Neuroanatomy 1 Flashcards
What is the term for back?
dorsal
What is the term for front?
ventral
What is the difference between cranial and rostral?
Cranial is towards the head, rostral is towards the beak/nose - rostral is used more in neuroanatomy
What term is used for ‘towards the tail’?
caudal
What are the 3 embryonic divisions of the brain?
Forebrain (prosencephalon)
Midbrain (mesencephalon)
Hindbrain (rhombencephalon)
What is the forebrain divided into? (embryologically)
Cerebrum (telencephalon)
diencephalon
What is the hindbrain divided into? (embryologically)
Pons and cerebellum (metencephalon)
Medulla oblongata (myelencephalon)
What is white matter made up of?
Nerve cell axons
Myelin sheaths cause white apperance
What is grey matter made up of?
Mostly nerve cell bodies
Also other nervous system cell or unmyelinated axons
Where is grey matter found in the brain?
Outer surface of the cerebrum mostly, some spots found deeper which are large groups of nuclei
Where is grey matter found in the spinal cord?
H-shape in the center
What is the cortex?
Outer part of the cerebrum and cerebellum - mainly grey matter
What is a nucleus? in neuroanatomy
Groups of functionally similar or anatomically related cells are collectively called a nucleus
What is a tract?
A pathway of nerve fibres
can include a single group with no synapses from start to finish or may be multiple nerve fibres that synapse along the tract
What is a fossa?
Indentation or shallow depression
What is a foramen?
Opening, hole or passage
What is the longitudinal fissure?
separates left and right hemispheres
large groove
What is the vermis?
Joins/separates two halves of cerebellum
What parts of the brain make up the brain stem?
Midbrain, pons and medulla
What is in the diencephalon?
mostly thalamus and hypothalamus
How can the brain be broadly separated into 4 parts?
Cerebrum
Cerebellum
Diencephalon
Brainstem
What is the cerebrum?
Largest part of the brain
Has a left and right hemisphere
What is the brainstem?
It connects the cerebrum and diencephalon and spinal cord
Where is the primary auditory complex?
temporal lobe
processes auditory information
What is in the temporal lobe?
Contains primary auditory complex and hippocampus(memory formation)
Amygdala
Wernicke’s area
Where is the hippocampus? What is it involved in?
In the temporal lobe, medial and inferiorly
Involved in the formation of memories
Where is the primary somatosensory cortex? What is it involved in?
In the parietal lobe
Involved in processing sensory information
Where is the primary visual cortex?
Occipital lobe
Processes visual information
What is the broad function of the cerebellum?
Helps maintain posture and balance
Corrects fine movements
What are gyri?
Folds/ridges that stick out on the brain surface
What are sulci?
Furrows or grooves in between the gyri
What and where is the central sulcus?
Runs in coronal plane, spans both hemispheres
Separates frontal and parietal lobes
What and where is the lateral sulcus?
Separates the temporal lobe from the frontal and parietal lobes
Runs in the transverse plane, one on each hemisphere
What structures mostly make up the brainstem?
Pons, medulla, midbrain
What is the insula?
Part of the cerebral cortex that is only seen by opening the lateral sulcus - covered by the opercula
What covers the insula?
the opercula - latin for lips
Parts of frontal, parietal and temporal lobes
What is the corpus callosum?
large bundle of white matter that connects the two hemispheres (fibre)
What are the olfactory tracts? What view of the brain can they be identified from?
Nerve fibres from nasal cavity
they run along inferior surface of the frontal lobes on both sides
Identified from below
What are the optic nerves? What view of the brain can they be identified from?
Nerves from retinas of the eyes
On inferior surface of the frontal lobe, pass posteriorly and medially to a point where they partly cross over (optic chiasm)
What is the optic chiasm?
Where the optic nerves partly cross over
What are the rounded structures found just behind the optic chiasm and pituitary gland?
Mammillary bodies
Part of the diencephalon
Located on the most inferior surface
What are the crus cerebri?
‘feet of the brain’
Pillars of white matter near the mammillary bodies
Connect rest of the brain to the brainstem
Part of the cerebral peduncles
What part of the (embryological) brain is the cerebral peduncles part of?
The midbrain
What is the fossa between the cerebral peduncles called?
Interpeduncular
On brain specimens may have layer of arachnoid mater covering it
What is the most superior part of the brainstem that contains crus cerebri?
The midbrain
Describe the pons
Large, bulbous, central part of the brainstem
Describe the medulla oblongata
Most inferior part of the brainstem
Tapers down to become the spinal cord inferiorly
What connects the two hemispheres of the cerebellum?
the central ‘vermis’
What is the cerebrum made up of?
Frontal lobe
Parietal lobe
Temporal lobe
Occipital lobe
Limbic system