Neuroanatomy Lab Lecture Notes

Jul 10, 2024

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