Nervous System Overview

Question 1

Macrostructure of Nervous System

Answer 1

Nervous System

Central
>Brain
>Spinal Cord

Peripheral
>Cranial and Spinal Nerves
>Visceral Afferent
>Autonomic Nervous System (Efferent)

Question 2

Afferent VS Efferent

Answer 2

Afferent: arriving at the brain, bringing sensory information from body

Efferent: exiting the brain, bringing motor information to the muscles

Question 3

Central Nervous System

Answer 3

Brain
>Cortex
»Surface: gray matter, complex
»Inside: white matter, transmit

Spinal Cord
Pathway from brain to peripheral nerves of the trunk and limbs

Hierarchically organized by complexity!

Question 4

Gray Matter

Answer 4

Made of neuron cell bodies
Outside of brain, inside of spinal cord
Areas/landmarks of the brain are really just clusters of cell bodies!

Question 5

Lobes of the Brain

Answer 5

Frontal

• movement
• higher level thinking & monitoring

Temporal
- auditory processing and comprehension

Parietal
- somatic sensation and processing

Occipital
- visual processing

Insular
- homeostasis and consciousness

Limbic
- motivation, emotion, memory

Question 6

White Matter

Answer 6

Made of axons

Myelinated = fatty tissue

Question 7

Cerebral Connections

Answer 7

Projection Fibers
Vertical
Cortex <> Brainstem / Spinal Cord

Association Fibers
Horizontal
Within Hemisphere
(Arcuate Fasciculus)

Commissary Fibers
Transverse
Between Hemispheres
Corpus Callosum

Question 8

Specific Cortical Areas

Answer 8

Primary Motor Projection Areas
Efferent

Primary Sensory Reception Areas
Afferent

Association Areas
86% of cortex
Integrate and process info
Monitoring

Broadmann’s Areas pinpoint areas of function to create common vocabulary

Question 9

Primary Cortices

Answer 9

Precentral Gyrus
Primary Motor Cortex

Post central Gyrus
Primary Somatosensory Cortex

Superior Temporal Gyrus (Heschl’s)
Primary Auditory Cortex

Occipital Pole
Primary Visual Cortex

Medial Surface of Temporal Lobe
Primary Olfactory Cortex

Question 10

Association Cortices

Answer 10

Cortical Motor Speech Association Areas
Plan motor movements
Opercular Gyri
>Broca’s (posterior inferior frontal lobe)

Cortical Sensory Association Areas
Attach meaning to sensation
General Somatic Association Areas
Wernicke’s (auditory association and language processing)
Visual Association Areas

Question 11

Association Areas (amount of processing, terms)

Answer 11

Unimodal - one type of info processed, adjacent to primary area

Polymodal - processes 2+ kinds of sensory info, often convenient location

Supramodal - cognitive thinking, integrated with info from cortex, typically prefrontal area

Question 12

Limbic Lobe

Answer 12

Establishes memory
Motivates communication
Generates emotional/visceral response
Connected with olfactory

Cingulate Gyrus
Hippocampus
Amygdala 
Mammillary Bodies
Fornix

Question 13

Subcritical Structures of CNS

Answer 13

Thalamus
Major relay station for sensory info

Hypothalamus
Maintains autonomic and endocrine function
Regulates emotional/escape behaviors and body functions

Question 14

Basal Ganglia

Answer 14

Receives Input from motor cortex (execution) and thalamus (sensory)
Motor control hint: programs and controls voluntary and stereotypic movements
Sends info to primary Motor center

Question 15

Cerebellum

Answer 15

Connects to context through brainstem
2 hemisphere
Coordinates and refines motor movement
Aids in postural stability and motor learning
Minor role in cognitive processing

Question 16

Brainstem

Answer 16

Controls flow of information between brain and body
Controls basic body function:
-breathing
-swallowing
-heart rate
-blood pressure
-consciousness
-sleep/wake cycles

Question 17

Reflexes

Answer 17

Defense mechanisms through the Spinal Cord

Sensation goes to dorsal side
Motor comes out ventral side