Brain Structures

Dorsal/Superior

Top

Ventral/Inferior

Bottom

Posterior Caudal

Back

Anterior Rostral

Front

Dorsal on Spinal Cord

Toward Back

Ventral on Spinal Cord

Toward Belly

Medial

Midline

Lateral

Toward sides

Dura Mater (meninges)

Tough outer later, between skull and Subarachnoid space

Arachnoid/Subarachnoid Space (meninges)

Web-like layer; filled with CSF and blood vessels

Pia Mater (meninges)

Thin layer over every fold of the brain

Choroid plexus

Where CSF is made in the ventricles

Hydrocephalus

Blocked flow of CSF, causes fluid buildup and swollen ventricles

Endothelial cells

Line the vessals and are joined tightly so most substances doesn’t slip between them

What crosses the blood - brain barrier

Oxygen, CO2, and fat-soluble molecules (glucose and amino acids are carried by special transporters)

Forebrain (prosencephalon)

Becomes the Telencephalon (cerebrum, cortex, basal ganglia, limbic) and Diencephalon (thalamus, hypothalamus)

Midbrain (Mesencephalon)

Midbrain (colliculi, substantia nigra)

Hindbrain (rhombencephalon)

Becomes Metencephalon (pons, cerebellum) and Myelencephalon (medulla)

Spina bifida; Anencephaly

Neural tube open at bottom; top.

Folic acid reduces risk

Gray matter

Neuron cell bodies, dendrites, synapses

Outside in brain, inside in spinal cord

White matter

Bundles of axons (myelin fat makes it white)

Gyrus

Ridge on brain’s surface

Sulcus

Groove between gyri

Longitudinal fissure

Separates the 2 hemispheres

Central sulcus

Separates frontal from parietal lobe

Lateral (Sylvian) fissure

Separates temporal from frontal and parietal

Parieto-occipital sulcus

Separates parietal from occipital lobe

Precentral gyrus

In front of central sulcus; primary motor cortex

Postcentral gyrus

Behind of central sulcus; primary somatosensory cortex

Calcarine sulcus

Inner occipital lobe; primary visual cortex