PSYCH 2NF3 Chapter Notes - Chapter 3: Bipolar Neuron, Autonomic Nervous System, Red Nucleus
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Neuropsychology Textbook Notes
Fundamentals for Human Neuropsychology: Sixth Edition
Chapter 3:Organization of the Nervous System
Neuroanatomy: Finding your way around the brain
-most brains structures are common amongst all mammals
-100 years ago Lorente de No, made the first detailed description of a brain
(mouse brain through a microscope)
Describing Locations in the Brain
Relative to Body
Rostral- beak (latin)
Caudal-tail (latin)
Dorsal- back (latin)- top= superior
Ventral-stomach (latin)-bottom-inferior
*these descriptions of brain means the part is located towards the above
body parts
Relative to face
Dorsal-top
Ventral-bottom
Anterior-front
Posterior-back
Lateral-sides
Medial-middle
Direction of cut (brain)
Coronal- vertical cut (crown and down)
Horizontal- horizontal cut
Sagittal- hotdog cut, across mid-line length of brain
-nervous system is symmetrical (left and right side)
Ipsilateral: structures that lie on the same side of brain
Contralateral: structures that lie on opposite sides of brain
Bilateral: structures that lie on both of EACH side of the brain
Proximal: structures close in distance
Distal: structure far in distance
Afferent: movement toward brain (central nervous system) Example:
sensory info to brain
Efferent: movement away from brain (peripheral nervous system)motor
pathway to body
-humans stand upright, whereas animals tend to have quadruped posture…
likewise brain has similar spatial orientation, BUT not spinal cord
-dorsal and ventral in quadrupeds= anterior and posterior in humans
A Wonderland of Nomenclature
Ex. Precentral gyrus
Other names: “the motor strip” “Jackson’s strip”
-primary motor cortex (M1)
-damaged by stroke in a patient = reduced motor ability
An Overview of Nervous System Structure and Function
•Central nervous system (CNS): brain + spinal cord
•Peripheral nervous system (PNS): everything else
Somatic NS: cranial nerves+ spinal nerves
-produces movement, transmits sensory info to CNS (5 senses)
Autonomic NS: sympathetic division + parasympathetic system
-sympathetic: fight or flight
-parasympathetic: rest and digest
Support and Protection
CNS is protected in 4 ways
1.Bone encasement: skull to brain, as vertebrae is to spinal cord
Peripheral lies outside, regeneration capability (growing new axons and
dendrites)
2. Triple-Layered Membranes, meninges:
Outer: dura mater (tough, double layer)
Middle: arachnoid membrane (thin, contours brain)
Inner: pia mater (tough, clings to brain)
3. Cerebrospinal fluid: circulates in 4 ventricles of brain, spinal column,
subarachnoid space
-cushions CNS from shock and impacts
-continuously made and drained circulatory system
-outflow blockage= hydrocephalus (water brain) retardation or death
4. Blood-brain barrier: CNS protected from chemicals by capillary cells
forming tight junctions, to avoid permeability of harmful substances into
CNS tissue
Blood Supply
-brain blood supply: 2 internal carotid arteries, 2 vertebral arteries (course up
side of neck)
-all four arteries connect at bases of brain, branch off into smaller arteries
(irrigate the brainstem and cerebellum), then form 3 arteries that irrigate the
forebrain
-anterior cerebral artery (ACA) irrigates medial +dorsal (cortex)
-middle cerebral artery (MCA) irrigates lateral (cortex)
-posterior cerebral artery (PCA) irrigates ventral + posterior (cortex)
Veins
-returns deoxygenated blood to heart to re-oxygenate = external and internal
cerebral and cerebellar veins
Neurons and Glia
-brain origin= neural stem cell (aka germinal cell)
-stem cell is capable of self-renewal
-when sem cells divides into 2 new cells, 1 dies (in adult) to maintain
constant #
-embryo: stem cells make progenitor cellsmake blasts (non-dividing)