Neuro Anatomy

Peripheral Nervous System

contains the brain and spinal cord. The nerves act as a communication network to relay sensory and motor commands

Somatic Motor Systen

Controls muscles and contains automating nervous system

Automating nervous system

controls automatic functions like digestion, heart rate, tears, etc.

Sympathetic System

aka the fight or flight system. Goal being to get you ready for an action. I.e Heart rate, quicker breathing, secretes adrenaline

Parasympathetic

brance prepares your body to rest and digest

-primarily uses ACH as neurotransmitter

i.e stimulates blood flow, slows heart, increases digestive functions

Enreric nervous system

controls the stomach and gut

-partially controlled by inputs form the vagus nerves that tells your body the time of day it is or when you’re eating

Cerebrospinal fluid(CBL)

Fluid that protects the brain with a cushion and has a part time job of clearing away waste products

Meninges

outside covering w/multiple layers. Almost like a protective wrap around your brain

Choroid Plexus

cells that produce cerebrospinal fluid from blood

Hydrocephalus

Disease where ventricles can become enlarged because of abnormal pressure in the brain or shrink surrounding areas of brain tissue

Nuclei

compact cluster of neurons w/similar inputs and outouts

-typically working to do a job together

Cortext

arranged in a continuous folded sheet on the outside of the brain

Tracts

large white matter bundles

Commissures

when neurons cross to the opposite hemispheres

Brain Stem

Medull a

critical for life because it controls the motor nuclei, heart rate, breathing, and arousal

Pons(bridge)

links the brain and cerebellum and contains sensory and motor nuclei for the eyes

-round eye shape on the scan

-controls face and mouth functions

Midbrains

processes anxiety and fear responses

-in charge of automatic orienting attention like if someone claps or raises their voice

Cerebellum

receives motor plans and sensory iputs about the position of the body in space to help coordinate motor movements like balance or throwing

Thalamus

serves at the gateway for all the sensory info to the brain and body (except smellO

Lateral geniculate nucleus

reciev incoming visual info and contains a retinotopic map of visual locations

Medial geniculate nucleus

receives auditory info and contains tonotopic map of different frequencies

Sagittal View

Transverse

coronal view

Rostral (anterior)

dorsal(superior)

ventral(inferior)

caudal(posterior)

Parts of the brain stem

Lateral geniculate nucleus

receives incoming visual info and contains retinotopic map of visual locations

Medial geniculate nucleus

receives auditory info and contains tonotopic map of different frequencies

hypothalamus

controls hormone production and released thru pituitary gland

Limbic System

subcortical structures surrounding the brainstem

The limbic system functions

1)Bind events and experiences(hippocampus +mammilary body)

2)Focus emotion and motivation on external objects(amygdala)

3)Coordinate social behavior/emotional processing (amygdala)

4)Prrocessing smell, taste,and pain

Basal Ganglia

set of bilateral nuclei surrounding the thalamus

-receives sensory and motor info that aid in action selection and task switching

Reward prediction error

brain predicts the outcomes of our actions and dopamine is released in the nucleus when the outcomes are as good as or better than we predicted

Parietal Lobe

responsible for directing our visual attention in space, locating and interacting with objects, and mathematical processing

Occipital lobe

visual info is processed here

-travels from retina, to the thalamus, to primary visual cortext

Temporal Lobe

Includes Hershel’s Gyrus where auditory info is processed at the top of the temporal lobe

*criticala for speech recognition and language comprehension