Quiz 1- Lecture 1: Anatomical Overview of the Human Brain: CNS

Question 1

The adult human brain weighs approximately…

What percent of body weight does it make up?

Answer 1

1 and a half kilograms

Less than 2%

Question 2

The brain is responsible for…

Answer 2

generation of language and thought, attention, consciousness, memory, and imagination

Question 3

Why is the brain highly folded?

Answer 3

In order to fit into the skull and accommodate the massive number of neurons and connections needed

Question 4

What are gyri?

What are sulci?

Answer 4

Ridges

Furrows

Question 5

If we were to unfold the human brain, it would take up…

Answer 5

1 square meter

Question 6

“Most impressive feature of the brain”

How many neurons in the brain?

Answer 6

Amount of connections formed between neurons

~86 billion neurons, each of which forms an average of 7,000 connections with other neurons, resulting in between 100 and 500 trillion synapses within the brain

Question 7

The brain can be divided into what regions? (2)

Answer 7

Functional and anatomical

Question 8

Anatomical overview:
The different surfaces of the brain

Answer 8

Superior surface (top)
Inferior surface (bottom)
Anterior aspect (in front)
Posterior aspect (in back/behind)

Question 9

Axes within the CNS:
Connections can travel which ways (2)?

Answer 9

Towards the anterior pole (front of brain)
or
Towards inferior end of the spinal cord (back of brain to neck)

Question 10

Axes within the CNS:
Fibers can move which ways (2)?

Answer 10

Rostrally (towards the rostral pole)
or
Caudally (towards the caudal pole)

Question 11

Component parts of the brain:

Answer 11

Forebrain (composed of cerebral hemispheres and deep structures)
Right and left hemispheres roughly symmetrical and connected through Corpus Callosum

Question 12

What is the largest white matter tract in the brain?

How many estimated projections?

Answer 12

Corpus callosum

200-250 million projections

Question 13

Thalamus and hypothalamus make up what?

Answer 13

Diencephalon

Question 14

The cerebral hemispheres and diencephalon together comprise

Answer 14

Forebrain

Question 15

Brain stem: (caudal to the diencephalon)
Divided into 3 parts:

Answer 15

Midbrain (caudal to thalamus), Pons (caudal to midbrain), Medulla (most caudal part of brain stem; continuous with spinal cord as it exits foramen magnum of skull)

Question 16

Parts of the midbrain:

Answer 16

Cerebral peduncles (connect the Forebrain with all caudal structures)

Question 17

Pons is connected to

(Also embryologically part of pons but functions are so distinct that it’s now considered its own entity separate from brainstem)

Answer 17

Cerebellum (through the cerebellar peduncles)

Question 18

The cerebral hemispheres can be divided into lobes along key surface landmarks.
Central sulcus separates…

Answer 18

Frontal lobe from the Parietal lobe

Question 19

The lateral fissure separates…

Answer 19

Temporal lobe from both Frontal and Parietal lobes

Question 20

The occipital lobe is separated from the parietal lobe via the

Answer 20

Parieto-Occipital sulcus (seen on medial aspect of brain)

Question 21

Continuous strip of cortex which swings around surface of the brain:

What does it span?

Answer 21

Limbic lobe

Spans the frontal, parietal, and temporal lobes

Question 22

Deep within brain, spaces filled with

Answer 22

Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF)

Question 23

C shaped lateral ventricles in cerebral hemispheres have

Answer 23

An anterior horn, a posterior horn, and an inferior horn

Question 24

Lateral ventricles are connected to

Answer 24

3rd ventricle in the midline

Question 25

What is the 3rd ventricle connected to and through what?

Answer 25

The 4th ventricle; through the Cerebral Aqueduct

Question 26

Midsaggital section of brain: different components of ventricular system

Answer 26

Lateral ventricle, Third ventricle (thalamus on either side) connects to the Fourth ventricle (at level of Pons and Medulla) via Cerebral Aqueduct

Question 27

Planes that brain can be sectioned in

Answer 27

Coronal plane (slicing like bread from front)
Horizontal plane (cutting from above)
Saggital plane (slicing middle- only middle is midsaggital)

Question 28

What can you see in coronal plane?

Answer 28

Corpus callosum (front), Anterior horn of lateral ventricle
Head of caudate nucleus, Putamen, Anterior limb of internal capsule
Lateral ventricles, Third ventricle (on either side of thalamus)
Cerebral aqueduct, Inferior horn of lateral ventricle
(Posterior) Thalamus, Midbrain, Pons

Question 29

In coronal section, you can see 2 types of matter.
What are they?

Answer 29

White matter: sum of all myelinated axons or tracts as they travel through the CNS
Gray matter: sum of all nerve cell bodies (seen along cortical band along surface of the brain)