Flashcards: Central nervous system

The cervical plexus is a plexus of the anterior rami of the first four cervical spinal nerves which are located from C1 to C4 cervical segment in the neck.

The ventricular system is a set of four interconnected cavities (ventricles) in the brain, where the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) is produced.

The glymphatic system (or glymphatic clearance pathway) is a functional waste clearance pathway for the vertebrate central nervous system (CNS).

Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) is a clear, colorless body fluid found in the brain and spine.

Grey matter (or gray matter) is a major component of the central nervous system, consisting of neuronal cell bodies, neuropil (dendrites and myelinated as well as unmyelinated axons), glial cells (astroglia and oligodendrocytes), synapses, and capillaries.

In anatomy, the extrapyramidal system is a biological neural network that is part of the motor system causing involuntary movements.

Rasmussen's encephalitis, also known as chronic focal encephalitis (CFE), is a rare inflammatory neurological disease, characterized by frequent and severe seizures, loss of motor skills and speech, hemiparesis (paralysis on one side of the body), encephalitis (inflammation of the brain), and dementia.

The extrastriate cortex is the region of the occipital cortex of the mammalian brain located next to the primary visual cortex, which is also named striate cortex because of its striped appearance in the microscope.

The fourth ventricle is one of the four connected fluid-filled cavities within the human brain.

The suprachiasmatic nucleus or nuclei (SCN) is a tiny region of the brain in the hypothalamus, situated directly above the optic chiasm.

An electrical synapse is a mechanical and electrically conductive link between two neighboring neurons that is formed at a narrow gap between the pre- and postsynaptic neurons known as a gap junction.

Neuropil, sometimes referred to as "neuropile," is a broad term defined as any area in the nervous system composed of mostly unmyelinated axons, dendrites and glial cell processes that forms a synaptically dense region containing a relatively low number of cell bodies.

The blood–brain barrier (BBB) is a highly selective permeability barrier that separates the circulating blood from the brain extracellular fluid in the central nervous system (CNS).

The hypophyseal portal system is a system of blood vessels in the brain that connects the hypothalamus with the anterior pituitary.

White matter refers to axon tracts and commissures.

Ependyma is the thin epithelial lining of the ventricular system of the brain and the central canal of the spinal cord, made up of ependymal cells.

The hindbrain or rhombencephalon is a developmental categorization of portions of the central nervous system in vertebrates.

Astrocytes (Astro from Greek astron = star and cyte from Greek "kyttaron" = cell), also known collectively as astroglia, are characteristic star-shaped glial cells in the brain and spinal cord.

The barrel cortex refers to a region of somatosensory cortex that is identifiable in some species of rodents and species of at least two other orders and contains the barrel field.

The lateral recess is a projection of the fourth ventricle which extends into the inferior cerebellar peduncle of the brainstem.

Moving caudally from the rostral midbrain, at the site of the rostral pons and the midbrain, the medial RF becomes less prominent, and the lateral RF becomes more prominent.

The lenticular fasciculus is a tract connecting the globus pallidus to the thalamic fasciculus.

The dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC or DL-PFC) is an area in the prefrontal cortex of the brain of humans and non-human primates.

The reticulospinal tract (or anterior reticulospinal tract) is an extrapyramidal motor tract that descends from the reticular formation in two tracts to act on the motor neurons supplying the trunk and proximal limb muscles.

Ventrolateral prefrontal cortex (VLPFC), part of the prefrontal cortex, is located on the inferior frontal gyrus, is bounded superiorly by the inferior frontal sulcus and inferiorly by the lateral sulcus, being attributed to the anatomical structures of Brodmann's area (BA) 47, 45 and 44 (considered the subregions of the VLPFC – the anterior, mid and posterior subregions).

Through studies of human embryos performed in the late 1890s, Swiss anatomist Wilhelm His identified a portion of hindbrain neuroepithelium that was distinct from the rest of the hindbrain neuroepithelium in its morphology, sustained chromosomal division into late stages of embryogenesis, and deployment of streams of neurons through the hindbrain periphery.

The reticular activating system (RAS), or extrathalamic control modulatory system, is a set of connected nuclei in the brains of vertebrates that is responsible for regulating wakefulness and sleep-wake transitions.

The median aperture (also known as the medial aperture, and foramen of Magendie) drains cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) from the fourth ventricle into the cisterna magna.

The obex (from the Latin for barrier) is the point in the human brain at which the fourth ventricle narrows to become the central canal of the spinal cord.

The pallidothalamic tracts (or pallidothalamic connections) are a part of the basal ganglia.

The posterior funiculus of the spinal cord lies between the posterolateral and the posterior median sulcus.

The fields of Forel are areas in a deep part of the brain known as the diencephalon.

A funiculus is a bundle of one or more nerve fascicles.

The unconscious mind (or the unconscious) consists of the processes in the mind which occur automatically and are not available to introspection, and include thought processes, memories, interests, and motivations.

The metencephalon is the embryonic part of the hindbrain that differentiates into the pons and the cerebellum.

In the spinal cord, the most lateral of the bundles of the anterior nerve roots is generally taken as a dividing line that separates the antero-lateral region into two parts: an anterior funiculus, between the anterior median fissure and the most lateral of the anterior nerve roots; and a lateral funiculus, between the exit of these roots and the postero-lateral sulcus.

The ventral spinothalamic fasciculus (or anterior spinothalamic tract) situated in the marginal part of the anterior funiculus and intermingled more or less with the vestibulo-spinal fasciculus, is derived from cells in the posterior column or intermediate gray matter of the opposite side.

The optic radiation (also known as the geniculocalcarine tract, the geniculostriate pathway, and posterior thalamic radiation) are axons from the neurons in the lateral geniculate nucleus to the primary visual cortex.

In the brain, the interventricular foramina (or foramina of Monro) are channels that connect the paired lateral ventricles with the third ventricle at the midline of the brain.

The zona incerta is a horizontally elongated region of gray matter cells in the subthalamus below the thalamus.

The most lateral of the bundles of the anterior nerve roots is generally taken as a dividing line that separates the anterolateral system into two parts.

In human brain anatomy, an operculum (Latin, meaning "little lid") (pl. opercula), may refer to the frontal, temporal, or parietal operculum, which together cover the insula as the opercula of insula.

The central lobule is a small square lobule, situated in the anterior cerebellar notch.

The cerebrospinal fibers, derived from the cells of the motor area of the cerebral cortex, occupy the middle three-fifths of the base; they are continued partly to the nuclei of the motor cranial nerves, but mainly into the pyramids of the medulla oblongata.

Choroid glomus are enlargements of the choroid plexus located in the atria of the lateral ventricles.