Central Nervous System Flashcards by Molly Hennessy

What are the connective tissues surrounding the brain?

Dura mater, Arachnoid mater, pia mater

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What are the 2 layers of the Dura mater?

Periosteal layer (periosteum): attached to skull
Meningeal layer: true external covering of brain

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What are the arachnoid granulations? What does it do?

Portions of arachnoid mater that extend through dura mater into dural sinuses; This is where CSF is returned to the blood after circulating through the CNS

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What is the function of the CSF? Where is it found?

Located in subarachnoid space and ventricles; floats and cushions CNS, provides nutrients & removes waste

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What produces CSF?

Continuously produced by ependymal cells of the capillary-rich choroid plexus

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What is hydrocephalus? Why does it occur in babies?

CSF is overproduced and causes intracranial pressure and brain swelling; happens in babies because their skull is not fused so allow for swelling

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What is white matter made of?

Myelinated axons

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What is grey matter composed of?

Everything w/o myelin: dendrites, cell bodies, glial cells

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What is the outer gray matter of the brain? Inner?

Cerebral cortex; nuclei

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What is the outer white matter of the spinal cord?

Fiber tracts

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What is the diencephalon comprised of?

Thalamus, hypothalamus, epithalamus

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What is the mesencephalon made of?

Fiber tracts, superior & inferior colliculi

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What is the metencephalon comprised of?

The pons and cerebellum

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What forms the myelencephalon?

Medulla

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What are the different types of fiber tracts?

Projection fibers, Commissural fibers, Association fibers

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What are fiber tracts?

Bands of myelinated axons

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What is the function of a projection fiber?

Allows communication between cerebral cortex and the rest of the CNS

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What is the function of a commissural fiber?

Allows communication between right and left hemispheres

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What is the function of an association fiber?

Allows from communication within different parts of the same hemisphere

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What does the corpus callosum do? What kind of fiber tract is it?

Allows right hemisphere to communicate with left; commissural fiber

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What are the 3 primary types of processing areas in the cerebral cortex? What are their functions?

Sensory areas: interpret sensory information coming into brain
Motor areas: dictate motor response
Association areas: apply meaning

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What is a sulci? What is a gyri? What is a fissure?

Sulci = furrow, small indentations
Gyri = Ridges
Fissure = deep indentations

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What is the central sulcus?

Divides frontal and parietal lobes

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What is the longitudinal fissure?

Separates both cerebral hemispheres

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What are the lobes of the cerebral cortex?

Frontal lobe, parietal lobe, occipital lobe, temporal lobe, insula

What are the functions of the frontal lobe?

Voluntary motor control; higher order cognitive functions (thinking, planning, decision making...)

What does the primary motor cortex do? Where is it found?

Conscious control of skeletal muscles; frontal lobe

What does the premotor cortex do?

Association area, plans and coordinated complex movements

What does the prefrontal cortex do? Where is it found?

Association area, Involved in personality, cognition, and intellect; frontal lobe

What is Broca's area in control over? Where is it found?

Motor control of speaking; found in the left frontal lobe

What is the main function of the parietal lobe?

Input and interpretation of sensory information coming from somatic senses (touch, temperature, pain, pressure...)

What does the primary somatosensory cortex do? Where is it found?

Receives input from somatic sensory receptors of body; parietal lobe

What does the somatosensory association area do? Where is it found?

Interprets sensory information based on prior experience; parietal lobe

What is the function of the temporal lobe?

Receives and interprets sounds and sensory information from the inner ear and smell from the nasal cavity

What does the primary auditory cortex do? Where is it found?

Conscious awareness of sound; temporal lobe

What does the auditory association area? Where is it found?

Evaluation of sound; temporal lobe

What is wernicke's area? Where is it found?

Recognition of spoken words; temporal lobe

What is the primary olfactory cortex? Where is it found?

Conscious awareness of smells; temporal lobe

What does the occipital lobe do?

Receives and interprets stimuli from retina of eye

What is the primary visual cortex? Where is it found?

Receives information coming from receptors in retina; occipital lobe

What is the visual association area? Where is it found?

Memories of images, analysis of color, form, and movement; occipital lobe

What is the function of the insula?

Visceral sensory cortex here, involved with the processing of emotions, self-recognition

What is the gustatory cortex? Where is it found?

Receives and interprets sensory information from taste receptors; insula

What is the basal nuclei? Where is it found?

Works with cerebal cortex to control motor movements; clusters of cell bodies deep to white matter of cerebrum

What is the striatum made of? Where is it located? What does it do?

Caudate nucleus + putamen; in the basal nuclei; interacts with substania nigra

What are the functions of the basal forebrain nuclei?

Arousal, learning & memory, motor control

What is the limbic system?

Considered the emotional brain

What is the amygdaloid body? What system is it a part of and where is it found?

involved in PTSD, memory of fear, regulates anger...; part of the limbic system; found in the temporal lobe

What is the job of the hippocampus?

conversion of short-term memories to long-term memories

What are the structures that are part of the diencephalon?

Thalamus, Epithalamus, Hypthalamus

What is the job of the thalamus?

Sensory information going to cerebral cortex must first go through the thalamus

What structure is found in the epithalamus? What does it do?

Pineal gland; secretes melatonin

What are the functions of the hypothalamus?

Hunger & thirst, Body temperature, Controls smooth muscle & cardiac muscle, and regulates the release of hormones from pituitary gland

What does the midbrain include? What do they do?

Superior colliculi: involved in visual reflexes | Inferior colliculi: Involved in auditory reflexes

What does the pons do?

"Bridge" between cerebral cortex and cerebellum, coordination of voluntary movements

What does the cerebellum do?

Coordinates muscle movements, involved with balance, fine motor control, and motor memory

What are the components of the brain stem?

Medulla, pons, midbrain

What are the functions of the medulla?

Basic life support functions (heart rate, blood pressure, rate of breathing)

What are the meningeal layers of the spinal cord?

Dura mater, arachnoid mater, pia mater

What is the epidural space? Where is it found?

Fat filled space around dura mater in the spinal cord

What are the 2 spinal cord enlargements? Why are they enlarged?

Cervical enlargement (upper limbs), Lumbar enlargement (lower limbs); a larger number of neurons are entering/leaving the spinal cord

Sensory information enters through the _____ side and goes ______.

Dorsal/Posterior; to the brain

Motor information enters through the _____ side and goes ____.

Ventral/Anterior; away from the brain

What are ascending tracts? Descending tracts? Commissural tracts?

Ascending:Sensory neuron axons Descending: Motor neuron axons Commissural: Interneurons that carry information from one side of the spinal cord to the other

What are the general steps of an ascending pathway?

1. Sensory Receptors are activated 2. Sensory Neurons synapse with interneurons within the dorsal horn 3. Interneurons transport signal via ascending tracts to the the brain

What are the general steps of a descending pathway?

1. Motor cortex initiates a response 2. Interneurons transport signal to spinal cord 3. Interneurons synapse within ventral horns 4. Motor neuron transports signal to cells of action

What is the reflex arc? What are the different types?

An automatic and rapid motor response that doesn't require input from the brain; Monosynaptic & Polysynaptic