Neuroanatomy by SNP/CHC Model Flashcards
Sensory functions: vision
Primary visual cortex is located in the striate cortex of the occipital lobe 
Sensory functions: auditory
Primary auditory cortex is located in the superior of the temporal lobe 
Sensory functions: somatosensory (touch, pain, temperature sense, limb proprioception)
Located in the postcentral gyrus. Two different pathways:
A. Pain and temperature since is the anterolateral system.
B. Touch, proprioception, and movement is the dorsal column-medial lemniscal system.
Contralateral projections
Vision, hearing, and touch. If the deficit is in a right-sided sense organ the deficit will show as damage in the left side of the brain that controls that sense organ. Excludes smell.
Sensory functions: smell
Located in the ventral region of the anterior temporal lobe. The secondary area is located in the lateral parts of the orbitofrontal cortex. The only sense not processed by the thalamus, but instead pathways go directly to the cortex.
Motor functions: planning movements
Frontal regions of the cortex. The frontal region receives information about what is happening (the ventral stream terminating in the inferior temporal cortex) And where it is happening (the dorsal stream terminating in the posterior parietal lobe).
Visuospatial processes: primary visual pathway
Occipital lobe. Two distinct subsystems.
A. 90% of the optic nerve axons terminate in the lateral geniculate nuclei of the thalamus, the relay station of the brain.
B. The other 10% terminate at other subcortical structures, including the superior colliculus of the midbrain and the pulvinar nucleus of the thalamus.
Dorsal Pathway
The superior longitudinal fasciculus. Specialized for recognizing where an object is located, if it is moving, and its speed and direction of movement. The where pathway.
Ventral Pathway
The inferior longitudinal fasciculus. Specialized for object identification and perceiving related movements. The what pathway.
Learning and memory: learning and retention of new information 
These two structures permit the storage of information until consolidation is complete. (Not the storage sites of memories, but rather the brain regions that are essential for consolidation of new memories into long-term memory.)
A. Medial temporal lobe, primarily the hippocampus and secondarily the amygdala
B. Midline diencephalon, the dorsomedial nucleus of the thalamus.
Retrograde amnesia
Damage to the temporal lobe in areas besides the hippocampus can produce loss of previous memories while the ability to form new memories remains intact. 
Learning and memory: encoding and retrieval of information
Prefrontal cortex.
A. Episodic retrieval activates the right prefrontal cortex.
B. Semantic retrieval activates the left prefrontal cortex.
Executive functions
Overall, in the frontal lobe. Also excitatory and inhibitory pathways starting in subcortical regions of the brain (e.g., basal ganglia and thalamus) and project to the frontal cortex and vice versa.
Executive functions: skeletomotor circuit
Regulates, large and fine muscle movements 
Executive functions: oculomotor circuit
Regulates eye movements
Executive functions: dorsolateral prefrontal circuit
The “executor of the brain.” Regulates anticipation, goal selection, planning, monitoring, use of feedback in task performance, focusing and sustaining attention, generating hypotheses, maintaining or shifting sets, verbal and design fluency, visual-spatial search strategies, constructional strategies on learning and copying tasks, and motor programming disturbances
Executive functions: orbitofrontal circuit
Integration of emotional information into contextually appropriate behavioral responses, and integration of emotional functions with the internal states of the child.
Executive functions: Anterior Cingular circuit
Motivational mechanisms (e.g., apathy), behavioral initiation responses, creativity and concept formation, and allocation of attentional resources.
Executive functions: inferior/temporal posterior parietal circuit
Working memory
Attention: Subcortical Portions
The reticular activating system- Helps regulate and maintain arousal
Attention: higher cortical regions
Pre-frontal lobes and anterior cingulate cortex - helps allocate attentional resources, selectively attend, and regulate response inhibition. 
Processing speed
In general, processing speed appears dependent on the white and gray matter of the brain. Processing speed increases as the axons of neurons in the central nervous system become myelinated.
Slower processing speed is associated with lower white matter volume, along the superior longitudinal fasciculus, which connects the frontal and parietal lobes.
