Brain and Cranial Nerves Flashcards

Flashcards based on lecture notes about the brain and cranial nerves.

What is the Telencephalon?

Top of the brain, cerebrum.

What is the Diencephalon?

Second part of the brain, includes the thalamus and hypothalamus.

What is the Metencephalon?

Cerebellum and pons.

What are cerebral ventricles?

Lined with ependymal cells and filled with CSF.

Where are the 2 lateral ventricles located?

Located in the cerebrum.

What is the septum pellucidum?

Separates the two lateral ventricles.

Where is the 3rd ventricle located?

Located in the diencephalon.

What is the interventricular foramen?

Allows lateral ventricles to communicate with the 3rd ventricle.

What is the mesencephalic aqueduct (cerebral aqueduct)?

Connects the 3rd ventricle to the 4th ventricle.

What are the four protections of the brain?

Skull, meninges, CSF, and the blood-brain barrier.

What are the three tissue layers of the meninges?

Dura mater, arachnoid mater, and pia mater.

Where are the dural sinuses located?

Located where two layers are not fused and collect venous blood from the brain funneling to the jugular veins.

What is the subarachnoid space?

Separates the arachnoid mater from the pia mater, and contains CSF and the largest blood vessels serving the brain.

What is the Falx cerebri?

Projects at the longitudinal fissure, attaches to crista galli inferiorly and to internal occipital crest.

What is the Tentorium cerebelli?

Separates the hemispheres of the cerebellum from those of the cerebrum.

What is the Falx cerebelli?

Separates the cerebellar hemispheres along the midsagittal line.

What vital centers are located in the medulla oblongata?

Cardiac, respiratory, and vasomotor centers.

What basal portion of the pons acts as?

Relay station for motor fibers from the cerebrum to the cerebellum.

What is the function of the Pneumotaxic Center?

Inhibits sustained inspiration, contributing to expiration during breathing.

What projection of gray matter extends into the ventricle of the thalamus?

Intermediate mass.

Where is the Island of Reil (Insula) located?

Located deep within the brain and covered by parts of the frontal, parietal, and temporal lobes; area for the sense of taste.

What are association fibers?

Connect different parts of the same hemisphere.

What are commissures?

Connect the two hemispheres.

What are projection fibers?

Fibers entering the cerebral hemisphere from lower brain or cord centers and fibers leaving the cortex to travel to lower centers.

What is the function of the basal nuclei?

Control activities at a subconscious level, regulating attention and cognition; important in starting, stopping, and monitoring movements.

What does the limbic system do?

Integrates and responds to a wide variety of environmental stimuli, relays output via the hypothalamus, interacts with the prefrontal lobes.

What are motor areas of the brain responsible for?

Voluntary movement.

Where is the primary motor cortex located?

Located in the precentral gyrus of the frontal lobe and allows for voluntary movements of skeletal muscles.

Where is the premotor cortex located?

Anterior to the precentral gyrus in the frontal lobe and controls learned motor skills.

What does the frontal eye field control?

Controls voluntary movements of the eyes.

Where is the primary somatic sensory area located?

Found in the postcentral gyrus of the parietal lobe and interprets skin sensations.

Where are the visual areas located?

Occipital lobe and receives impulses from the eyes and interprets shape, color, and movement.

Where is the auditory area located?

Temporal lobe and receives impulses from the cochlea of the inner ear and interprets basic sound characteristics.

Where is the olfactory area located?

Temporal lobe and interprets sensations of smell.

What is aphasia?

Dysfunction, often caused by stroke, impacting either expressive or receptive language abilities.

What is the condition where individuals struggle to comprehend written language, often transposing or reversing letters in words?

Dyslexia