The Nervous System Flashcards
Directional Terminology
Superior
Inferior
Dorsal (superior)
ventral (inferior)
anterior (front)
Posterior (back)
medial (middle)
lateral (sides)
contralateral (opposite side)
ipsilateral (same side)
proximal (close)
distal (far)
sagittal (side) vs. coronal (front/back)
axial (top)
What is the order of the nervous system?
central and peripheral
- in the peripheral: somatic and automatic
- in the automatic: sympathetic and parasympathetic
What are the 3 layers that from after 16 days of fertilization?
endoderm, mesoderm, and ectoderm
What systems are in the endoderm?
Digestive and respiratory systems
What systems are in the mesoderm?
muscle and connective tissues
what systems are in the ectoderm?
skin and nervous system
What part is part of the spinal cord?
neural tube
The Central Nervous System
spinal cord and brain
What are the parts of the brain? 5
brainstem, cerebellum, midbrain, forebrain, and cerebrum
What are the 5 main divisions of the spinal cord?
- 8 cervical nerves (neck, arms, hands)
- 12 thoracic nerves (upper chest area)
- 5 lumbar nerves (leg muscles)
- 5 sacral nerves (bowel, bladder, sexual fuction)
- 1 coccygeal nerve (“tail bone”)
What is grey matter?
- medial
- processing
-composed of cell bodies, dendrites, and interneurons
What is white matter?
-lateral
-composed of axons
- less processing, more sending
What is the organization of the spinal cord?
grey matter, white matter, ventral root of the nerve (sends motor information to the muscles), dorsal root of the nerve (receives sensory information from the body)
What does the Medulla Oblongata do?
- primarily composed of white matter (transmitting)
-majority of information going to and from higher cortical structures passes through the medulla
-contains cell bodies responsible for basic behaviors (breathing, heart rate, blood pressure, sleep/arousal)
-damage to the medulla is fatal
What does the pons do?
- connects the medulla to higher brains structures
-“the brain” - mostly white matter
- some input and output crosses to the other side of the brain here
-contains cell bodies for sleep/arousal
What does the cerebellum do?
-“little brain”
- ALL about coordination
~ puts together sequences of movements
-balance
-damage here effects skilled movements
~ may impact speech
- one of the first brain structures impacted by alcohol (think DRUNK person)
How many structures does the midbrain have? 2
Tegmentum and Tectum
What does the Tegmentum do?
-contains structures linked to motor functions and reward systems
What does the Tectum do?
-sensory things
-Superior Colliculi
~vision
-Inferior Colliculi
~ audition (hearing)
Whats another name for the diencephalon?
the forebrain
What does the Thalamus do?
- contains different groups of nuclei (cell bodies)
-relay station for incoming information (directing the information)
~ some send information to specific brains areas
~ others send information more diffusely
What does the Hypothalamus do?
- controls the autonomic nervous system and the endocrine system (hormones)
- helps maintain homeostasis (temperature regulation)
What does the Limbic System do?
-sometimes called the fifth lobe
-involved in processing drives, motivation, and emotions
-contains many structures including:
~ hippocampus, fornix, amygdala, cingulate, cortex (sometimes hypothalamus)
What does the Basal Ganglia?
- three main structures:
~ caudate nucleus, putamen, globus pallidus and involved in the motor system
What is phrenology?
- created by Franz Joseph Gall
-proposed the idea that the brain is composed of distinct faculties in distinct areas - KEY: different areas of the brain do different things
-WRONG: brain was a muscle and specific traits they tried to localize were wrong
The Cerebrum ~ cortex
- two hemispheres
- six lobes
What are the four main lobes in the cerebrum?
Frontal: motor and higher order functions
Parietal: somatosensory ~ touch
Temporal: auditory
Occipital: visual ~ vision
Limbic
Insular
How main types of cortex do we have?
2 - primary and non-primary cortex
What does the primary cortex do?
-receives input directly from sensory areas
-only receives information from one type of sense
What does the non-primary cortex do?
-receives information from other cortical areas
- can be from only one sense (unimodal)
- can be from multiple senses (multimodal)
How many layers does the cortex have?
6
What does Layer IV do?
main input layer
what does layer II and III do?
Layer II, III: cortico-cortical output layers
II: ipsi
III: contra
what does layer V and VI do?
Layer V. VI: descending output layers
V: basal ganglia, thalamus, brainstem, spinal cord
VI: thalamus/claustrum
laminar organization
- the 6 layers led to the development of cytoarchitecture which are Brodmann areas - mapped out different areas of the brain
What is hierarchical organization?
- processing proceeds in stages with each stage building on the computations carried out in the earlier stage
-example on V1,V2, V3
What is parallel organization?
- processing occurs in two ways at the same time (but separately)
