Organization of the Central Nervous System (CNS) Flashcards
organization of the spinal cord
- Motor Information connects to the Ventral side of the Spinal Cord
- Sensory information connects to the Dorsal side of the Spinal Cord
- Efferent fibers Exit the brain (motor)
- Afferent fibers Arrive in the brain (sensory)
- Bulge = dorsal root ganglia
spinal vertebrae
- cervical
- thoracic
- lumbar
- sacral
parts of the brain (encephalon)
- hindbrain
- midbrain
- forebrain
parts of the hindbrain
- medulla
- pons
- cerebellum
other name for hindbrain
rhombencephalon
role of the cerebellum
control of movement and sequencing
role of the pons
switchboard between the cortex and cerebellum
role of the medulla
gateway of the cortico-spinal tracts
parts of the midbrain
- tectum
- superior colliculus (“upper hill”): detection of rapidly changing stimuli in peripheral vision possibly representing a threat
- inferior colliculus (“lower hill”): early detection of auditory stimuli
- tegmentum
- substantia nigra (“black body”): production of dopmanine
- red nucleus: primitive motor control
depiction of tectum
depiction of tegmentum
other name for midbrain
mesencephalon
parts of the forebrain: diencephalon
- thalamus
- hypothalamus
- pituitary gland (not part of CNS)
role of the thalamus (“antechamber”)
sensory relay station to the cerebral cortex (except for smell)
role of the hypothalamus (“beneath the thalamus”)
- regulation of motivated behaviors and internal homeostasis (e.g., temperature, thirst, hunger)
- “The four F’s”: Feeding, Fighting, Fleeing, Sex
role of the pituitary gland
- beneath & connected to hypothalamus
- secretes hormones into the bloodstream
parts of the forebrain: telencephalon
- basal ganglia
- limbic zone
- cerebral cortex
the basal ganglia structure
basal ganglia pathways
- Dopamine Pathways connecting to Frontal Lobes to Cerebellum
- Involved in sequencing of behaviors, motor and procedural learning
parts of the limbic system
Linked set of structures beneath the cortex including:
- olfactory bulb
- hypothalamus
- hippocampus
- amygdala
- cingulate gyrus
role of the limbic system
- Important for behaviors related to motivation & emotion (sex, eating, drinking, fear/anxiety, aggression)
- Also involved in memory encoding
role of the hippocampus
- “sea horse”
- between thalamus and temporal lobe
- storage of new memories
role of the amygdala
- “almond”
- Located at the tip of the hippocampus
- Associated with fear/anxiety and learning
what is the reticular formation?
- Does not have clearly defined boundaries
- Runs through the Pons of the Hindbrain into the Tectum of the Midbrain and communicates with the Thalamus of the Forebrain
- Helps with Posture, and Reflex control along with Alertness and Sleep activation
what two parts of the brain make up the brain stem?
midbrain & hindbrain
nervous system pathways
organization of the cerebral cortex
language areas
- Broca’s area
- Wernicke’s area
sensori-motor areas
- motor
- auditory
- visual
- somatosensory
- olfactory
sensory-motor topographical representations
Luria’s schema
(functional organization of cerebral cortex)
- Primary Zones: sensory-motor zones: visual, auditory, somatosensory, motor
- Secondary Zones: Unimodal, Association
- Tertiary: Cross-modal, Association
Brodmann’s cytoarchitectonic designations
- Divided the regions within the lobes into coherent areas based on common cellular and laminar structure
- In humans, he found 47 areas (BA1 – BA47)
primary zones of the brain
(Brodmann and Luria’s)
- Visual: BA17 (V1)
- Auditory: BA 41-42
- Somatosensory: BA 1-2-3
- Motor: BA 4
secondary zones of the brain
(Brodmann and Luria’s)
- Visual: BA 18 &19 (V2), BA 21 (VP/V4), BA 20 (fusiform gyrus)
- Auditory: BA 22
- Somatosensory: BA 5 & 7a, (V3)
- Motor: BA 6
tertiary zones of the brain
(Brodmann and Luria’s)
- Parietal-Temporal-Occipital (PTO) association areas: BA 7b, BA 39, BA 40, parts of BA 21
- Prefrontal Cortex: BA 8, 9, 10, 11, BA 45
