Ventricles, Choroid Plexuses, and Cerebrospinal Fluid

Choroid Plexus

Complex network of blood vessels in each ventricle of the brain

Function: Produces cerebrospinal fluid

Lateral Ventricles (Left & Right)

Largest of the four fluid-filled cavities in the brain

Overall Function: to house the cerebrospinal fluid and provide a passageway for its circulation. Thus protects and maintains the central nervous system

Location: on each side of the cerebral hemisphere

Cerebral Aqueduct

Location: centrally in the midbrain, contains the third an fourth ventricles

Function: allows for the cerebrospinal fluid to flow between the 3rd and 4th ventricle

Fourth Ventricle

Function: to protect the human brain from trauma and help form the central canal, runs the length of the spinal cord

Location: in the hindbrain, between the cerebellum and brainstem

Superior and Straight Sinuses

Superior Saggital Sinus:

• Function: carries waste and fluids away from the brain as veins do throughout the rest of the body

• Location: origin/ junction of the frontal and ethmoid bones, posterior to the Foramen cecum

Straight Sinus:

• Function: Allows blood to rain from the inferior center of the head

• Location: formed by the confluence of the inferior Saggital sinus and the great cerebral vein