NURSING 1J02 Lecture 3: Week 3: Neurological Assessment
Document Summary
Center for governing thought, memory, reasoning, sensation and voluntary movement. Frontal lobe: concerned with personality, behaviour, intellectual function & emotions. frontal lobe contains precentral gyrus which initiates voluntary movement. Parietal lobe: contains postcentral gyrus which is primary centre for sensation. Wernicke"s area is associated with language comprehension. Damage to any of these parts will cause corresponding loss of function. Bands of grey matter deep within the 2 cerebral hemispheres. Control automatic associated movements of the body (eg. swinging arms when walking) Sensory pathways of spinal cord & brainstem form synapses on their way to the cortex. Control temp, heart rate & bp; regulate sleep & the anterior & posterior pituitary; coordinating autonomic nervous system activity and emotional status. Motor coordination of voluntary movements, equilibrium and muscle tone. Doesn"t initiate movement - coordinates and smooths it, works below conscious level. Midbrain: merges into thalamus and hypothalamus, contains many motor neurons and tracks. Pons: enlarged area containing ascending and descending tracts.