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Neuroanatomy Flashcards

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1
Q

Where do the superior and inferior colliculus sit?

A

On the dorsal brainstem in the midbrain, just medial to the thalami

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2
Q

Where do the pyramids sit?

A

On the ventral brainstem, in the medulla just below the pons. Medial to the olives

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3
Q

Where are the olives found?

A

Ventral brainstem medulla - lateral to the pyramids

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4
Q

What demarcates the midbrain from the pons on the dorsal brainstem?

A

The inferior border of the inferior colliculus

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5
Q

Which cranial nerve nuclei are found in the midbrain?

A

Oculomotor

Trochlear

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6
Q

Which autonomic nucleus is found in the brainstem?

A

Edinger-Westphal nucleus - parasympathetic fibres

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7
Q

How do the parasympathetic fibres originate and travel to the eye and what do they innervate?

A

Originate in the EW nucleus in the midbrain. Travel with CN3 to the ciliary ganglion and then sphincter papillae and the ciliary muscles

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8
Q

Which cranial nerve nuclei are found in the pons?

A 
Trigeminal motor nucleus
Part of the trigeminal sensory nucleus
Abducens
Facial motor nucleus
Part of the vestibular and cochlear nuclei
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9
Q

What autonomic nucleus is found in the pons? Which type are they?

A

Superior and inferior salivatory nuclei

Parasympathetic

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10
Q

Where is the nucleus accumbens found?

A

In the basal ganglia - ventral striatum, underneath the caudate nucleus and putamen

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11
Q

Where is the nucleus ambiguus found? What does it do?

A

In the medulla

Contains CN 9, 10 and 11 information - hence innervates the pharynx and larynx

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12
Q

Which brainstem nucleus is responsible for nerves to the pharynx and larynx?

A

Nucleus ambiguus - CN9, 10 and 11

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13
Q

What is the nucleus solitarius?

A

Responsible for visceral sensory afferents including taste

ANS information including baroreceptors, chemoreceptors to hypothalamus

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14
Q

Where is the nucleus solitarius found?

A

Medulla

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15
Q

What nucleus is responsible for visceral afferents, including taste?

A

Nucleus solitarius

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16
Q

What cranial nerve nuclei are found in the medulla?

A 
Nucleus solitarius
Part of the trigeminal sensory nucleus
Part of the vestibular and cochlear nucleus 
Nucleus ambiguus
Vagus nucleus
Hypoglossal nucleus
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17
Q

Where are the mammillary bodies found?

A

Ventral surface of the hypothalamus - rostral to the midbrain, visible on the ventral surface

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18
Q

Where is the pineal gland found?

A

Postero-superior to the thalamus

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19
Q

Where are the specific thalamic nuclei found?

A

The ventral portion of the lateral nuclear group

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20
Q

What are the afferents and efferent to the ventral posterior nucleus of the thalamus?

A

Afferents - spinothalamic, medial lemniscus and trigeminothalamic tracts
Efferent - primary somatosensory cortex

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21
Q

What are the afferents and efferent of the lateral geniculate nucleus?

A

Afferents - visual (optic tract) - contralateral 1/2 of visual field
Efferent - primary visual cortex via the optic radiations

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22
Q

What are the afferent and efferent of the medial geniculate nucleus?

A

Afferent - auditory info (from inferior colliculus of midbrain)
Efferent - primary auditory cortex

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23
Q

What is the inferior colliculus for?

A

Projects afferent auditory information to the thalamus

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24
Q

What are the afferent and efferent of the ventral anterior nucleus of the thalamus?

A

Afferent - ipsilateral basal ganglia and substantia nigra

Efferent - premotor association cortex

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25
What are the afferents and efferents of the ventral lateral nucleus of the thalamus?
Afferents - ipsilateral globus pallidus, substantia nigra and contralateral dentate nucleus of cerebellum Efferents - primary motor cortex
26
What part of the thalamus projects to the primary motor cortex?
Ventral lateral nucleus
27
What part of the thalamus projects to the premotor association cortex?
Ventral anterior nucleus
28
What part of the thalamus projects to the primary somatosensory cortex?
Ventral posterior nucleus
29
What part of the thalamus projects to the auditory cortex?
Medial geniculate nucleus
30
What part of the thalamus projects to the visual cortex?
Lateral geniculate nucleus
31
Which parts of the thalamus have limbic connections?
Anterior nuclear group - afferents from mammillary bodies via mammillothalamic tract, efferents to the cingulate gyrus Lateral dorsal nucleus - afferent from the hippocampus, efferent to the cingulate gyrus
32
What is the pulvinar region of the thalamus connected to?
Parietal, temporal and occipital association cortices
33
What does the lateral posterior nucleus of the thalamus connect to?
Sensory association cortex of the parietal lobe
34
What are the afferents and efferent of the medial nuclear group of the thalamus?
Afferents from hypothalamus, amygdala, prefrontal cortex and other thalamic nuclei Efferents to the prefrontal cortex
35
Which part of the thalamus is responsible for connections with the prefrontal cortex?
Medial nuclear group
36
What are the intralaminar nuclei of the thalamus involved with?
Afferents from brainstem (reticular activating formation), spinothalamic and trigeminothalamic tract Efferents to cortex, caudate nucleus and putamen Involved in 'activation' of the cortex
37
What part of the thalamus is involved with activating the cerebral cortex via connections with the brainstem reticular activating formation?
Intralaminar nuclei
38
What does the pineal gland do?
Produces melatonin; involved in sleep wake regulation
39
What do lesions of the subthalamus cause?
Hemiballismus
40
What constellation of symptoms do thalamic lesions cause?
Contralateral sensation loss, often in face, limbs Thalamic pain in the anaesthetic areas 'Focal' cortical lesions
41
Which part of the thalamus has connections with the parietal, occipital and temporal association cortices?
Pulvinar
42
What forms the lenticular nucleus anatomically?
Putamen and globus pallidus
43
What forms the neostriatum functionally?
Putamen and caudate nucleus
44
How are the basal ganglia arranged?
Putamen connects to head of caudate anteriorly, which extends posteriorly and medially Globus pallidus sits medial to putamen, lateral to anterior limb of internal capsule
45
What is the amygdala attached to?
Sits at the end of the caudate nucleus anteriorly
46
Which part of the basal ganglia is functionally related to the substantia nigra?
Globus pallidus
47
Which part of the basal ganglia receives most of the afferents? What are these afferents?
Striatum - putamen and caudate nucleus Afferents from corticostriatal fibres (motor to putamen), thalamostriatal projections from the interlaminar nuclei and nigrostriatal projections
48
Where do striatal efferents project to?
Globus pallidus | Pars reticulata of substantia nigra
49
Where does the globus pallidus receive afferents from?
Striatum | Subthalamic nuclei
50
Where do efferents from the globus pallidus project to?
Inhibitory fibres to subthalamic nucleus | Pallidus and pars reticulata of substantia nigra project jointly to the thalamus
51
What are the major functional efferents from the basal ganglia?
Pallidothalamic fibres to the ventral anterior and lateral thalamic nuclei
52
How does Huntington's disease result in abnormal movements?
Scarcity of striatal neurones which project to the external segment of the globus pallidus (the inhibitory, indirect pathway) This leads to disinhibition of external pallidal neurons, leading to inhibition of the subthalamic nucleus Internal pallidal neurons become underactive leading to unwanted movements
53
What are the targets for DBS in PD?
Internal pallidus | Subthalamic nucleus
54
What are the anterior-most hypothalamic nuclei and where do they project?
Paraventricular and supraoptic nuclei | Project directly to the neurohypophysis
55
Where is the lateral hypothalamus and what does it control?
Just medial/ventral to the subthalamus | Controls food and water intake, so lesions may lead to anorexia or adipsia
56
What does the medial hypothalamus contain?
Nuclei: Paraventricular produces oxytocin Supraoptic produces vasopressin Suprachiasmatic nucleus - sleep wake cycle Ventromedial nucleus - food and fluid intake
57
What do lesions of the ventromedial nucleus of the hypothalamus cause?
Abnormally increased food intake
58
What is the major input to the limbic system?
Modal-specific sensory information collected and referred to the inferior parieto-occipital association areas (perceptuospatial functions) This is then conveyed to the inferior frontal association areas (planned behaviour regulation) and the inferior temporal association areas (supramodal status and meaning - semantic processing)
59
What are the major amygdala afferents?
Inferior temporal association cortex Septum Olfactory tract
60
What are the 2 major amygdala efferents?
``` Amygdalofugal tracts to hypothalamus Stria terminalis (via wall of third ventricle) to hypothalamus ```
61
What comprises the hippocampal formation?
Hippocampus Dentate gyrus Parts of parahippocampus
62
Where is the dentate gyrus?
Between the hippocampus and parahippocampus
63
What are the 2 major hippocampal afferents?
Inferior temporal cortex | Entorhinal area of temporal lobe
64
What is the major hippocampal efferent and where does it go?
Fornix - to mammillary bodies
65
Where is the fornix?
Sits just inferior/inside the corpus callosum
66
What are the two major efferents from the mammillary bodies?
Anterior nuclear group of thalamus | Brainstem via medullotegmental tract
67
What is the structural relationship between the cingulate gyrus, parahippocampus and corpus callosum?
Cingulate gyrus and parahippocampus are continuous with one another above/outside the corpus callosum
68
Neural activation of the anterior and posterior hypothalamus generally causes what?
Anterior - parasympathetic activity | Posterior - sympathetic activity
69
What are the 3 major inputs to the striatum and where do they come from?
Thalamostriatal - interlaminar nuclei Corticostriatal - cortex Nigrostriatal - from SNc
70
Of the four major frontal subcortical loops, which afferent to the putamen and which input to the caudate?
Motor -> putamen | Oculomotor, limbic and prefrontal -> caudate
71
What are the 4 major frontal subcortical circuits?
Motor Limbic Prefrontal Oculomotor
72
What are the striatal efferents?
Indirect pathway to GPe and STN Direct pathway to GPi SNr
73
What are the overall striatal efferents?
GPi and SNr
74
Where do the GPi and SNr project? What nuclei, in what way and what neurotransmitter?
Thalamus motor nuclei (ventral anterior and lateral) - inhibitory via GABA
75
What are the two major divisions of the substantia nigra and which neurotransmitters do they utilise?
Pars reticulata - GABA | Pars compacta - DA
76
Describe the pathology of Huntington's chorea in terms of direct and indirect pathways in the basal ganglia?
HD is characterised by loss of GABAergic indirect pathway neurons projecting from the striatum to the GPe This results in underactivity of the inhibitory indirect pathway; disinhibition of the GPe, increased inhibition of GPi/SNr neurons and loss of inhibition of involuntary movements via thalamic outputs
77
How does DBS for PD work in terms of the schematic BG model?
Stimulators inhibit either GPi or STN; either way the net result is loss of inhibition of the thalamus leading to reduction of unwanted movements
78
What are the afferents in the Oculomotor frontal-subcortical loop?
Frontal eye fields (FEF) and supplementary eye fields (SEF)
79
How do the FEF and SEF effect gaze and saccades?
They activate gaze centres for voluntary saccades | They activate the Oculomotor loop, disinhibiting the superior colliculus
80
What relationship does the SNr have with eye movements? When is it active?
SNr has inhibitory projections to the superior colliculus; it is active when the eyes are at rest
81
What are the two primitive eye reflexes involved in gaze and saccades?
Visual Grasp Reflex VGR - causes eye movement in direction of a suddenly approaching stimulus Fixation reflex - anchors the eye on a foveated stimulus
82
What and where are the neurons that govern the fixation and VGR reflexes?
Fixation and saccade neurons respectively, both found in the superior colliculus
83
What process is associated with voluntary control over the fixation and VGR reflexes?
Maturation of the frontal-nigral (SNr)-collicular pathways
84
What is the relationship between the SNc and the corticostriatal pathways?
Dopamine differentially regulates the activity of the direct and indirect pathways; the direct pathway neurons express excitatory D1 receptors, and the indirect pathway neurons express inhibitory D2 receptors. Decreased dopaminergic activity therefore decreases direct pathway activity and increases indirect pathway activity
85
What is Fahr's disease?
Idiopathic autosomal dominant calcification of the basal ganglia, mostly GPi
86
What names are given to the corticospinal tract as it runs down through the body?
Above basal ganglia - part of corona radiata Between BG and pons it is crus cerebri Below pons it is CS tract
87
What is contained in the external capsule?
Corticocortical association fibres | Cholinergic fibres from basal forebrain to cerebral cortex
88
What 2 connections are made in the extreme capsule?
Association fibres between Broca and Wernicke, and the claustrum and insula
89
What is the claustrum thought to do?
Seamless quality of conscious experience | Intersense integration
90
Where is the claustrum?
Between the putamen and external capsule, and the extreme capsule and insula
91
What is notable about the cytoarchitecture of the claustrum?
Poverty/uniformality of cell types
92
What are the four major commissures in the brain?
Corpus callosum Anterior and posterior commissures Fornix

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