Neuroanatomy Laboratory Overview

Introduction

• Purpose: Understanding brain connectivity for neurological localization
• Goal: Determine where in the brain a disease process is occurring

Surface Anatomy of the Brain

• Coverings removed: Leptomeninges (pia and arachnoid)
• Major Structures:
  • Lobes: Temporal, frontal
  • Brainstem: Extends from a specific region to where the spinal cord attaches
  • Cerebellum: Involved in coordinated motor control
  • Cerebral Cortex: Surface visible

Ventral Surface

• Prominent features:
  • Temporal lobe
  • Undersurface of the frontal lobe
• Cranial Nerves: Visual optic and sensory (trigeminal) nerve
• Blood Vessels: Basilar artery, internal carotid artery
• Later to discuss:
  • Medulla, pons, midbrain (components of the brainstem)

Lateral Surface

• Lobes: Temporal, frontal, parietal
• Sulci and Gyri:
  • Sulci: Grooves
  • Gyri: Coiled surface structures
• Central Sulcus: Separates frontal (motor cortex) from parietal (sensory cortex)
• Frontal Lobe:
  • Superior, middle, and inferior frontal gyrus
  • Precentral gyrus: Motor cortex
  • Broca's Area: Production of speech, mainly in left hemisphere
  • Functions: Motor function, executive functions (planning, judgment)
• Parietal Lobe: Separated from occipital by an arbitrary line
  • Sensory integration, somatic sensation, higher order function
• Occipital Lobe: Visual information processing
• Temporal Lobe:
  • Auditory processing
  • Wernicke's Area: Language comprehension
  • Hippocampus: Forming new memories (not visible here)

Brain Hemispheres and Connections

• Corpus Callosum: Fibers connecting hemispheres

Coronal Section

• Structures:
  • Differentiate gyri (gray matter) and sulci (white matter)
  • Thalamus: Deep structure
  • Temporal Lobe: Can see lateral fissure
  • Insula: Cortex buried under temporal and parietal lobes
  • Hippocampus: Involved in memory, in medial temporal lobe
  • Ventricles: Holes filled with cerebrospinal fluid
• Leptomeninges: Covering the brain

Brainstem and Cerebellum

• Brainstem components: Medulla, pons, midbrain
• Thalamus: Deep structure
• Ventures: Contain cerebrospinal fluid
• Vessels: Anterior cerebral artery