damage of Wernicke’s area. An inability to recognize objects, words, or faces.
Afferent nerves
Nerves that carry messages to the brain or spinal cord.
Aphasia
Due to damage of the Broca’s area. An inability to produce or understand words.
Arcuate fasciculus
A fiber tract that connects Wernicke’s and Broca’s speech areas.
Autonomic nervous system
A part of the peripheral nervous system that connects to glands and smooth muscles. Consists of sympathetic and parasympathetic divisions.
Broca’s area
An area in the frontal lobe of the left hemisphere. Implicated in language production.
Central sulcus
The major fissure that divides the frontal and the parietal lobes.
Cerebellum
A nervous system structure behind and below the cerebrum. Controls motor movement coordination, balance, equilibrium, and muscle tone.
Cerebrum
Consists of left and right hemispheres that sit at the top of the nervous system and engages in a variety of higher-order functions.
Cingulate gyrus
A medial cortical portion of the nervous tissue that is a part of the limbic system.
Computerized axial tomography
A noninvasive brain-scanning procedure that uses X-ray absorption around the head.
Ectoderm
The outermost layer of a developing fetus.
Efferent nerves
Nerves that carry messages from the brain to glands and organs in the periphery.
Electroencephalography
A technique that is used to measure gross electrical activity of the brain by placing electrodes on the scalp.
Event-related potentials
A physiological measure of large electrical change in the brain produced by sensory stimulation or motor responses.
Forebrain
A part of the nervous system that contains the cerebral hemispheres, thalamus, and hypothalamus.
Fornix
(plural form, fornices) A nerve fiber tract that connects the hippocampus to mammillary bodies.
Frontal lobe
The most forward region (close to forehead) of the cerebral hemispheres.
Functional magnetic resonance imaging
(or fMRI) A noninvasive brain-imaging technique that registers changes in blood flow in the brain during a given task (also see magnetic resonance imaging).
Globus pallidus
A nucleus of the basal ganglia.
Gray matter
Composes the bark or the cortex of the cerebrum and consists of the cell bodies of the neurons (see also white matter).
Gyrus
(plural form, gyri) A bulge that is raised between or among fissures of the convoluted brain.