BIOL 124 Exam 4 Central Nervous System (CNS) Flashcards

What are the ventricle spaces in the brain?

Lateral (one on each side)

Third (inside diencephalon)

Fourth (between brainstem and cerebellum)

List the components of the layers that protect the brain. This includes the blood brain barrier and maters.

Skull, CSF (cerebrospinal fluid), Meninges (dura mater, arachnoid, pia mater), Blood brain barrier (capillary endothelium and astrocytes)

Where is the cerebrospinal fluid produced (be specific) and what is one of its functions?

Ependymal cells in the choroid plexus. (CSF flows from ventricles into subarachnoid space) Shock absorbers, optical chemical environment, circulation of nutrients, waste removal.

Association fibers

connect brain structures of the same hemisphere

Commissural fibers

connect gray areas of 2 hemispheres

Projection fibers

enter the hemispheres from lower brain regions

What are the 3 functional areas involved in interpreting pain (i.e. stubbing your toe)? List them in the order that they interpret pain.

1. Sensory

2. Associations

3. Motor

How does contralateral processing occur?

When hemispheres receive sensory information from opposite side of the body

What does the left hemisphere control?

Language, math, logic (and the right side of the body contralaterally)

What does the right hemisphere control?

Visual-spatial skills, emotion, and artistic (left side of body contralaterally)

Premotor cortex function

learned motor skills (repetition and pattern)

Broca’s area

motor speech

Primary motor cortex

skeletal muscle movement

Primary somatosensory cortex

receives and interprets sensory impulses

Cerebellum

posture and balance

Hypothalamus

regulates body temperature, hunger, water imbalances through hormones and endocrine system

Thalamus

relay center, sends afferent impulses to cerebral cortex. relay for all sensory information

Pineal gland

secretes hormone for sleep (melatonin)

Reticular formation

filters incoming sensory information, keeps cerebral cortex alert, controls/maintains consciousness

Brainstem

basic life functions → example: breathing

Limbic system

involves in emotion (amygdala) and memory (hippocampus)

Low glucose levels lead to (list symptoms):

dizziness, altered mental status, loss of conciousness

List the three layers of the spinal meninges:

dura mater, arachnoid mater, pia mater

Where does the cerebrospinal fluid circulate in the spine?

Subarachnoid space and central canal

In the spinal nerve, which root does the afferent neuron travel?

Dorsal root

Which cervical spinal nerve exists below the vertebrae?

C8

Which cervical spinal nerve exists above the vertebrae?

C1-C7

Why would each peripheral nerve have fibers from more than one spinal nerve?

Backup. Having more than one spinal nerve segment doesn’t completely disable connection to CNS.

Name the four plexuses, and what they innervate

1. Cervical (C1-C5) - Head, neck, ear, posterior head, shoulder, diaphragm

2. Brachial (C5-T1) - Skin and muscle of pectoral girdle and upper limbs

3. Lumbar (L1-L4) - Skin and muscle of abdominopelvic region, anterior, and medial thigh

4. Sacral (L4-S4) - Skin and muscle of buttock, perineum, posterior thigh, lower leg, and foot

What is the importance of dermatomes?

Can determine which areas are damaged based on sensations of the skin through cutaneous pain. Dermatomes - area of the skin innervated by a single spinal nerve.