Lecture 7a

Tuesday, September 18, 2018 13:07

Functional Neuroanatomy

Anatomical Terminology
- Specific terminology is used to describe reference points, features, regions,
and directions associated with the human body
▪ Cranial: relating to skull
▪ Cephalic: relating to head
▪ Medial: toward the bodies longitudinal axis
▪ Lateral: Away from the bodies longitudinal axis
▪ Ipsilateral: same side
▪ Contralateral: opposite side
▪ Proximal: towards an attached base; near
▪ Distal: away from an attached base; far

Dorsal/Ventral
- Body
4-legged animals are different from humans
- Brain
Sectional planes
- Sagittal plane--divides brain into left and right
- Coronal Plane(front and back)--divides brain into anterior and posterior
 - Body
4-legged animals are different from humans
- Brain
Sectional planes
- Sagittal plane--divides brain into left and right
- Coronal Plane(front and back)--divides brain into anterior and posterior
- Horizontal plane (transverse plane)--divides the brain into-inferior-ventral
and superior-dorsal
The nervous system
- Peripheral NS: made up of all the neurons located outside of the brain and
spinal cord
- Carry sensory information from the body to the CNS
- Carry commands from the CNS to the muscles, glands and organ
Somatic & Autonomic NS
Somatic NS
- Voluntary-i.e. consciously controlled by person
- Skeletal muscle movements--walking, jumping
Autonomic NS
- Involuntary-i.e., person is not aware/conscious/ in control of functions
- Regulates functions of internal organs, heart, lungs, stomach, intestines
Sympathetic NS
- Prepare the body for vigorous muscular activity by controlling different
organs and glands
- Changes occur simultaneously
- Nervous, pressure, sweating, prepare the body for the actions
Parasympathetic NS
- Controls most of the same organs at the sympathetic NS
- Has the OPPOSITE effect
- Promotes restoration and recovery
- Increase digestion
Both sympathetic parasympathetic are always active-the balance between them
governs our arousal levels

Spinal cord
- Connects the brain with the rest of the body
- Sensory neuron: carries sensory information into the dorsal horn (gray
matter) of the spinal cord via the dorsal root
Spinal cord
- Connects the brain with the rest of the body
- Sensory neuron: carries sensory information into the dorsal horn (gray
matter) of the spinal cord via the dorsal root
- Motor neuron: carries motor information out of the spinal cord from the
ventral horn via the ventral root to organs and muscles
- Dorsal root ganglion--the cell bodies/soma's of many sensory neurons for this
cluster just outside the spinal cord
- Gary matter: contains dendrites and cell bodies primarily from motor
neurons
- White matter: Mostly myelinated axons which carry information from the
gray matter up and down the spinal cord.

The brain-General Anatomy

- The brain is comprised of two hemispheres that are held together by a band
of nerve fibres can corpus collosum
- Corpus callosum-allows communication between the hemispheres
- Region connect the brain, we rely on the corpus callosum to transform
information
Hindbrain: Myelencephalon
Medulla
- First 'bulge' at the top of the spinal cord
- Marks the transition between the brain and spinal cord
- Sneezing, coughing regulate those behaviours
Pons
- Part of the metencephalon with the cerebellum
- Latin for 'bridge'; it connects to both hemispheres
- Anterior and dorsal to the medulla
 - Marks the transition between the brain and spinal cord
- Sneezing, coughing regulate those behaviours
Pons
- Part of the metencephalon with the cerebellum
- Latin for 'bridge'; it connects to both hemispheres
- Anterior and dorsal to the medulla
- Motor control, motor functioning such as Parkinson disease
The pons and Medulla contain:
- Reticular formation---sleep, arousal, temperature control
- Raphe nuclei--serotonin release, readiness, alertness, ciradian rhythms
Cerebellum
- Regulates motor movement, balance and coordination
- Shifting attention between auditory and visual stimuli
Midbrain: Mesencephalon
Tectum
Contains two sensory nuclei:
- Superior Colliculi: visual reflexes, tracking of moving objects
- Inferior Colliculi: auditory reflexes, controls reflexive responses to sound
Tegmentum
- Most dorsal region of the reticular formation--sleep, arousal

Forebrain: Diencephalon
Thalamus:
- receives and transmits sensory information from every sense(except smell)
- Primary source of input into the cortex
Hypothalamus
- Smaller region ventral to the thalamus
- Responsible for the most basic drives: hunger, thirst, aggression, body
temperature
- Communities with the pituitary gland to regulate hormone release-regulates
the sleep-wake cycle
- Dietary problem

Forebrain: Telencephalon
Basal Ganglia
Comprised of a network of brain structures: caudate nucleus, putamen, globus
pallidus (work together), amygdala(regulation, perform the duty to control the
emotion)
Parkinson's and Huntington's disease
Limbic System
- Comprised of a network of brain structures
- Amygdala (emotions and fear)
- Hippocampus (episodic and long-term memory)
- Olfactory bulb (sense of smell)
- Cingulate gyrus (fold covering the corpus callosum-emotion and behaviour
regulation)
- Primary role: emotions, memories, arousal---regulates hunger and thirst
 - Amygdala (emotions and fear)
- Hippocampus (episodic and long-term memory)
- Olfactory bulb (sense of smell)
- Cingulate gyrus (fold covering the corpus callosum-emotion and behaviour
regulation)
- Primary role: emotions, memories, arousal---regulates hunger and thirst
- Associated disorder: Anxiety disorders, eating disorders, Alzhemier's disease,
amnesia
Cerebral cortex
- Outer-most layer of the brain
- ~2mm thick, comprised of gray matter
- Highest level of processing, therefore requires many neurons
- Highly convoluted, numerous folds--increases the surface area to hold more
neurons
- Larger than the cortex

Occipital lobe
- Most posterior region of the cortex
- Primarily responsible for processing visual input-especially visual processing
- Damage this area: cortical blindness, cannot generate the perception,
develop thing called blind sights
Temporal lobe
Higher-level visual processing
- Fail to recognize things, fails to recognize complex patterns (faces)
- Loss of sound awareness
- Language comprehension deficits
Parietal Lobe
- Primarily responsible for processing sensory information from the body
- Damage: loss of sensation--cannot detect heat, pain general touch
Frontal lobe
Largest lobe located:
• Pre-frontal cortex (PFC)--Executive function
• Primary motor cortex (M1/pre-central gyrus)--orange area of the brain
• Broca's area, language development, if it damaged, people struggle to
produce language, physical come out what they thinking
- Executive functions, planning, emotions, motor control, involved in the most
processing--integrates information from the other 3 lobes
- PFC--short-term memory, planning, problem solving. Addiction, terrible
gambling problem
- M1-generates motor output
Damage: M1: loss of movement
PFC--impulsive and risk-taking behaviour, inability to accurately plan ahead,
lack flexible thinking and insight into consequences of actions