Brain and Cranial Nerves Vocabulary

Comprehensive vocabulary flashcards generated from the Brain & Cranial Nerves lecture notes, covering structural anatomy, lobes, functional areas, tracts, nuclei, and the diencephalon.

Pia mater

The innermost layer of the cranial meninges.

Arachnoid mater

The middle layer of the cranial meninges, which has a webby appearance and is composed of collagen and elastin.

Dura mater

The tough outer layer of the cranial meninges located directly against the cranium.

Falx cerebri

A cranial dural septum located in the longitudinal fissure that separates the left and right parts of the brain.

Tentorium cerebelli

A cranial dural septum that separates the cerebrum from the cerebellum.

Falx cerebelli

A cranial dural septum that separates the left and right cerebellar hemispheres.

Diaphragma sellae

A cranial dural septum that separates the thalamus and hypothalamus.

Dural venous sinuses

Venous structures where blood can be drained from the brain to relieve pressure.

Choroid plexus

A specialized structure in each ventricle that forms cerebrospinal fluid (CSF).

Blood-brain barrier (BBB)

A regulatory barrier that controls which substances can enter the interstitial fluid of the brain; it is missing or reduced in the choroid plexus, hypothalamus, and pineal gland.

Corpus callosum

The largest axon tract that connects the left and right cerebral hemispheres.

Frontal lobe

The cerebral lobe bounded by the central and lateral sulci that controls voluntary movement, concentration, verbal communication, decision making, planning, and personality.

Parietal lobe

The cerebral lobe involved primarily with general sensory processing.

Temporal lobe

The cerebral lobe located deep to the temporal bone that is involved with hearing and smell.

Occipital lobe

The cerebral lobe located deep to the occipital bone that processes incoming visual information and stores visual memories.

Insula

A cerebral lobe located deep to the lateral sulcus that is involved in interoceptive awareness, emotion, empathy, and taste.

Broca area

A motor area located within the inferolateral portion of the left frontal lobe.

Frontal eye field

A motor area on the superior surface of the middle frontal gyrus, immediately anterior to the premotor cortex, that controls vision and binocular vision.

Premotor cortex

An association area that coordinates skilled motor activities, such as eyes moving together across a page.

Somatosensory association area

An association area that integrates and interprets sensory information such as texture, temperature, shape, and pressure.

Auditory association area

An association area that interprets characteristics of sound and stores memories of sound.

Wernicke area

An association area housed in the temporal and parietal lobes that recognizes and comprehends spoken and written language.

Longitudinal fasciculi

Association tracts that connect different lobes within the same hemisphere without crossing between hemispheres.

Projection tracts

White matter tracts that connect the cerebrum to lower brain regions and the spinal cord.

Caudate nucleus

A cerebral nucleus that coordinates upper extremity and lower extremity movements for gait.

Amygdaloid body

A cerebral nucleus involved in the expression of emotions.

Lentiform nucleus

A cerebral nucleus consisting of the putamen and globus pallidus that regulates muscle tone in the body.

Claustrum

A cerebral nucleus involved in consciousness and processing multiple stimuli.

Epithalamus

The posterior roof of the diencephalon that covers the third ventricle and contains the pineal gland and habenular nucleus.

Thalamus

Paired masses of gray matter on each side of the third ventricle where sensory impulses from all conscious senses except olfaction converge and synapse.

Hypothalamus

An anteroinferior region of the diencephalon attached to the pituitary gland via the infundibulum that controls the autonomic system, endocrine system, body temperature, emotional behavior, food/water intake, and circadian rhythms.