Neuroanatomy Flashcards
Anterior
Beak.
Towards the front.
Think of a rat. Anterior is towards the rat’s nose.
Posterior
Tail
Think of a rat. Posterior is towards the rat’s tail.
Dorsal
Back
Ventral
Belly/Front
Medial
Middle
Closer to the midline.
Lateral
Structures farther from the midline
Ipsilateral
On the same side of the midline
Contralateral
On the opposite side of the midline
Section
Slice of the brain
Midsaggital
Cut down the midline to split the right and left hemispheres.
Saggital
Cuts parallel to the midsagittal cut.
Horizontal plane
Cuts parallel to the ground.
Coronal cut
Cut perpendicular to the horizontal and sagittal planes.
Superior
Top/upper surface.
Rostral
Anterior for brain areas
Caudal
Tail or away from the head.
Amygdala
Involved in emotion and certain types of learning and memory
Basal ganglia
Motor control.
Lesions in the basal ganglia result in a loss of ability to initiate voluntary movement.
Cerebellum
Important movement control center, patterns movement into memory
Also called the little brain.
Cerebrum
Coordinates all voluntary movements (with help from the cerebellum Learning and memory Sensation Perception Olfaction Language and communication
Frontal lobe
Responsible for voluntary movement, expressive language, and managing higher-level executive functions.
Also controls some motor functions too on the rostral side of the central sulcus.
Parietal lobe
Sensory perception and integration; some touch sensor
Temporal lobe
Processing auditory information and with the encoding of memory. Separated by the parietal lobe by the lateral sulcus.
Gryri
Bumps that increase the surface area of the cerebral hemispheres
Sulci
Grooves that increase the surface area of the cerebral cortex and form brain divisions
Corpus callosum
Ensures both sides of the brain communicate and send signals to each other
Cranial nerves
There are 12 cranial nerves. Help a person see, smell and hear
Hippocampus
Learning and memory
Named after a seahorse.
Hypothalamus
Energy balance, growth, development, reproduction.
Master switch for hormones and visceral PNS.
Medulla oblongata
Transmitting signals between spinal cord and higher parts of the brain.
Auditory information comes through the medulla.
These cells in the medulla are called the cochlear nuclei.
Damage to these cells results in deafness.
This information heads to the inferior colliculus of the midbrain.
Touch
Taste
Sends information from the spinal cord to the thalamus.
Motor neurons in the medulla control the tongue via cranial nerve XII.
What is the meninges’ purpose?
Protect the brain and spinal cord.
Keep the brain moist.
Dura mater
Surrounds and supports the large venous channels carrying blood from the brain toward the heart (thickest layer meninge)
Arachnoid membrane
Spidery menginge that helps protect the brain and spinal cord from sudden impact. CSF fills the subarachnoid space.
Pia mater
Acts as a barrier and holds in CSF.
Midbrain
Motor movement, particularly movement of the eye, and in auditory and visual processing
Inferior colliculus
Signal integration, frequency recognition, and pitch discrimination