-
gyrus
a "ridge' of cerebral cortex
-
Sulcus
a ‘valley’ of cerebral cortex
-
Cortical sheet
- the outer, surface covering of cerebral cortex, composed of gray
- matter (neuron cell bodies)
-
Cerebral cortex
- the large, folded part of the brain that sits above the
- cerebellum and brainstem, made up of gray and white matter
-
Cerebellum
- (Latin for "little brain") the small, highly ridged portion
- of brain that sits inferior to the cerebral cortex and posterior to the brainstem
-
Anterior
towards the front of the brain
-
Posterior
towards the back of the brain
-
Superior
towards the top of the brain
-
Inferior
towards the bottom of the brain
-
Lateral
- this view of the brain would show the surface of a cerebral
- hemisphere under the ears
-
Medial
- this view of the brain would be the inner surface of a cerebral
- hemisphere
-
Dorsal
- towards the top of the brain (towards the back surface of the body in the
- brainstem & spinal cord)
-
Ventral
- towards the bottom of the brain (towards belly surface of the body in
- the brainstem & spinal cord)
-
Rostral
- towards the front of the brain (towards the top surface of the body in the
- brainstem & spinal cord; rostral means "beak")
-
Caudal
- towards the back of the brain (towards the bottom surface of the body in
- the brainstem & spinal cord; caudal means "tail")
-
Sagittal
- a vertical slice of the brain cut down the center, from anterior to
- posterior, giving a view from left or right
-
Coronal
- a vertical slice of the brain cut from superior to inferior, giving a view
- from the front or back of the brain
-
Axial
- a horizontal slice of the brain cut from left to right, giving a view from the
- top or bottom of the brain
-
Central nervous system (CNS)
composed of the brain and spinal cord
-
Peripheral nervous system (PNS)
- composed of peripheral nerves that connect
- the CNS to the limbs, trunk, and internal organs
-
Autonomous nervous system (ANS)
- a subdivision of the PNS that controls
- visceral functions; includes parasympathetic and sympathetic nervous systems
-
Cranial nerves
- a set of 12 specialized nerves that act as the PNS (motor control
- and sensory info) to the head and neck
-
Meninges
the three protective layers of tissue between the brain and the skull
-
Dura mater
the durable, leathery outer protective layer of the meninges
-
Arachnoid mater
- the spider web-like middle protective layer of the meninges
- that is filled with cerebral spinal fluid
-
Pia mater
the thin, shiny, inner protective layer of the meninges that "shrinkwraps" the brain
-
Frontal lobe
- the anterior portion of cerebral cortex, involved in emotion,
- cognition, and executive control
-
Parietal lobe
- the superior posterior portion of cerebral cortex,
- superior to the occipital and temporal lobes, posterior to the frontal lobe
-
Temporal lobe
- the inferior portion of cerebral cortex, anterior to the occipital
- lobe and inferior to the others
-
Occipital lobe
- the posterior portion of cerebral cortex, primarily involved in
- vision processing
-
Central sulcus
- the sulcus dividing the frontal and parietal lobes, surrounded on
- each side by motor and sensory cortex
-
Lateral fissure
- the gap that divides the temporal from the frontal and parietal
- lobes; a fissure is another name for a large sulcus
-
Parieto-occipital sulcus
the sulcus that divides the parietal and occipital lobes
-
Pre-occipital notch
- the notch that serves as the bottom point of the imaginary
- dividing line between the temporal and occipital lobes; the top of the parietooccipital sulcus is the top point
-
Brodmann’s Areas
- ~50 cytoarchitectural areas defined by neuroanatomist
- Brodmann according to cell size, cell density, number and thickness of cortical
- layers, and density of myelinated axons; numbering system is becoming less
- common as neuroimaging measurements take over tissue histology
-
Gray matter
- outer ‘bark’ of the cerebral cortex composed of neuronal cell
- bodies; this is where computations happen; much of cortex consists of six layers
-
White matter
- inner region of cerebral cortex composed of the axons of the
- neurons with cell bodies in the gray matter; can be thought of as the ‘wiring’
- connecting different regions of gray matter
-
Neuron
- the basic cell in the brain that processes and transmits information in the
- form of electrical and chemical signals
-
Dendrite
- the branched portion of a neuron which receives inputs from synapses
- with other cells and sends small depolarizations towards the cell body
-
Cell body
- the "main" portion of a cell that contains the nucleus, mitochondria,
- and other organelles necessary for the cell to survive
-
Axon hillock
- the base of the axon, where it meets the cell body of the neuron;
- action potentials are initiated here
-
Axon
- the long cell structure that carries depolarizations (action potentials) away
- from the cell body of a neuron to the synapse
-
Node of Ranvier
- the small gaps between myelin sheaths in myelinated axons
- involved in fast action potential propagation down the axon
-
Synapse
the region/space which information flows across from one neuron to another neuron; space between neurons can be called the synaptic cleft
-
Axon Terminal
the very end of a branch of a neuron's axon, specialized to release neurotransmitters from vesicles into the synapse in response to an action potential.
-
Glial cell
- surround neurons in CNS and PNS and provide myelination as well as other support for them; most abundant cell types in CNS.
- types differ between CNS and PNS
- CNS: oligodendrocytes, astrocytes, ependymal cells, microglia
- PNS: satellite cells, Schwann cells
-
Myelin sheath
a layer of protective tissue wrapped around axons of neurons to hasten the transmission of action potentials
-
Neuronal communication includes
electrical conduction (action potential) along the axon and chemical transmission via neurotransmitter release at the synapse
-
Corpus callosum
the main connection of white matter that is integral for communication between the two cerebral hemispheres
|
|