Central Nervous System

Functional Anatomy of the Brain

BRAIN
the largest and most complex mass of the nervous tissue in the body

Brain Regions
1. Cerebral Hemispheres (Cerebrum)
2. Diencephalon
3. Brain Stem
4. Cerebellum

Cerebral Hemispheres
 are paired (left and right) superior parts of the brain
 Collectively called the cerebrum
 Include more than half of the brain mass
 The surface is made of ridges (gyri = twisters) and grooves (sulci, sulcus =
furrows)
 Fissures are deeper grooves which separates large regions of the brain
 Cerebral hemisphere are separated by a single deep fissure called Longitudinal
Fissure
 Lobes are named for the cranial bones that lie over them
THREE MAIN REGIONS OF CEREBRAL HEMISPHERE
1. Cortex is superficial gray matter, looks gray in fresh brain tissue
2. White matter
3. Basal nuclei are islands of gray matter situated deep within the white matter

Cerebral Cortex  Receives impulses from the body’s

sensory receptors
1. Primary Somatic Sensory Area
- Pain, temperature, light touch
 Located in parietal lobe posterior to
(except for special senses)
the central sulcus
 Sensory homunculus (little man) is a spatial map: show how much tissue in the
primary somatic sensory area is devoted to various sensory functions
 Left side of the primary somatic sensory area receives impulses from the right side of
the body (and vice versa)

Cerebral areas involved in special senses:

1. Visual area (occipital lobe)
2. Auditory area (temporal lobe;
bordering the lateral sulcus)
3. Olfactory area (temporal
lobe; deep)

2. Primary Motor Area

 Located anterior to the central sulcus
in our frontal lobe
 Allows us to consciously move skeletal
muscles
 Motor neurons form pyramidal
(corticospinal) tract, which decends
to the spinal cord
 Motor homunculus is a spatial map

3. Wernicke area (sensory speech area)

 Parietal lobe
 Necessary for understanding and
formulating coherent speech

4. Broca area (motor speech area)

 Frontal lobe
 Initiates the complex series of
movements necessary for speech
 Form words in our mouths

Arcuate fasciculus- connects Wernicke

and Broca area

Cerebral Hemispheres
Left Hemisphere:
 Controls right side of body
 Responsible for math, analytic, and  Responsible for music, art, abstract
speech ideas
 Spatial perception, the recognition of
faces
Corpus callosum:
Connection between the two hemispheres

Right Hemisphere:
 Controls left side of body

Other specialized area

1. Anterior association area (frontal lobe)

- areas involved in higher intellectual reasoning and socially acceptable behavior
2. Posterior association area (posterior cortex)
- plays a role in recognizing patterns and face, and blending several different inputs into an
understanding of the whole situation
3. Speech area
- for sounding out words

Cerebral White Matter

 Composed of fiber tracts deep to the gray matter
1. Corpus callosum connects hemispheres
2. Tracts, such as the corpus callosum, are known as commissures
3. Associated fiber tracts connect area within a hemisphere
4. Projection fiber tracts connect the cerebrum with lower CNS centers such as the brain
stem

Basal Nuclei
 Islands of gray matter buried deep within the white matter of the cerebrum
 Regulate voluntary motor activities by modifying instructions sent to skeletal muscles
by the primary motor cortex

Diencephalon
Thalamus
 Encloses the third ventricle of the brain
 Relay station for sensory impulses passing upward to the sensory cortex
 Recognition of whether the sensation we are about to have is pleasant or unpleasant
 Neurons of the sensory cortex localize and interpret the sensation

Hypothalamus (under the thalamus)

 Makes up the floor of the diencephalon
 Important autonomic nervous system center
 Regulates body temperature, water balance, metabolism
 Houses the LIMBIC SYSTEM (emotional-visceral brain)
 For emotions and drives
 Thirst, appetite sex, pain, and pleasure
 Regulates the PITUITARY GLANDS (hangs from the anterior floor of the
hypothalamus by a slender stalk)
 Houses the MAMMALIARY BODIES (from the floor of the hypothalamus posterior to
the pituitary gland
 Reflex centers for olfaction (smell)

Epithalamus
 Forms the roof of the third ventricle
 PINEAL BODY- help control the circadian cycle of sleep and wakefulness by secreting
melatonin
 CHOROID PLEXUS- forms cerebrospinal fluid

Brain Stem
 Provides pathway for ascending and descending tracts
 Produce programmed behaviors for key survival
 About the side of a thumb (3 inches)
 Includes midbrain, pons, medulla oblongata

Midbrain
 Extend from the mammillary bodies to the pons inferiorly
 CEREBRAL AQUEDUCT (tiny canal) connects the third and fourth ventricles
 CEREBRAL PEDUNCLES (two bulging fiber tracts, little feet of the cerebrum) convey
ascending and descending impulses
 CORPA QUADRIGEMINA (gemini) are visual and auditory reflex centers

Pons
 means bridge
 The rounded structure protruding just below the midbrain
 Mostly composed of fiber tracts (bundles of fibers in the CNS)
 Includes nuclei involved in the control of breathing

Medulla Oblongata
 Most inferior part of your brain stem that merges into the spinal cord
 Includes important fiber tracts
 Contain important centers that control:
 Heart rate
 Blood pressure
 Breathing
 Swallowing
 Vomiting
 Fourth ventricle lies posterior to pons and medulla

Reticular Formation
 Diffuse mass of gray matter along the brain stem
 Involved in motor control of visceral organs (eg. Controlling smooth muscle in the
digestive tract)
 RETICULAR ACTIVATION SYSTEM (RAS)
 Plays a role in awake/sleep cycles and consciousness
 Filter for incoming sensory information
 Weak/repetitive signals are filtered out
 Damage can cause coma (prolonged unconsciousness)

Cerebellum
 Two hemispheres with convoluted surfaces
 Outer cortex of gray matter and inner region of white matter
 Controls balance
 Provides precise timing for skeletal muscle activity and coordination of body
movements
 Fibers connect to the cerebellum from the inner ear, eye, proprioceptors of skeletal
muscles and more
 Also called little brain

Protection of the Central Nervous System

Meninges (DAP)
1. Dura Mater
 Means tough or hard mother
 Outermost leathery layer
 Double-layered external covering
 Periosteal Layer- attached to inner surface of the skull
 Meningeal layer- outer covering of the brain
The dural layers are fused together except in three areas where they separate to enclose
DURAL VENOUS SINUSES that collect venous blood, such as the superior saggital sinus.
 Folds inward in several areas ( separate the two cerebral hemispheres and the
cerebellum from the cerebrum, respectively)
 Falx cerebri
 Tentorium cerebelli
2. Arachnoid Mater
 Middle Layer
 Weblike extensions span the subarachnoid space to attach it to the pia mater
 SUBARACHNOID SPACE is filled with CSF
 ARACHNOID GRANULATIONS protrude through the dura mater and absorb CSF into
venous blood
3. Pia Mater
 means gentle mother
 Internal layer
 Clings to the surface of the brain and spinal cord

Cerebrospinal Fluid (CSF)

 Similar to blood plasma in composition
 Formed continually by the choroid plexuses
 CHOROID PLEXUSES- capillaries in the ventricles of the brain
 CSF forms a watery cushion to protect the brain and spinal cord
 Circulated in the arachnoid space, ventricles, and central canal of the spinal cord

Blood-brain Barrier
 Includes the least permeable capillaries of the body
 Allows water, glucose, and amino acids to pass through the capillary walls
 Excludes many potentially harmful substances from entering the brain, such as wastes
(Metabolic wastes- urea, toxins, proteins, and most drugs)
 Useless as a barrier against some substances

SPINAL CORD
 Glistening white continuation of the brain stem
 Extends from the foramen magnum of the skull to the first or second lumbar vertebra
 Provides a two-way conduction pathway to and from the brain
 Protected by the vertebrae and meninges
 31 pairs of spinal nerves arise from the spinal cord
 CAUDA EQUINA is a collection of spinal nerves at the inferior end

GRAY MATTER OF THE SPINAL CORD AND SPINAL ROOTS

 Internal gray matter is mostly cell bodies
 Looks like a butterfly or H shaped
 Gray matter surrounds the CENTRAL CANAL, which is filled with CEREBROSPINAL
FLUID
 POSTERIOR (DORSAL) HORNS house interneurons
 Receive information from sensory neurons in the dorsal root; cell bodies housed in
dorsal root ganglion
 If dorsal root or its ganglion is damaged, senstions from the body area served will
be lost
 VENTRAL (ANTERIOR) HORNS house motor neurons of the somatic (voluntary) nervous
system
 Send motor information out ventral root
 The dorsal and ventral roots fuse to form the SPINAL NERVES.

WHITE MATTER OF THE SPINAL CORD

 Composed of myelinated fiber tracts
 Three regions: dorsal, lateral ventral columns
 Sensory (afferent) tracts conduct impulses toward brain
 Motor (efferent) tracts carry impulses from brain to skeletal muscles
 All tracts in the dorsal column are ascending tracts which carry sensory inputs to the
brain
 The lateral and ventral tracts contain both ascending and descending (motor) tracts

Meninges of the Spinal Cord

Meninges (DAP)
- are connective tissue membranes that surround the spinal cord and brain
1. Dura mater
2. Arachnoid mater
3. Pia mater
THREE SPACES surrounding each layer:
1. EPIDURAL SPACE
 between the bone and dura mater
 Epidural anesthesia
2. SUBDURAL SPACE
 between the dura mater and arachnoud mater
3. SUBARACHNOID SPACE
 between the arachnoid mater and pia mater
 Where lumbar puncture takes place (collect CSF)
 Insert through the L3-L4 or L4-L5 Lumbar vertebral space