Week 1: Lab

Question 1

Three flexures of the brain

Answer 1

1. Cervical flexure (between spinal cord and hindbrain)
   –Separates brain from spinal cord
2. Cephalic Flexure (at the midbrain)
   –brings the forebrain toward brain stem
3. Pontine Flexure (between metencephalon and myelencephalon)
   –helps to create the 4th ventricle and separates pons from medulla

Question 2

Compare alar plate and basal plate

Answer 2

Alar: Afferent (sensory)
Basal: Efferent (motor)

Question 3

Steps of Inside-Out cortical neurogenesis

Answer 3

1. Proliferation: neural progenitor cells divide in the ventricular zone (lining of the lateral ventricles)
2. Migration: New neurons migrate outward along radial glial fibers. New neurons settle cloest to the ventricular zone, later ones settle more superficially
3. Layer formation: cortex forms 6 layers with layer 1 the most superficial
4. Differentiation: neurons mature and organize into functional circuits