Neuroanatomy Terminology and Brain Structures

These flashcards cover critical vocabulary and concepts related to neuroanatomy, brain structures, and their anatomical orientations.

Dorsal fin

The fin located on the back of a fish, used here as a mnemonic for understanding dorsal direction in anatomy.

Ventral

Referring to the belly or underside of an organism.

Medial

Referring to the middle or center of the body.

Lateral

Referring to the sides of the body, away from the midline.

Anterior

Referring to the front part of an organism.

Posterior

Referring to the back part of an organism.

Cervical flexure

The bend in the spinal cord during early development; affects anatomical orientation in upright organisms.

Sagittal plane

A vertical plane that divides the body into left and right parts.

Coronal plane

A vertical plane that divides the body into anterior (front) and posterior (back) sections.

Horizontal plane

A plane that runs parallel to the ground, dividing the body into upper and lower parts.

Mixed nerve

Nerves that carry both sensory (afferent) and motor (efferent) signals.

Dorsal root ganglia

Collections of cell bodies for sensory neurons located within the dorsal roots of spinal nerves.

Reflex arc

The neural pathway that controls a reflex action.

Monosynaptic reflex

A reflex involving a single synapse between a sensory neuron and a motor neuron.

Cerebellum

Part of the brain that coordinates voluntary movements and balance.

Hypothalamus

A brain region that regulates homeostasis and motivated behaviors such as hunger and thirst.

Thalamus

The brain region that acts as a relay station for sensory information, except for smell, before it reaches the cortex.

Telencephalon

The part of the forebrain that includes the cerebral cortex and associated structures.

Limbic system

A group of brain regions involved in emotion, behavior, and memory.

Basal ganglia

A group of nuclei in the brain involved in movement control and reward processing.

Default mode network

A network of brain regions that is active when a person is at rest and not focused on the external environment.

Central executive network

A brain network involved in cognitive tasks and decision-making.

Salience network

A network that helps identify the most relevant stimuli in the environment and switch between different cognitive states.