1 - Topography of the Nervous System Flashcards

1
Q

What are the different components of the CNS and the PNS?

A
  • CNS cannot regenerate but PNS can
  • Cauda equina made up of dorsal and ventral roots
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2
Q

What is white and grey matter?

A

Grey: cell bodies and dendrities. Highly vascularised as metabolically active. In brain there is extra layer of grey matter on outside

White: made of axons and connects grey areas together. Fatty myelin makes it white

In the PNS grey matter is ganglion and white matter is peripheral nerve.

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3
Q

Define the following 3 terms relating to divisions of white matter in the spinal cord:

  • Funiculus
  • Tracts
  • Fasiculus
A

Funiculus: a segment of white matter which contains axons going up and down the spinal cord

Tracts: connection between two areas of grey matter where the axons are only running in one direction

Fasiculus: subdivision of a tract which supplies a distinct region of the body

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4
Q

How is grey matter in the spinal cord split up?

A
  • Into cell columns called Rexed’s laminae
  • Motor neurones supplying a given muscle arise from multiple segments and form a nucleus
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5
Q

What is the definition of a fibre in the CNS and what are the three different types of fibre?

A

- Fibre: axon in association with its supporting cell e.g oligodendrocyte

  • Association fibres connect the same hemisphere, commisural connect right and left hemisphere and projection connect cerebral hemispheres with cord/brainstem
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6
Q

What is a nucleus?

A

A collection of nerve cell bodies

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7
Q

What is the difference between dorsal and ventral roots?

A

- Dorsal: sensory

- Ventral: motor

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8
Q

What are the colliculi?

A

Reflex centre in the midbrain for rapid responses to sound and vision, e.g orientate head towards explosion

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9
Q

What are the functions of the brain stem?

A
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10
Q

What are the main sulci in the brain and their significance? e.g central

A
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11
Q

What is the function of the following and where on the inferior aspect of the brain are they located?

  • Optic Chiasm
  • Uncus
  • Medullary Pyramids
  • Parahippocampal Gyrus
A
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12
Q

What is the function of the following:

  • Corpus Callosum
  • Thalamus
  • Cingulate Gyrus
  • Hypothalamus
A
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13
Q

What is the function of the following:

  • Fornix
  • Tectum
  • Cerebellar Tonsil
A
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14
Q

Where is CSF made, stored and reabsorbed?

A
  • Made in the choroid plexus found in ventricles
  • Has metabolic, immune and mechanical protection functions
  • Circulates in ventricles and subarachnoid space then reabsorbed at arachnoid granulations
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15
Q

Draw and explain the ventricular system of the brain.

A
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16
Q

What issues can arise due to the cerebral aqueduct?

A

Really narrow so can get occluded and cause dilation of superior structures leading to hydrocephalus

17
Q

What is a Jacksonian seizure?

A

Focal partial seizure starting in one area that can move proximally through the body as the seizure spreads down cortical homunculus

18
Q

How is hydrocephalus treated?

A

Ventriculo-peritoneal shunt

19
Q

Draw a diagram of a reflex arc.

A

Synapses in the ventral horn

20
Q

What is the Jendrassik reflex?

A
21
Q

Why does this meningioma show up when using Gd contrast and why does it need to be removed even though it is benign?

A
  • Contrast is absorbed by the lesion as has caused a break in the BBB so can get through
  • Could cause herniation and Cushing’s reflex so needs to be removed
22
Q

Define the following terms:

  • Aphasia
  • Apraxia
  • Dysarthria
  • Dysdiadochokinesis
  • Areflexia
  • Chorea
  • Agnosia
A
  • Impairment of language, affecting the production or comprehension of speech and the ability to read or write
  • Loss of the ability to execute or carry out skilled movements and gestures, despite having the desire and the physical ability to perform them
  • Slurred or slow speech that can be difficult to understand
  • Impaired ability to perform rapid, alternating movements
  • Don’t have typical reflexes
  • Abnormal involuntary movement disorder
  • Inability to interpret sensations and hence to recognise things e.g recognise an object
23
Q

What are the different types of spina bifida and how can you prevent this condition occuring?

A
  • Take folate supplements 3 months before concieving to prevent this and cleft palate defects
  • Myelomeningocele is the msot dangerous
24
Q

What is the abnormality in this CT and how should this patient be treated?

A
  • Dilation of the lateral ventricles as the cerebral aqueduct is blocked so hydrocephalus is occurring as impairment of CSF drainage
  • Ventriculoperitoneal shunt
25
Q

Where are the following in the brain:

  • Telencephalon (Cerebrum)
  • Diencephalon
  • Mesencephalon
A
  • See picture
  • Just below septum pellucidum
  • Midbrain
26
Q

Where are the following anatomical ares of the brain:

  • Cingulate gyrus
  • Uncus
  • Parahippocampal gyrus
  • Parieto-occipital sulcus
A
27
Q

Where are the anterior and posterior commisures of the brain and what is their function?

A

Connects lobes of the two hemispheres

28
Q

Where is the pineal gland located?

A
29
Q

What is the cervical and lumbar enlargement?

A

Cervical: corresponds with the attachments of the large nerves which supply the upper limbs. It extends from about the fifth cervical to the first thoracic vertebra

Lumbar: widened area of the spinal cord that gives attachment to the nerves which supply the lower limbs. It commences about the level of T11 and ends at S2

30
Q

What is the lumbar cistern?

A

Subarachnoid space in the lower lumbar spinal canal