Neuroanatomy Flashcards
What is the diffence between grey and white matter?
Grey matter- nerve cell bodies
White matter- myelinated axons
What allows action potentials to be conducted faster down the nerve?
Schwann cells (SCs) are a type of glial cell- make the axon myelinated
In what type of matter are synapses located?
Predominately grey matter regions
What anatomical words are used to describe the different sides of the brain and the brain stem?
BRAIN= superior, anterior, inferior and posterior
BRAIN STEM= Rostral, caudal, dorsal and ventral
What are the 4 main subdivisions of the brain?
Cerebral hemispheres (green)
Diencephalon (orange)
Brain stem (purple, yellow, red and blue)
Cerebellum (yellow)
What is a gyrus?
Ridge on the cortex of the cerebral hemispheres
What are sulcus’ and fissures?
Grooves, fissure is particularly large one
Where does conscious activity take place?
Cerebral hemispheres
What is the name of the main ridge that connects the left and right hemispheres?
Corpus callusum
What are the left and the right cerebral hemispheres seperated by?
The great longitudonal fissure
What is the rim of grey matter around the cerebral hemispheres called?
Cerebral cortex
What are the different lobes and fissures seperating the lobes in the brain?
What different actions are controlled within the frontal lobe?
Planning complex movements and thinking, motor activity and speech production
What different actions are control by the parietal lobe?
Spacial awareness of body and surroundings
Somato-sensory area, recieves and process somatic information
What is processed within the occipital lobe?
Vision
What is controlled by the temporal area of the brain?
Auditory sense, language understanding
Behaviour, emotions and motivation
What are Brodmann’s areas?
Numbers allocated to describe areas of the brain
What brodmann numbers are assigned to:
- Primary somatosensory area
- Primary motor
- Primary visual
- Broca’s (motor speech) area
- Primary auditory
Primary somatosensory= 1,2,3
Motor= 4
Visual= 17
Broca’s= 44,45
Primary auditory= 41,42
What are the different types of communicating fibres in the brain?
Association fibres- within hemispheres
Commissural fibres- between hemispheres
Projection fibres- cortex to sub-cortical areas such as spinal cord
What is the diencephalon and what are the different parts of it?
Area under corpus collosum, operates at subconscious level.
Epithalamus, thalamus, subthalamus and hypothalamus
What is the epithalamus?
Regulates the sleep cycle
What is the thalamus?
Single structure with two parts. All sensory information collects here and is then sorted to another part of the brain
What is the hypothalamus?
Linked with the pituitary grand (regular of the endocrine system)
What are the 3 parts of the brain stem?
Midbrain (purple)
Pons (yellow)
Medulla (red)
What if the function of the cerebellum?
Co-ordinates movement
Is subconscious and attached to brain stem.
What is the anatomy of the cerebellum?
There is 2 hemispheres, linked by the vermis
Grooves are referred to as folia
The tracts that link cerebellum to brainstem are called peduncles
What are the peduncles?
Superior- attaches midbrain to cerebellun
Middle- attaches pons to cerebellum
Inferior- attaches medulla to cerebllum
What is the final part of the brain before the spinal cord?
The medulla oblongata
Where are the two swellings in the spinal cord?
Cervical and lumbosacral
What does the spinal cord taper in and at what vertebrae level?
Conus medullaris- L1/L2
How many pairs of bilateral spinal nerves are there and how are they split up?
31 bilateral pairs
- 8 cervical
- 12 thoracic
- 5 lumbar
- 5 sacral
- 1 coccygeal
Where is the white and grey matter located in the spinal cord?
Opposite to brain, white matter is on the outside and grey on the inside.
White matter stains grey however, as in this picture below
Why is there different amounts of white matter as you go down the spinal cord?
White matter is the myelinated axons or ‘cabling’, as we move down the spinal cord more nerves have split off so there is less cabling or white matter
What side of the spinal cord are sensory and motor nerves found?
Sensory found on the dorsal (posterior)
Motor found on the ventral (anterior)
How can you tell what side of the spinal cord is the dorsal side?
Grey matter on the dorsal side reaches the edge of the spinal cord
What happens to the dorsal and ventral axons after/before they reach the spinal cord?
They intermingle to form a single nerve
What are the meninges?
Covering of the nervous system.
All brain and spinal cord are surrounded by it
What are the 3 layers of the meninges?
Dura mater- thick and rubbery layer on the outside
Arachnoid mater- middle layer, thinner, has finger like projections which create a web like pattern causing there to be sub-arachnoid space
Pia mater- thin, outer layer of brqin that follows sulcus pattern
What is contained within the arachnoid mater?
Cerebral spinal fluid
Blood vessels
What are the two main structures that the dura mater folds inself into?
The falx cerebri, which runs along the great longitudinal fissure
Then folds out into wing like structures between the occipital lobe and the cerebellum- tentorium cerebelli
What are the two main routes of blood supply to the brain?
Common carotid artery (internal)
Vertebrae artery (branch of subclavian)
What are the 3 main branches of artery that arise from the circle of willis/anterior circle?
Left and right anterior, middle and posterior cerebral arteries
What different areas of the brain do the cerebral arteries supply?
BLUE= anterior
RED= middle
YELLOW= posterior
How is blood drained from the brain?
The dura has holes in it where the blood is drained- called dural venous sinuses.
Ultimately these drain into the internal jugular vein
What are the ventricles of the brain and what are their names?
Interconnected series of midline chambers within the brain
2 lateral, third and fourth
What is the function of the brain ventricles?
Produce and store cerebral spinal fluid
CSF passes from lateral ventricles to third then fourth then to the central spinal canal
What is the swelling on the dorsal route called?
Dorsal root ganglion- collection of neuronal cell bodies outside the CNS
Where is it decided what route the different sensory modalities will travel up the spinal cord?
Dorsal root ganglion
What are the 3 main ascending pathways in the spinal cord?
Dorsal column- 3rd order
Spinothalamic pathway- 3rd order
Spinocerebellar pathway- 2nd order
What sensory modalities does the dorsal column pathway carry?
Discriminative touch, vibration and proprioception
Where do each of the neurone changes occur in the dorsal column?
1st → 2nd grey matter of medulla
2nd then cross to the contralateral side and travel up
2nd → 3rd Thalamus, cell bodies of 3rd neurones found in the VPL nucleus
How do neurones get from the thalamus to the pre-frontal cortex in the dorsal column pathway?
The internal capsule, a two-way white matter tract replaying information
What are the 3 parts of the internal capsule?
Posterior limb by thalamus
The genu (‘bend’)
Anterior limb by PFC
What are the 2 main bundles of nerves in the cervical part of the dorsal column?
The dorsal column is formed by two large fasciculi (bundles of nerve fibers) running through the posterior spinal cord:
- fasciculus gracilis (lower limb/body info
- fasciculus cuneatus (upper limb)
Where does the dorsal column pathway swap sides?
The medulla
Where in the spinal. cord is the dorsal column pathway found?
What is the medial lemniscus?
A continuation of the dorsal column system in the spinal cord that conveys information to the VPL. Second order neurones
In what area of pons does the dorsal column travel?
In what area of midbrain does the dorsal coloumn travel?
What sensory modalities does the spinothalamic pathway carry?
Pain, non-discriminative touch and temperature
Where does the 1st neurone → 2nd neurone in the spinothalamic pathway?
At the substantia gelatinosa/ nucleus propius
Where does the spinothalamic pathway cross to the contralateral side?
Axons cross over the ventral white commissure to the spinothalamic tract on the opposite side
Where in the spinal cord does the spinothalamic pathway travel?
Landmark= in the white matter directly ventral to the ventral horn
What is the spinal meniscus?
Where the anterior and lateral spinothalamic tracts combine in the medulla
What path do the second order and third order neurones in the spinothalamic pathway?
2nd → 3rd at the VPL nucleus
3rd then travels via the internal capsule to the pre-frontal cortex
What sensory modalities are carried via the spinocerebellar pathway?
Proprioception information for motor coordination and posture
What are the two spinocerebellar pathways and how do they differ?
Dorsal and ventral paths
The dorsal does not cross sides, the ventral does
How do the spinothalamic pathways connect to the cerebellum?
Via the peduncles
What route does the ventral spinothalamic pathway take up the spinal cord?
1st order → 2nd order in the spinal cord grey matter, then crosses over and travels up the spinothalamic tract until the midbrain, where is crosses back over
Where does general sensory information from head and neck travel in?
Cranial nerve V, trigeminal nerve
Travels to the VPM nucleus where pain/temperature travels to medulla and touch/pressure to pons
What is a dermatome?
An area of skin supplied by a single spinal nerve
What are the two areas of 2 order axons in the dorsal column pathway?
Fascilulus cuneatus- lateral (arms)
Fasciculus gracilis (legs)- medial
What happens to the fasiculus gracilis and cuneatus in the mid medulla?
Changes from 2nd order → 3rd order
There is the nucleus gracilis connected to the fasciciulus gracillis and the same with cuneatus
What are the different arrows on the diagram pointing to?
How does the position of the medial menicus change moving rostral the brainstem?
Where is the coronal radiata?
A white matter sheet that continues inferiorly as the internal capsule and superiorly as the cortex
What are the internal arcuate fibres?
A fiber bundle that extends across the midline of the medulla. Many of the fibers consist of axons traveling from the nucleus gracilis and nucleus cuneatus to the contralateral side of the medulla where they will begin traveling up to the cortex as part of the medial lemniscus.
Where are the fasiculus cuneatus and gracillis in the medulla?
Where are the fasiculus cuneatus and gracillis in the medulla?
Where is the thalamus in the brain?
Forms the wall of the third ventricle
What are the following labels on the diagram?
What forms the boundaries of the internal capsule?
What do the different limbs of the internal capsule contain?
Anterior limb= fibres associated with higher functions
Posterior limb= major ascending somatosensory and descending motor fibres
Where is the somatosensory cortex located?
On the post-central gyrus (immediately posterior to the central sulcus)
What arteries supply blood to the sensory cortex region?
Anterior cerebral artery- supplies blood to the lower limb area
Middle cerebral- supplies blood to facial region
Where are the axons of first order neurones?
One portion of the axon is located in the periphery, collecting information from a peripheral receptor
The other portion of the axon will carry sensory information into the spinal cord via the dorsal root, where it will either ascend in a white matter tract or synapse
Whata re the different areas of spinal cords, as shown below?
Where is non-special sensory information carried from in the head and neck?
Trigeminal nerve
Where do the cell bodies of most sensory neurones related to the trigeminal nerve lie?
In the trigeminal ganglion, a structure found out with the brain stem
Where are the 3 sensory nuclei that trigeminal neurones synapse at?
The mesencephalic nucleus
Chief sensory nucleus
Nucleus of the spinal tract of the trigeminal
What do the different trigeminal nuclei carry information for?
Mesencephalic (top)- proprioception
Chief sensory (middle)- touch and pressure
Nucleus of the spinal tract of the trigeminal (bottom)- pain and temperature
What are the following labels on the diagram?
Where do the ventral and sorsal spinocerebellar tracts enter the cerebellum?
Ventral= through superior cerebellar peduncle
Dorsal= inferior cerebellar peduncle
What information is carried along the spinocerebllar tract?
Relative stretch from muscles, stretch from tendons, output from joint receptors and information about pressure on skin and superficial fascia
What is located in the pre-central gyrus?
Primary motor cortex
What is located in the post-central gyrus?
Primary somatosensory cortex
What are the labels on this diagram?
What is Broca’s area?
Cocerned with the motor control of speech. Located predominately in the dominant cerebral hemisphere, usually the left one.control of speech. Located predominately in the dominant cerebral hemisphere, usually the left one.
What is the corticobulbar tract?
Corticobulbar tract carries upper motor neuron input to motor nuclei of trigeminal, facial, glossopharyngeal, vagus, accessory, and hypoglossal nerves.
What is the corona radiata?
Fibres from the cortical surface to the internal capsule.
Looks like a ray of sun
Where are fibres from the corticospinal and corticobulbar tracts located in the internal capsule?
Posterior limb of the internal capsule
Corticospinal fibres= nearer the retrolenticular region
Cortibulbar fibres= nearer the genu
What are the labels on the diagram?
Where are the cell bodies of lower motor neurones located?
Ventral grey horn- at lamina 9
What type of neurone are motor neurones mainly?
A-alpha
These are the biggest and fastest
Where do the axons of lower motor neurones travel to?
Travel from the ventral grey horn, into the spinal nerve (mixed with other axons) then into the periphery to neuromuscular junctions
What receptor is present in neuromuscular junctions?
Nicotinic- acetylcholine mediated
What is the corticospinal pathway?
For control of voluntary and precise movement
Also known as a pyramidal pathway
What side does the corticospinal tract innervate?
99% innervate the lower motor neurones on the contralateral side
Where are the first order motor neurone cells in the corticospinal tract located?
Located in the cortical grey matter (grey matter rim), in layer 5- Betz cells
Where is the crus cerebeli?
The white matter at the front of the midbrain
What is the pathway taken for the corticospinal tract through the brain stem?
Internal capsule → Crus Cerebeli of midbrain → pontine corticospinal tracts →pyramids of medulla → dessucation of the pyramids
What is the gap seen in cross sections of the pons and the medulla?
The 4th ventricle
Where are the pyramids?
Triangular shaped structures on the ventral aspect of the medulla
What are the pontine corticospinal tracts?
Located in the pons, darker circles seen.
What are the labels on the following diagram?
What are the lateral and ventral tracts of the corticospinal tract?
Ones that dessucated at the pyramids= lateral
Ones that dessucate in the spinal cord just before they synapse with lower motor neurons.= ventral
Where are the lateral and ventral corticospinal tracts in the spinal cord?
What is the corticobulbar pathway?
Only goes as far as the brain stem- reaches cranial nerves
Corticobulbar tract carries upper motor neuron input to motor nuclei of trigeminal, facial, glossopharyngeal, vagus, accessory, and hypoglossal nerves
What are the extra-pyramidal motor pathways?
Originate in the brainstem, carry motor fibres to the spinal cord. They are responsible for the unconscious, reflexive or responsive control of musculature
What are the different extra-pyramidal tracts shown below?
Red= rubrospinal tract
Blue= vestibulospinal tract
Green= Tectospinal tract
Pink= reticulospinal tract
What occurs in lower motor neuron loss?
Affected muscles= weak or paralysed
There is profound muscle atrophy
Tendon reflexes are weak or absent
What occurs in upper motor neuron loss?
Voluntary movements of affected muscles= weak
Slow wasting of muscle
Spasticity
Positive Babinski reflex
What is the babinski reflex?
Occurs in upper motor neurone loss
What is the basal ganglia?
An extra-pyramdial structure that reinforces motor movements
A group of are a group of subcortical nuclei
What are the two stars on the diagram?
Red= subthalamic nucleus
Black= hypothalamus
What are the red and black stars on the diagram?
Red= substantia niagra
Black= red nucleus
What is the vestibulospinal pathway?
Extra-pyramidal motor pathway
Receives info from labyrinthine system and cerebellum
Activates extensor motor neurones concerned with maintenance of anti-gravity posture
What is the rubrospinal pathway?
Extra-pyramidal motor pathway
Recieves info from cortex and cerebellum
Activates motor neurones of flexor muscles
What is the reticulospinal pathway?
Extra-pyramidal motor pathway
Receives info from hypothalamus, activates motor neurones concerned with reflex activity, muscle tone, breathing and circulatory system
What is the tectospinal pathway?
Extra-pyramidal motor pathway
Receives info from the visual system
Activates motor neurones reflex response to visual stimuli
What is the indirect and direct pathway of the basal ganglia?
What are the effects of a damaged substantia niagra in Parkinson’s?
Can no longer positively or negatively affect the indirect pathway so movements are not reinforced and undesirable movements go ahead
What is the striatum?
The caudate nucleus and the putamen
What do the direct pathway and indirect pathway do in the basal ganglia?
Direct= promotes movement
Indirect= inhibits movement
What neurotransmitter does the substantia niagra use?
Dopamine, activates and inhibits the striatum
What shape is the caudate nucleus?
A tadpole like shape that follows the curvature of the lateral ventricle
What are the following labels?
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What is the name of all the cranial nerves?
1 = Olfactory nerve
2= Optic nerve
3= Oculomotor nerve
4= Trochlear nerve
5= Trigeminal nerve
6= Abducens nerve
7= Facial nerve
8= Vestibulocochlear nerve
9= Glossopharyngeal nerve
10= Vagus nerve
11= Accesory nerve
12= Hypoglossal nerve
What is a mnemonic for the cranial nerves?
Oh once one takes their anatomy final very good vacations are heavenly
What are the cranial nerves on the base of the brain?
What are the cranial nerve labels seen below?
What is the function of CN1?
Sensory- Perceives odours in the nasal cavity (smell)
What is the course of CN1?
- Travels from the olfactory epithelium in the top portion of the nasal cavity.
- Through the cribriform plate (exit foramen) to the olfactory bulb.
- Then through the olfactory tract to the primary olfactory cortex. Does not go back to brain stem- arrises from uncus (the innermost part of the temporal lobe)
What is CN 1?
Optic nerve
What are the labels on the diagram?
What is the mnemonic for the cranial nerve functions?
Some say marry money but my brother says big brains matter more
What is CN 2?
Optic nerve
What function does cranial nerve 2 have?
Sensory- perceives light in the eye
What is the course of the optic nerve?
- Information from temporal visual field goes to nasal side of retina and decussates
- Info from other nasal field goes to temporal side and does not deccusate
- Travels up the optic tract to the superior colliculus in midbrain (reflexes)
- Info for visions travels to the lateral geniculate nucleus of the thalamus (vision) and then through optic radiations to the occipital visual cortex
What are the missing labels on the diagram?
What is the exit foramen for the optic nerve?
Optic canal
What is cranial nerve 3?
Oculomotor nerve
What is the function of CN3?
Function is eye movement and dilating pupil/focusing lense
What is the exit foramen of the oculomotor nerve?
Superior orbital fissure
What is the course of the oculomotor nerve?
Arrises from the anterior surface of midbrain, then travels through the lateral wall of cavernous sinus, within the common tendinous ring (a ring of fibrous tissue surrounding the optic nerve at its entrance at the apex of the orbit) and splits in superior and inferior branches.
What are the two branches of the oculomotor nerve?
Superior and inferior branches
Superior= superior rectus and levator palpebrae superioris – raises eyelid
Inferior= Inferior oblique, Inferior rectus, Medial rectus, Sphincter pupillae – dilates pupil and Ciliary muscle - focus
What are the following labels?
What is CN4?
Trochlear nerve
What are the function of CN4?
Movement of superior orbital muscle (movement of eye)
What is the exit foramen of trochlear nerve?
superior orbital fissure
What is the course of trochlear nerve?
Emerges from the posterior aspect of the brain stem then travels down the lateral wall of cavernous sinus and outside common tendinous ring
What is CN 5?
Trigeminal nerve
Where does the trigeminal nerve arrise from?
Emerges from brain stem, lateral to pons
What is the shape of the trigeminal ganglion?
What are the 3 main branches of the trigeminal nerve?
Opthalmic- sensory
Maxillary- sensory
Mandibular- motor and sensory
What is the function of the opthalmic nerve?
Function= sensation to skin above eye and nasal cavity. Also dilates pupil (autonomic)
What is the course of the opthalmic nerve?
Travels on the lateral wall of cavernous sinus, before splitting into 3 branches (Nasociliary, Lacrimal, Frontal), then exits via the superior orbital fissure
What is the function of the maxillary branch?
Function= sensation to skin between eye and mouth, maxillary teeth. Autonomic to lacrimal, nasal, palatine and pharyngeal glands.
What is the course of the maxillary nerve?
Gives off two branches, zygomatic and infraorbital
Passes through pterygopalatine fossa
Gives off another 4 branches, Nasopalatine, Greater palatine, Lesser palatine and Pharyngeal
What is the exit foramen of the maxillary nerve?
Foramen rotundum