12-14 study guide

Name the four major regions of the brain

Cerebrum, cerebellum, diencephalon, brainstem

What is the cerebral cortex? Where would you find the cerebral cortex?

The surfaces of the cerebral hemispheres are highly folded and covered by a collection of neurons that form a thin superficial layer of gray matter.

What are gyri

Cerebral cortex forms a series of rounded elevations on the brain’s surface.

What are Suici

Are the shallow grooves that separate the gyri.

What are fissures

Are the deeper grooves that separate larger brain regions.

Which of the four major brain regions has fissures, suici, gyri?

Cerebrum

What three brain structures make up the brainstem?

Midbrain, pons, medulla oblongata

What structure allows the lateral ventricles to communicate with the third ventricle?

Intraventricular foramen.

What fluid fills the ventricles?

Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF)

Starting at the brain, name the cranial meninges from deep to superficial.

Pia mater, arachnoid mater, dura mater.

What is the function of dural folds?

Dural folds are inward projections of the dura mater into the cranial cavity. They provide additional stabilization and support to the brain

Name the three largest dural folds

faix cerbri, tentorium cerebelli, faix cerebelli.

Where would you find the subdural space

This is found below the dura mater and above the arachnoid.

The subarachnoid space?

The space is located below the arachnoid mater and above the pia mater.

List three important functions of cerebrospinal fluid (CFS).

Supporting the brain, cushioning against physical trauma, and transporting nutrients, chemical messengers, and waste.

Where would you find the choroid plexus?

within each ventricle of the brain.

What neuroglial cells are in the choroid plexus?

specialized ependymal cells

What fluid is produced in the choroid plexus?

The fluid produces and maintains the cerebrospinal fluid.

What is hydrocephalus

It means water in the brain, and it is an abnormal build-up of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) in the brain’s ventricles

What causes hydrocephalus

a problem with reabsorption and a blockage in the circulation of CSF.

What two arteries supply the brain with blood?

The internal carotid arteries and vertebral arteries supply the brain with blood.

What is the major vein that carries venous blood away from the brain?

The internal jugular vein takes takes blood away from the brain.

What is the medical term for a stroke?

Cerebrovascular accident, CVA.

What does the blood-brain barrier separate?

The nervous tissue of the central nervous system from the general circulation of blood.

What would happen to the blood-brain barrier if astrocytes were damaged or stopped functioning?

The blood brain barrier would disappear, meaning harmful and not harmful substances to enter brain tissue freely.

What neuroglial cell produces a blood-CSF barrier in the choroid plexus?

Specialized ependymal cells.

Which of the three brainstem regions is the attachment site for 11 of the 12 cranial nerves?

The medulla oblogonta

What is the decussation of pyramids?

Refers to the crossing over of axons in the corticospinal tracts at the medulla oblongata.

What is the cardiovascular center function

Adjust the heart rate, the rate of cardiac contractions, and the flow of blood through peripheral tissues.

What is the respiratory rhythmic centers function

Set the basic pace for respiratory movements.

The medulla oblongata contains the cuneate and gracile nuclei. What is their function?

Their function is to relay somatic sensory information to the thalamus.

The medulla oblongata is one of the smallest sections of the brain, yet damage there can cause death, whereas similar damage in the cerebrum might go unnoticed. Why?

It contains vital autonomic reflex centers that keep you alive without conscious effort, they control breathing, regulation of heart rate and the force of contractions, and help maintain blood pressure.

The pons contains two (pontine) centers. Name them and state their collective function.

Apneustic center and pneumotaxic center and their collective function is that together they adjust the activities of the respiratory rhythmicity centers.

What is the function of the transverse pontine fibers?

The function is to interconnect cerebellar hemispheres by linking pontine nuclei with the contralateral cerebellum.

What structures comprise the corpora quadrigemina?

Two pairs of sensory nuclei, superior colliculi and inferior colliculi.

Which region of the brainstem contains the red nucleus and the substantia nigra?

Midbrain

Where is the headquarters of the reticular formation?

Midbrain

Which region of the brainstem contains the reticular activating system (RAS)?

Midbrain

What is the function of the RAS

arousal and maintenance of consciousness

What happens if there is damage to the RAS?

to unconsciousness.

What is the function of the superior colliculi

They receive and integrate visual information, initiate reflex responses to visual stimuli, control reflex movements of the eyes, head, and neck in response to things like a bright light.

What is the function of the inferior colliculi?

Receive auditory information and relay it to the medial geniculate nuclei of the thalamus. Initiate reflex movements of the head, neck, trunk and upper limbs in response to sounds such as a loud noise.

What are folia?

Are leaflike folds on the surface of the cerebellum.

What is the Purkinje cell layer of the cerebellum composed of?

Composed of large, highly branched neuron cell bodies called perkunje cells.

) In what part of the brain would you find a structure called arbor vitae? What does it look like?

It is found within the cerebellum and it is the internal white matter of the cerebellum, forming a branching array that in sectional view resembles a tree.

What are the two main functions of the cerebellum?

Adjusting the postural muscles of the body and programming and fine-tuning movements controlled at the conscious and subconscious levels.

What is the result of a permanently damaged cerebellum caused by trauma or stroke?

The result would be ataxia, which causes movements to be poorly timed and inaccurately directed, the person may have trouble walking in a straight line.

What is the function of the cerebellar cortex and cerebellar nuclei?

They both have the same function and are responsible for the involuntary coordination and control of ongoing body movements.

Name the three regions of the diencephalon.

Epithalamus, thalamus, hypothalamus.

What endocrine gland is part of the epithalamus? What hormone does it secrete?

The pineal gland, and it secretes the hormone melatonin.

What region of the diencephalon is the final relay point for sensory information ascending to the cerebral cortex?

The thalamus

What region of the diencephalon acts as a filter to allow only a small portion of sensory stimuli to proceed to the cerebral cortex?

The thalamus

What are the functions of the lateral geniculate body

Receives visual information from the optic tract coming from the eyes, projects visual information to the visual cortex, and integrates sensory information and influences emotional states.

What are the functions of the medial geniculate body located in the thalamus?

Recieves auditory information, projects auditory information to the auditory cortex, and forms feedback loops with the limbic system and parietal lobes.

What endocrine gland is connected to the hypothalamus

The endocrine gland connected to the hypothalamus is the pituitary gland.

What is the stalk-like connection called that joins the gland to the hypothalamus?

The stalk like connection is called the infundibulum

What two hormones are secreted by the hypothalamus?

Antidiuretic hormone (ADH) and oxytocin.

Which area of the hypothalamus is responsible for thermoregulation

Pre-optic area

What are the functions of the paraventricular nucleus

Secretes oxytocin

What are the functions of the mammillary bodies

Control feeding reflexes, specifically licking and swallowing

What are the functions of the suprachiasmatic nucleus?

Regulates daily rhythms (biological clock)

Which system is called the motivational system, since it makes you want to perform complex tasks?

Limbic system

What is the function of the hippocampus?

Memory and emotion

Which part of the limbic system controls the “fight or flight response” of the sympathetic division of the autonomic nervous system

Amygdaloid body

Which part of the limbic system links emotions with specific memories?

Amygdaloid body

What is the function of gyri?

To increase the surface area of the cerebral hemispheres without needing a larger skull.

What structure almost completely separates the two cerebral hemispheres?

Deep longitudinal cerebral fissures.

On each cerebral hemisphere, what structure divides the frontal lobe from the parietal lobe?

The central sulcus.

State three types of fibers in cerebral white matter and state what brain regions they connect.

Associating fibers interconnect areas within the same cerebral hemisphere. Commissural fibers facilitate connection between the two cerebral hemispheres.

What are basal nuclei and where are they found?

They are collections of gray matter within the cerebellum that play a key role in the subconscious control of movement.

state the function of the caudate

subconscious adjustment and modification of voluntary motor commands.

function of the lentiform nucleus

subconscious adjustment and modification of voluntary motor commands.

Name the three main functional areas of the cerebral cortex?

Motor areas, sensory areas, association areas

What type of information do motor areas process

Generate voluntary motor commands

What type of information do sensory areas

sensory information and allow for conscious perception of stimuli

What type of information do association areas

interpret incoming sensory data and coordinate motor response.

list the Lobe/Area and state their function: Frontal

Primary motor cortex, voluntary control of skeletal muscles

list the Lobe/Area and state their function: Parietal

Conscious  perception of touch, pain, vibration, taste, and temperature.

list the Lobe/Area and state their function: Occipital

Conscious perception of visual stimuli

list the Lobe/Area and state their function: Temporal

Conscious perception of auditory and olfactory stimuli

What is Wernicke’s area? Broca’s area?

Are language centers in the cerebral cortex usually in the left hemisphere

What is an electroencephalogram (EEG)?

It is a printed recording of the electrical activity of the brain.

What is the primary function of the olfactory nerve?

Special sensory for smell

What is the primary function of the optic nerve?

Special sensory, vision.

What occurs at the optic chiasm?

The visual pathways from the two eyes undergo a partial crossing (decussation) of fibers

What is the primary function of the oculomotor nerves?

Primary motor function: They control eye movements.

What is the primary function of the trochlear nerves?

They control eye movements by innervating the superior oblique muscle.

What is the primary function of the abducens nerves?

Motor nerves whose primary function is to control eye movements.

Which three cranial nerves primarily function in eye movement?

Oculomotor nerve, trochlear nerve, abducens nerve

Which cranial nerves are associated with a painful condition called trigeminal neuralgia, also known as tic douloureux?

Trigeminal nerve

Which cranial nerves are associated with Bell’s palsy?

Facial nerve

Which cranial nerves primarily function in hearing, balance, and equilibrium?

Vestibular nerve, and the cochlear nerve.

What part of the body is being referred to when the root word “glossus” is used?

Tongue

Which cranial nerves are mixed nerves that are widely distributed in the thorax and abdomen?

Vagus nerves

Which cranial nerves provide motor signals to the muscles of the neck and upper back?

Accessory nerves

Which cranial nerves are associated with tongue movement?

Hypoglossal nerves

Define a cranial reflex

Automatic, rapid response to a stimulus that involves the sensory and motor fibers of cranial nerves.

List the four spinal cord regions from superior to inferior?

Cervical, Thoracic, Lumbar, Sacral

What fluid is in the central canal of the spinal cord and the subarachnoid space?

Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF)

What parts of the body are being served by the cervical and lumbar enlargements?

It supplies nerves to the shoulder and upper limbs and Pelvis and lower limbs.