PSY 212: Biopsychology Final Review 2 (Neuroanatomy)

What is the imaginary lines that runs down the center of the spinal cord and brain?

Neuraxis

Mammals that walk upright have brains where in relation to the spinal cord?

perpendicular to the spinal cord

Anterior (rostral)

Front

posterior (caudal)

back

medial

closer to midline

lateral

farther from midline

Dorsal

top of head/back

Ventral

bottom of head/front

What does ipsilateral mean?

Same side

What does contralateral mean?

opposite side

What does decussates mean?

nerve fibers cross over to the other side of the brain

What are frontal sections of the brain known as?

coronal sections (slicing dorsal to ventral side)

What does horizontal sections of the brain entail?

slicing from the anterior to posterior end

What does saggital sections of the brain entail?

slicing along the midline

What is the CNS comprised of?

brain and spinal cord

What is the PNS comprised of?

nerves and the peripheral ganglia

What protects the CNS?

The meninges, dura mater, arachnoid membrane, and pia mater

What is the tough outer layer of connective tissue (inside the skull) that insulates/protects the brain?

The meninges

What is the most outer layer of connective tissues?

The dura mater (hard mother)

What is the middle spongy layer insulating the brain?

The arachnoid membrane

What is the space filled with cerebrospinal fluid called?

Subarachnoid; in arachnoid membrane; it insulates the brain and provides nutrients

What is the lower level insulating the brain?

Pia mater- thin layer of connective tissue that makes contact with the brains surface

What allows the brain to float?

cerebrospinal fluid; similar in chemical composition to blood plasma; fills the entire subarachnoid space; produced by choroid plexus from material derived from the blood at a rate of 125mL/3 hours

When does the neural tube form?

18 days after conception; embryo forms plate on the dorsal side; eventually grooves from by D28, a full tube has developed'; neural tube becomes the CNS

What lines the neural tube?

Stem cells (progenitor cells that are constantly dividing)

• inside-out formation of the cortex (cell furthest from the wall of the neural tube becomes deepest cortical layers; there are 6 layers total)

What are two divisions of cells?

symmetrical and asymmetrical division

What makes up the forebrain?

telencephalon and diencephalon

What makes up the midbrain?

mesencephalon

What makes up the hindbrain?

metencephalon and myelencephalon

What is the newest part of the brain by evolutionary standards?

the cerebral cortex; major division separated by sulci and fissures, producing bulges called gyri

What are the bulges of the brain called?

the gyri

What are major brain divisions separated by?

sulci and fissures

What are the four major divisions (lobes) of the brain?

frontal, temporal, parietal, and occipital

What behaviors are the frontal lobe involved in?

Planning (prefrontal cortex) and execution (motor cortex) of goal directed behaviors

What behaviors is the temporal lobe involved in?

Processing of auditory stimuli (primary auditory cortex) and object recognition

What behaviors is the parietal lobe involved in?

Processing of somatosensory stimuli(primary somatosensory cortex)

What behavior is the occipital lobe involved In?

Processing of visual stimuli (primary visual cortex)

What is it called when certain parts of the brain are responsible for different things?

Lateralization

What is the left brain responsible for?

analysis of "serial" events (talking, reading, writing, or anything verbal)

What is the right brain responsible for?

Synthesis (drawing ability, spatial recognition, anything quanititative)

What are the structures involved in the limbic system? (broad)

Telencephalic structures involved in processing memory nd emotional stimulus

What are the structures in the limbic system? (specific)

-Hippocampus

-Amygdala

-(Hypo)Thalamus

-Fornix

-Mammillary Bodies

-Basal Ganglia (dorsal striatum)

What are the dicephalon structures?

Thalamus, Hypothalamic, and pituitary gland

What is the thalamus responsible for?

responsible for processing visual (lateral geniculate necleus) and auditory stimuli (medial geniculate nucelus); contains projection fibers that project to cortical areas for further processing

What is the hypothalamus responsible for?

governs the autonomic nervous system and the four F's: fighting, feeding, fleeing, and mating

What is the pituitary gland responsible for?

secretes hormones that govern various behaviors through the body

What are the two parts of the (Mensephalon) midbrain?

tectum and tegmentum

What includes the inferior and superior colliculi necessary for processing auditory and visual stimuli, respectively; visual and auditory input areas

Tectum

What include Reticular Formation, Periaqueductal Greay Area (PAG), and the Substantia Nigra/Red Nuclei?

Tegmentum

What are the parts of the hindbrain (Metencephalon)

cerebellum, medulla oblangata, and pons

What does the cerebellum control?

Coordination of movement

What does pons mean?

bridge

What does the pons control?

thus involved in sleeping/wakefulness; contains areasof the reticular formation

What does the medula oblongata control?

heartbeat and respiration

What does the spinal cord contain?

nerve fibers that branch out and control muscles throughout the body

How many vertebrae protect the spinal cord?

24 (cervical, thoracic, lumbar, sacral, coccygeal)

What are vertebrae connected with?

cartilage

What is the order of the vertebrae of the spinal cord?

(lowest) coccyx, sacrum, lumbar, thoracic, cervical (highest)

How many pairs of cranial nerves are there?

12 pairs

What does afferent and efferent mean?

motor or sensory

Where do the cranial nerves come from?

leaves the CNS from the ventral portion of the brain (not spinal cord)

What does the Autonomic Nervous System consist of?

Sympathetic branch and parasympathetic branch

What does the sympathetic branch of the autonomic nervous system do?

Increases blood flow to the muscles, stimulates the release of pro-energy hormones (epinephrine via adrenal medulla) cell bodies orginiate in the thoracic and lumbar spinal cord; expidenture of energy

What does the paraympathetic branch of the autonomic nervous system do?

storage of energy, increase digestion and blood flow to GI tract; cell bodies located in vagus nerve (cranial nerve X) or sacral portion of the spinal cord

Path of CSF

1. choroid plexus (produced)

2. lateral ventricles

3. 3rd ventricles (more produced)

4. cerebral aqueduct

5. 4th ventricles (more produced)

6. subarachnoid space

7. Reabsorption of old CSF is done through arachnoid granulations and enters the superior sagittal sinus (drains into the circulatory system)

symmetrical division

division of one propgenitor cell produces two progenitor cells (occuring before D49 of development)

asymmetrical division

division of one propgenitor cells produces raidal glia which extend from the deepest layers of the ventricular zone to the pia mater (brain surface)

neurons use these fibers to climb to their final resting spot within the cortex. from there they receive chemical signals from other neurons _____ to begin forming synapses (synaptogenisis)

BDNF,NGF

progenitor cells recieve apoptotic signal shortly thereafter and they die (50% of all neurons die via these mechanisms as well)

what is postnatal development

• most changes occur during puberty and reflect changes in function interactions between the frontal cortex and limbic structures

• adult neurogenesis is still a contentious subject but the work of rakic and others seems to suggest that hippocampmal cortical neurogenesis persist into adulthood

connects the two hemispheres subcortically

corpus callosum

reticular formation

mediates state of consciousness and cycling between different states; when you’re asleep; helpful neurologically and dreaming (pons reticular formation)

PAG (periaqueductal greay area)

pain system modification (endorphins)- sits next to cerebral aqueduct

• pain signals carried to brain in separate fibers

• pass pag on way to thalamus and pag expresses endorphins

substantia niagra /red nuclei

parkinson’s different appearance than surrounding tissue; if you damage that area you get issues with movement

spinal cord dorsal and ventral roots

become integrated inside the spine and send information to (regarding sensation) and from (regarding movement) the brain

dorsal root ganglia

afferent neurons (bear toward CNS) bring sensory information to the brain

ventral root ganglia

efferent neurons (bear away from cns) control movements of muscles

what do dorsal and ventral root ganglia do

travel to and from muscles, skins organs and either provide information or contain instructions

cranial nerves can be

afferent or efferent (motor or sensory)

name some cranial nerves

optic II or cochlea VIII -sensory

facial VII or hypoglossal XII nerve- motor

paraympathetic branch

storage of energy, increase digestion and blood flow to GI tract. cell bodies located in vagus nerve (cranial nerve X) or the sacral portion of the spinal cord