Self Study

Question 1

Central Nervous System

Answer 1

Brain

Spinal Cord

Question 2

Peripheral Nervous System

Answer 2

Cranial Nerves

Spinal Nerves and Ganglia

Question 3

Brain

Answer 3

Cerebral Cortex
Limbic System
Basal Ganglia
Thalamus
Hypothalamus
Brainstem
Cerebellum

Question 4

Cerebral Cortex (Frontal, Parietal, Temporal, Occipital, Insular Lobes)

Answer 4

1. initiates motor function
2. receives and processes multisensory information,
3. controls problem solving, complex thought, mood, memory, language

Question 5

Limbic System

Answer 5

mood, emotion, aspects of memory

Question 6

Basal Ganglia

Answer 6

regulate motor performance

Question 7

Thalamus (Th):

Answer 7

relay center for predominately ascending pathways to the cerebral cortex

Question 8

Hypothalamus (Hth)

Answer 8

regulates autonomic, endocrine and visceral functions

Question 9

Brainstem (Midbrain, Pons, Medulla)

Answer 9

conduit between brain and head via cranial nerves as well as between brain and spinal cord, integrating center for brainstem reflexes, regulates arousal and awareness

Question 10

Cerebellum

Answer 10

motor learning and coordination

Question 11

Spinal Cord

Answer 11

The conduit of connections between brain and the Peripheral Nervous System and the integrating center for spinal reflexes

Question 12

Afferent Neurons

Answer 12

carry nerve impulses from receptors or sense organs TOWARD the central nervous system

Question 13

Efferent Neurons

Answer 13

Motor or effector neurons;
carry nerve impulses away from the CNS to effectors such as muscles or glands (and also the ciliated cells of the inner ear).

Question 14

Dorsal roots

Answer 14

afferent pathways for fibers from varying peripherally located receptors

Question 15

Where do dorsal roots terminate?

Answer 15

terminate (synapse) in the dorsal or ventral horns of the spinal cord to drive reflexes and participate in local circuits

Question 16

Where do dorsal roots project?

Answer 16

project upstream to the brain either directly or via local relays with neurons that will project upstream.

Question 17

Ventral roots

Answer 17

efferent fibers arising from ventral horn motor neurons

Question 18

What do ventral roots contain?

Answer 18

preganglionic autonomic fibers at the thoracic (sympathetic) and sacral (parasympathetic) levels.

Question 19

Deep tendon reflexes

Answer 19

cause a muscle to contract rapidly when stretched (e.g. by loading or tapping with a reflex hammer)

Question 20

What happens during a deep tendon reflex?

Answer 20

1. Muscle spindles activate the afferent fiber whose cell body is in the dorsal root ganglion (DRG)
2. The central process of this pseudounipolar neuron sends its axon all the way to the ventral horn where it synapses on motor neurons that supply muscle fibers

Question 21

How do the spinal nerves divide?

Answer 21

divide into dorsal (posterior) and ventral (anterior) rami

Question 22

Dorsal rami from various spinal levels remain separate from each other and innervate __________vertebral column, the muscles of _________ and the overlying _____ in a _____ pattern.

Answer 22

Dorsal rami from various spinal levels remain separate from each other and innervate synovial joints of the vertebral column, the muscles of the deep back and the overlying skin in a segmental pattern.

Question 23

Ventral Rami distributed to the ______ innervate ____ and _____ in a _____ pattern.

Answer 23

Ventral Rami distributed to the trunk also innervate skin and muscles in a segmental pattern.

Question 24

What happens with ventral rami innervation of the limbs?

Answer 24

the majority of ventral rami merge with ventral rami of adjacent segments to form a plexus (brachial / lumbosacral)

Here their fibers (axons) intermingle and form multi-segmental peripheral nerves (e.g. the median nerve contains axons from ventral rami of C5, C6, C7,C8, and T1 and the femoral nerve contains axons from ventral rami of L2, L3, and L4).

Question 25

What is gray matter (really pink matter due to rich blood supply, but who needs to be technical…)?

Answer 25

areas in the CNS consisting primarily of neuron cell bodies (and dendrites) clustered in various arrays

Question 26

What are examples of gray matter?

Answer 26

1. nuclei of the brainstem
2. central gray matter of the spinal cord
3. cortical layers of the cerebrum and cerebellum

Question 27

The space surrounding the neuron cell bodies is occupied by _____ and ____ arrays that form _____ and establish connections between neurons.

Answer 27

The space surrounding the neuron cell bodies is occupied by dendrites and synaptic arrays that form local circuits and establish connections between neurons.

Question 28

Nuclei

Answer 28

specific regions of gray matter where groups of neuron cells bodies are often functionally related.

Question 29

Cortex

Answer 29

layered surface that covers some part of the CNS, specifically the external mantle of cerebrum and cerebellum

Question 30

gyri of the cerebral cortex (and folia of the cerebellum)

sulci

fissures

Answer 30

bumps generated during development due to cells undergoing extensive expansion and folding of cortical surfaces to accommodate the increases in surface area

infoldings between gyri are called sulci

deeper grooves are called fissures

Question 31

pathways and tracts

Answer 31

myelinated axons that generally have long trajectories

Question 32

tracts

Answer 32

individual segment of a pathway that arises from a cell body in one location and terminates on a target in another location

Question 33

structures containing tracts and fiber bundles in the CNS white matter are referred to as…

Answer 33

fasciculi (little bundles)
funiculi (strings)
peduncles (little feet), lemnisci (ribbons)
columns, or projections.

Question 34

decussations

Answer 34

axon bundles that cross midline going from a location on one side to a different location on the contralateral side.

Question 35

modality

Answer 35

the type of information being conveyed along a pathway.

refers to sensory pathways that show sensitivity to a particular stimulus based on the associated neuronal receptors

Question 36

Peripheral Nervous System Motor

Answer 36

Output from the CNS

Question 37

Somatic Motor Nerves

Answer 37

affect skeletal muscle function

Question 38

Visceral Motor Neurons:

Answer 38

affect smooth and cardiac muscle function

Question 39

Peripheral Nervous System Sensory

Answer 39

Input to the CNS

Question 40

Somatic Sensory Nerves:

Answer 40

convey information about touch, pain, temperature, proprioception, stretch, etc. from the body

Question 41

Visceral Sensory Nerves

Answer 41

convey sensory information (e.g. stretch, pressure, chemoreception) from organs

Question 42

knee jerk reflex is an example…

Answer 42

deep tendon reflex

Question 43

Damage to any of the elements of the deep tendon reflex pathway decreases…

Answer 43

the strength and/or speed of the reflex (hyporeflexia)

Question 44

hyporeflexia useful for

Answer 44

one of the most useful signs in localizing dysfunction to a specific spinal or brainstem reflex pathway

Question 45

decreased reflex may also be due…

Answer 45

to damage in the sensory or the motor components.

Question 46

effect of damage to descending (corticospinal) pathways in the spinal cord, brainstem or brain (upper motor neurons) is…

Answer 46

increase the strength and speed of reflexes at lower segments (hyperreflexia)

Question 47

hyperreflexia used to…

Answer 47

establish that the dysfunction is in the central nervous system

Question 48

hyperreflexia delayed immediate effect

Answer 48

an absence or decrease in reflexes, an effect called spinal shock.

Question 49

Myasthenia Gravis

Answer 49

weakness due to destruction of acetylcholine receptors at the neuromuscular junction

Question 50

Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors (SSRIs) used to

Answer 50

treat depression by enhancing serotonin neurotransmission; prevents reuptake of serotonin from the synaptic cleft