Neuroanatomy and Speech-Language Pathology Flashcards

Vocabulary practice flashcards covering anatomical planes, embryonic brain development, cranial nerves, motor pathways, speech and language disorders, and cerebral vascular supply.

Anatomical Position

A standard posture characterized by standing upright, head and eyes facing straight ahead, upper limbs at the sides slightly away from the trunk, palms facing forward, thumbs pointing away from the body, and lower limbs parallel with feet flat on the ground facing forward.

Coronal Plane

An anatomical plane, also termed the frontal plane, that divides the body or brain into anterior (front) and posterior (back) sections.

Sagittal Plane

An anatomical plane, also termed the medial plane, that divides the body or brain into right and left sections.

Transverse Plane

An anatomical plane that divides the body or brain into upper (superior) and lower (inferior) sections.

Epithelial Tissue

A superficial layer of tissue with minimal intercellular material that forms skin and the linings of internal cavities and organs.

Hyaline Cartilage

A smooth and solid type of cartilage that lines the articulating surfaces of bones.

Fibrous Cartilage

A connective tissue containing dense collagen that acts as a shock absorber and provides a smooth gliding surface.

Elastic Cartilage

A highly flexible cartilage type containing abundant elastic fibers.

Striated Muscle

Also known as skeletal muscle, a muscle tissue exhibiting a striped microscopic appearance involved in voluntary movements.

Smooth Muscle

Also known as visceral muscle, a tissue composed of sheet-like structures with spindle-shaped cells.

Fascia

A sheet-like membrane (dense, filmy, thin, or thick) that surrounds internal organs and striated muscles.

Ligaments

Bands of connective tissue that connect bone to bone and hold anatomical structures in place.

Tendons

Connective structures that attach muscle to bone or cartilage.

Agonist

The muscle primarily responsible for producing a specific movement, also referred to as a prime mover.

Antagonist

A muscle that acts in opposition to the movement produced by an agonist.

Motor Unit

The functional unit of the motor system, consisting of one motor neuron and all the individual muscle fibers it innervates.

Prosencephalon

The primary brain vesicle representing the forebrain during embryonic development at $4\text{ weeks}$ gestation.

Telencephalon

A developmental subdivision derived from the prosencephalon that gives rise to the cerebral hemispheres, cortex, basal ganglia, and lateral ventricles.

Diencephalon

A developmental subdivision derived from the prosencephalon that gives rise to the thalamus, hypothalamus, and third ventricle.

Mesencephalon

The developmental midbrain structure that connects the forebrain and hindbrain and contains midbrain structures and the cerebral aqueduct.

Rhombencephalon

The primary brain vesicle representing the hindbrain during embryonic development.

Metencephalon

A developmental division derived from the rhombencephalon that forms the pons, cerebellum, and a portion of the fourth ventricle.

Myelencephalon

A developmental division derived from the rhombencephalon that forms the medulla oblongata and a portion of the fourth ventricle.

Basal Ganglia

A set of subcortical paired nuclei (including the caudate nucleus, putamen, and globus pallidus) crucial for motor, cognitive, and affective functioning.

Insula

A brain structure involved in speech motor planning, taste perception, emotional processing, sense of self, compassion, and empathy.

CN V Trigeminal Nerve

The largest cranial nerve; its mandibular branch provides tactile and proprioceptive sensation for the jaw, face, lips, and tongue, as well as motor supply for jaw movements during mastication and speech.

CN VII Facial Nerve

A cranial nerve providing sensory taste input and motor innervation to the muscles of facial expression, stapedius muscle, submandibular, sublingual, and lacrimal glands.

CN VIII Auditory Nerve

A cranial nerve primarily responsible for sensory hearing reception and motor damping of hair cell output.

CN IX Glossopharyngeal Nerve

A cranial nerve delivering sensory input from the pharynx, tongue, and eustachian tube (mediating the gag reflex) and motor input for pharyngeal elevation during swallowing.

CN X Vagus Nerve

The longest cranial nerve, known as 'the wanderer', providing sensory and motor innervation to the soft palate, pharynx, and larynx via pharyngeal, superior laryngeal, and recurrent laryngeal branches.

CN XII Hypoglossal Nerve

A cranial nerve supplying motor innervation to nearly all intrinsic and extrinsic tongue muscles, alongside sensory taste inputs.

Upper Motor Neuron (UMN)

Motor neurons that originate in the brain and convey voluntary movement signals down descending neural pathways to the brainstem or spinal cord.

Lower Motor Neuron (LMN)

Motor neurons that originate in the brainstem or spinal cord and directly innervate skeletal muscle fibers, acting as the final common pathway.

Broca's Aphasia

A nonfluent expressive language disorder marked by effortful speech output, short phrases, and omitted function words, with comprehension remaining relatively intact.

Wernicke's Aphasia

A fluent receptive language disorder characterized by impaired comprehension and effortless, long utterances that lack meaningful content.

Conduction Aphasia

An aphasia type marked by intact comprehension and fluent spontaneous speech, coupled with severely impaired repetition ability and phonemic substitutions.

Global Aphasia

A severe form of aphasia where both language comprehension and speech production are profoundly impaired.

Flaccid Dysarthria

A motor speech disorder caused by lower motor neuron damage, presenting with reduced muscle tone, muscle weakness, and diminished or absent reflexes.

Spastic Dysarthria

A motor speech disorder caused by bilateral upper motor neuron damage, characterized by excessive muscle tone, spasticity, hyperreflexia, a strained-strangled vocal quality, and slow rate.

Ataxic Dysarthria

A motor speech disorder caused by cerebellar damage, resulting in muscle incoordination, slurred speech, scanning prosody, and irregular articulatory breakdowns.

Hyperkinetic Dysarthria

A motor speech disorder linked to basal ganglia pathology with elevated dopamine, resulting in involuntary muscular movements that disrupt speech rate and prosody.

Hypokinetic Dysarthria

A motor speech disorder linked to basal ganglia pathology with reduced dopamine, characterized by tremors, bradykinesia, monopitch, monoloudness, and short rushes of speech.

Apraxia of Speech

A speech disorder impairing the planning and programming of motor movements for speech production, occurring without underlying muscle weakness or comprehension deficits.

Multiple Sclerosis

A demyelinating disease of the central nervous system that causes variable neurological symptoms including fatigue, weakness, sensory changes, dysarthria, and dysphagia.

Circle of Willis

A vascular ring located around the optic chiasm and pituitary gland that provides collateral circulation between the internal carotid arteries and the vertebrobasilar system.