Introduction to Course and Nervous
System
NEU257
Mammalian Neuroanatomy
1/6/11
•Introductions
•Structure of the course
•Course website
•Class structure
•Textbook
•Examinations
•Goals of course
•
Two faces of neuroanatomy
•
Anatomy as organizational framework
•
Anatomy as experimental discipline
Class structure
• No required text, but required reading!
• Read relevant chapters before you come to class
• Combination of lecture and laboratory
– More you read, more laboratory you get!
– Class will be here unless otherwise noted
• Lectures will be available as Powerpoint before
class
– Lecturers: Please copy your presentation to Flash drive
Examinations
• Practical
– Teaching aid
– Based on slides (Powerpoint) of brain
regions
• No black boxes
– Material from lecture, laboratory and
textbook fair game
• Midterm and Final
Useful web sites
• Listed on your syllabus
– Digital anatomist
– Brainmaps.org
– Neuroscience Information Framework
– Neurolex
– Brain Info
Gross anatomy of the nervous
system
Adult mammalian neuroanatomy
Organization of the Nervous System
•CNS (neural plate)
•Brain
•Spinal cord
•PNS (neural crest)
•Somatic
•Autonomic
•Sympathetic
•Parasympathetic
•Enteric
“gross anatomical convenience”-Swanson
•Gut motility and
secretion
Directions
Lateral
Distal
Ipsilateral
Medial
Proximal
Relative to midline
Lateral
Distal
Contralateral
Planes of Section
http://aids.hallym.ac.kr/d/kns/tutor/r1-7-3.jpg
Cardinal
planes vs
oblique
planes
Quadruped vs Biped
“For almost all vertebrates, including almost all bipeds, these axes
all provide a consistent reference for anatomical positions across
species—with the inferior/superior axis being roughly the same as
the dorsal/ventral axis, and therefore redundant. Humans, however,
have the rare property of having a torso oriented perpendicular to
their direction of forward motion—while their head orientation
remains consistent with other vertebrates on this axis. This makes
the dorsal/ventral axis on humans redundant with the
anterior/posterior axis, and the inferior/superior axis necessary.
Because of this difference with humans, the anterior/posterior and
inferior/superior axes are inconsistent between humans and other
vertebrates in torso anatomy but consistent in head anatomy.
“http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anatomical_terms_of_location
http://www.lrn.org/Graphics/Figure1.4.gif
Transverse-Horizontal
Frontal-coronal
Dorsal-ventral/anterior
posterior/superior-inferior
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1d/Planes_of_Section.JPG
Development of the Nervous System
Divisions of the Brain
Embryonic vesicles form the fundamental regional brain divisions in
the adult
Alar vs Basal Plates
Sylvian Fissure
Gyri and sulci
Dividing up the brain
Terms:
•White matter vs gray
matter
•Cortex vs Subcortical
nuclei
•Nuclei vs Ganglia
•Columns: elongated
nuclei
•Laminar (layered)
structure
Nissl vs Myelin Stain
Callosum (L): hard, tough
Corpus Callosum
Commissure vs decussation
More white matter terms
• White matter:
• Tract: common origin and destination
• Fasciculus, funiculus, peduncle or
brachium: distinct collection of nerve
fibers (may contain many tracts)
• Lemiscus: Ascending fibers in the
brainstem
Brain is divided into “regional parts” based on:
Gross appearance: e.g., gray matter vs white matter
Landmarks, e.g., sulci
Histology
Cytoarchitecture
Chemoarchitecture
Projection patterns
Functional considerations
General Functions Associated with each Lobe
Somatosensory
Motor
P
F
O
T
Audition
Structure-function relationships
Vision
Sulci form useful landmarks to delineate different functional areas
Cerebral Blood Supply
The Ventricles
Cerebral ventricles
•Lateral ventricles
•Interventricular
foramen
•Third ventricle
•Cerebral
aqueduct
•Fourth ventricle
Ventricular system in mid-sagittal
section
Useful guides for identification
Meninges
Pachymeninges=dura
mater
Leptomeninges =
Arachnoid + pia mater
Sinuses
Cerebrospinal Fluid
CSF
•125 ml in adult human
•500 ml/24 hr period
•Produced by choroid
plexus, principally in the
lateral ventricles
•Forms “water cushion” for
brain
•Bathes neural tissue,
extending into perivascular
spaces
Flow of CSF
Hydrocephalus
Other Useful Websites
• http://faculty.washington.edu/chudler/neuroroot.html
– Greek and Latin roots of neuroscience (especially neuroanatomy)
words