Skull-Wilson Flashcards
What are the 8 bones of the neurocranium?
Temporal (2) Parietal (2) Frontal (1) Sphenoid (1) Ethmoid (1) Occipital (1)
Coronal suture
separates parietal and frontal
sagittal suture
separates the two parietal boens
lambdoid suture
separates parietal bones from the occipital bone
bregma
lambda
can use stereotactic coordinates to do neurosurgery
parietal foramen
emissary vein: veins that go through the skull from the scalp and skin to communicate with meninges
- potential sites for the spread of infection
- they are valveless
skull at birth
same bone BUT
- 2 frontal bones (frontal suture which disappears in adult)
- anterior fontanelle (bregma); a soft spot in the baby’s skull
- posterior fontanelle (lambda)
these fontanelles allow the brain to grow and expand and the skull can expand with the brain
Premature fusion of the anterior and posterior fontanelle sutures
SCAPHocephaly: premature closure of the SAGITTAL suture
acrocephaly: premature closure of coronal and lambdoid sutures; skull extends upwardly
can result in mental retardation
What is found in the anterior cranial fossa?
- frontal bone
- cribriform plate: olfactory nerve (nerves for smelling)
- crista gali
- sphenoid bone (lesser wing) with the anterior clinoid process
foramen cecum: emissary vein to the superior sagittal sinus
What is found in the posterior cranial fossa?
brainstem and ???
What is found in the middle cranial fossa?
temporal bone:
3 bones of anterior cranial fossa
-frontal bone
2 frontal sinuses which can get infected and causes sinus headaches
-orbital plate: dome shaped; forms the roof
-sphenoid bone (lesser wing)
- ethmoid
- anterior clinoid process: attachment for the dural mater and dural reflection
- crista galli: cone of the rooster
- cribriform plate: CN I (olfactory nerve) goes from the brain and innervate the olfactory mucosa of the nasal cavity (nerves for smelling)
foramen cecum: an opening through which an emissary vein passes through
Transorbital lobotomy
altering people’s behavior typically if they are unruly, aggressive, antisocial
-a simplified version of the prefrontal operation
bones in the middle cranial fossa
2 bones:
SPHENOID BONE
-greater wing
BODY
-sella turcica: the pituitary gland
-chiasmic groove: 2 optic nerve come together at the optic chiasm
pituitary tumor (can’t grow down or laterally because of bone but can grow anteriorly and put pressure on the optic chiasma
-posterior clinoid process
TEMPORAL BONE
- squamous bone: lateral part; flat plate like structure
- petrous temporal bone (one of the densest bone in the body); vestibulocochlear apparatus is embedded in this bone; facial nerve travels through this bone (is often one of the places the facial nerve is damaged)
petrous portion of the temporal bone:
- separates the middle from the posterior cranial fossa
- facial nerve travels through this bone
- contains the special organs of hearing and balance
optic canal
where CN II (optic nerve) travels and comes right to the back of the orbit
NOT optic foramen!!!!! that would be stupid
superior orbital fissure
crack between greater and lesser wings of sphenoid bone where the CN III, IV, V1 (ophthalmic branch of trigeminal nerve), and VI, travels
foramen rotundum
V2 (maxillary branch of trigeminal nerve)
foramen ovale
V3 (mandibular branch of trigeminal nerve)