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level: Level 1

Questions and Answers List

level questions: Level 1

Question	Answer
Nervous system including the skull and spine	Central Nervous System (CNS)
Nervous system outside of skull and spine	Peripheral Nervous System (PNS)
Part of PNS that interacts w external enviro	Somatic Nervous System (SNS)
Carry sensory signals from senses TO CNS - A-way to internal	Afferent nerves
Carry motor signals from CNS to skeletal muscles - E-nternal to outside	Efferent nerves
Part of PNS that regulates body internal enviro	Autonomic Nervous System (ANS)
Nerves that prep body for fight or flight	Sympathetic nerves
Nerves that relax body & inhibit or slow high energy functions	Parasympathetic nerves
Project from brain but part of PNS, sensory & motor fibres	Cranial nerves
Three protective membranes around CNS	Meninges
Tough membrane, outer of meninges	Dura mater
Immediately inside of Dura Mater (spider-web like)	Arachnoid membrane
Space beneath arachnoid membrane (contains large blood vessels & cerebrospinal fluid)	Subarachnoid space
Innermost membrane adheres to CNS	Piamater
CSF fluid protecting CNS	Cerebrospinal fluid
Small central channel that runs the length of the spine	Central canal
Produces cerebrospinal fluid; network of capillaries	Choroid plexuses
Stops big particles enter brain by special light packed cell structure in cerebral blood vessels	Blood-brain barrier
Four large internal brain chambers & cerebral blood	Cerebral ventricles
Cells that are specialised for electrochemical signals	Neurons
Neuron w more than 2 processes extending from the cell body	Multipolar Neuron
A neuron with one process extending from its cell body	Unipolar neuron
a neuron with two processes extending from its cell body	Bipolar neuron
Neurons with a short axon or no axon at all; their function is to integrate neural activity within a single brain structure, not to conduct signals from one structure to another	Interneurons
cell bodies in the CNS	Nuclei
cell bodies in the PNS	Ganglia
bundles of axons in the CNS	Tracts
bundles of axons in the PS	Nerves
are non-neuronal cells in the CNS and PNS that do not produce electrical impulses. They maintain homeostasis, form myelin, and provide support and protection for neurons.	Glial cells
glial cells with extensions that wrap around the axons of some neurons of the CNS	Oligodendrocytes
a fatty insulating substance	Myelin
forms to increase speed and efficiency of axonal conduction in the CNS	Myelin Sheaths
glial cells with extensions that wrap around the axons of some neurons of the PNS	Schwann cells
a class of glia. smaller than other glial cells; respond to injury or disease by multiplying, engulfing cellular debris or even entire cells and triggering inflammatory responses	Microglia
a class of glia. the largest glial cells. they are star-shaped. The extensions of some cover the outer surfaces of blood vessels that course through the brain; they also make contact with neurons and play a role in allowing the passage of some chemicals from the blood into CNS neurons and in blocking other chemicals and they have the ability to contract or relax blood vessels based on the blood flow demands of particular brain regions	Astrocytes
a silver staining technique that is used to visualize nervous tissue under light microscopy. The method was discovered by Camillo Golgi, an Italian physician and scientist. commonly used when the overall shape of neurons is of interest	Gogli stain
developed by Franz Nissl, a German psychiatrist, in the 1880s.Cresyl violet and other Nissl dyes penetrate all cells on a slide, but they bind effectively only to structures in neuron cell bodies. They often are used to estimate the number of cell bodies in an area, by counting the number of Nissl stained dots	Nissl stain
A neuroanatomical technique that provides information about the details of neuronal structure. Greater detail is obtained by first coating thin slices of neural tissue with an electron-absorbing substance that is taken up by different parts of neurons to different degrees, then passing a beam of electrons throughthe tissue onto a photographic film	Electron microscopy
are used when an investigator wants to trace the paths of axons projecting away from cell bodies located in a particular area. The investigator injects into the area chemicals that are taken up by cell bodies and then transported forward along their axons to their terminal buttons. After a few days, the brain is removed andsliced; the slices are then treated to reveal the locations of the injected chemical	Anterograde tracing methods
used when an investigator wants to trace the paths of axons projecting into a particular area. The investigator injects into the area chemicals that are taken up by terminal buttons and then transported backward along their axons to their cell bodies. After a few days, the brain is removed and sliced; the slices are then treated to reveal the locations of the injected chemical	Retrograde tracing methods
means toward the nose end; rostral	Anterior
means toward the tail end; caudal	Posterior
means toward the surface of the back or the top of the head	Dorsal
means toward the surface of the chest or the bottom of the head	Ventral
means toward the midline of the body	Medial
means away from the midline of the body towards the outer surfaces	Lateral
used to refer to the top of the primate head	Superior
used to refer to the bottom of the primate head	inferior
close/ in regards to the PNS means closer to CNS	Proximal
Far/ in regards to the PNS means further from the CNS	Distal
brain cut in half along the horizontal plane	horizontal sections
Brain cut in half along the frontal plane (up and down)	Frontal sections
Brain cut in half along the sagittal place (in center down the middle)	Sagittal sections
A section cut at a right angle to any long, narrow structure, such as the spinal cord or a nerve	cross section
an inner H shaped core composed largely of cell bodies and unmyelinated interneurons	Gray matter
surrounding area of matter composed largely of myelinated axons	white matter
The two dorsal arms of the spinal gray matter	Dorsal horns
the two ventral arms of the spinal gray matter	Ventral horns
a cluster of neurons (a ganglion) in a dorsal root of a spinal nerve. The cell bodies of sensory neurons are located here	Dorsal root ganglia
The other four divisions of the brain other than telencephalon;the stem on which the cerebral hemispheres sit	Brain stem
medulla; brains stem	Myelencephalon (meddula)
a complex network of about 100 tiny nuclei that occupies the central core of the brain stem from the posterior boundary of the myelencephalon to the anterior boundary of the midbrain. It is so named because of its netlike appearance. involved in a variety of functions—including sleep, attention, movement, the maintenance of muscle tone, and various cardiac, circulatory, and respiratory reflexes	Reticular formation
houses many ascending and descending tracts and part of the reticular formation. These structures create a bulge, called the pons, on the brain stem’s ventral surface. The pons isone major division; the other is the cerebellum (little brain)	Metencephalon
(Latin for "bridge") is part of the brainstem, and in humans and other bipeds lies inferior to the midbrain, superior to the medulla and anterior to the cerebellum	Pons
large, convoluted structure on the brain stem’s dorsal surface; an important sensorimotor structure	Cerebellum
the portion of the brainstem that connects the hindbrain and the forebrain. A number of nerve tracts run through it that connect the cerebrum with the cerebellum and other hindbrain structures	Mesencephalon
the dorsal surface of the midbrain; is composed of two pairs of bumps, the colliculi (little hills).	Tectum
two pairs of bumps- the posterior pair which have an auditory function	Inferior colliculi
The anterior pair of colliculi which have a visual-motor function, specifically to direct the body’s orientation toward or away from particular visual stimuli	Superior colliculi
the division of the mesencephalon ventral to the tectum. In addition to the reticular formation and tracts of passage, it contains the periaqueductal gray, the substantia nigra, and the red nucleus	Tegmentum
is the gray matter situated around the cerebral aqueduct. has role in mediating the analgesic (pain-reducing) effects of opioid drugs.	Periaqueductal gray
the duct connecting the third and fourth ventricles located in the tegmentum	Cerebral aqueduct
is a melanin-containing (pigmented) nucleus in the ventral midbrain, and it consists of dopaminergic neurons	Substantia negra
a structure in the rostral midbrain involved in motor coordination	Red nucleus
composed of two structures: the thalamus and the hypothalamus	Diencephalon
the large, two-lobed structure that constitutesthe top of the brain stem. One lobe sits on each side of the third ventricle, and the two lobes are joined by the massa intermedia, which runs through the ventricle.	Thalamus
the structure which runs through the ventricle that connects the two lobes of the thalamus	Mass intermedia
nuclei that receive signals from sensory receptors, process them, and then transmit them to the appropriate areas of sensory cortex	Sensory relay nuclei
important relay stations in the visual systems	Lateral geniculate nuclei
important relay stations in the auditory systems	Medial geniculate nuclei
important relay stations in the somatosensory systems	ventral posterior nuclei
located just below the anterior thalamus. It plays an important role in the regulation of several motivated behaviors (e.g., eating, sleep, and sexual behavior). It exerts its effects in part by regulating the release of hormones from the pituitary gland, which dangles from it on the ventral surface of the brain	Hypothalamus
a small pea-sized gland that plays a major role in regulating vital body functions and general wellbeing. It is referred to as the body's 'master gland' because it controls the activity of most other hormone-secreting glands.	Pituitary gland
the point at which the optic nerves from each eye come together. The X shape is created because some of the axons of the optic nerve decussate via the optic chiasm	Optic chasm
cross over to the other side of the brain	Decussate
Projecting from one side of the body to the other	Contralateral
staying on the same side of the body	Ipsilateral
considered to be part of the hypothalamus, are a pair of spherical nuclei located on the inferior surface of the hypothalamus, just behind the pituitary.	Mammillary bodies
the largest division of the human brain, mediates the brain’s most complex functions. It initiates voluntary movement, interprets sensory input, and mediates complex cognitive processes such as learning, speaking, and problem solving	Telencephalon
the layer of tissue which covers the cerebral hemispheres. Because it's mainly composed of small, unmyelinated neurons, it is gray and is often referred to as the gray matter	Cerebral cortex
The large furrows in a convoluted cortex	Fissures
The small furrows in a convoluted cortex	Sulci
The ridges between fissures and sulci	Gyri/ gyrus
The largest of the fissures that almost completely separates the cerebral hemispheres	Longitudinal fissure
The tracts that directly connect the cerebral hemispheres	Cerebral commisures
The largest cerebral commissure	Corpus callosum
one of the deepest grooves on the surface of the cerebrum. It separates the frontal and parietal lobes of each hemisphere	Central fissure
one of the most prominent features of the human brain; is a deep fissure in each hemisphere that separates the frontal and parietal lobes from the temporal lobe.	Lateral fissure
the part of the brain that controls important cognitive skills in humans, such as emotional expression, problem solving, memory, language, judgment, and sexual behaviors located at front top of brain	Frontal lobe
positioned behind the frontal lobes and above the temporal lobes. These lobes are important to the function and processing of sensory information, understanding spatial orientation and body awareness.	Parietal lobe
the region where sound is processed and, it is also a region where auditory language and speech comprehension systems are located. Is located below the parietal lobe, above the brain stem and beside the occipital lobe	Temporal lobe
the visual processing center of the mammalian brain containing most of the anatomical region of the visual cortex. Is located above brainstem, below parietal lobe and beside temporal lobe	Occipital lobe
a prominent gyrus on the surface of the posterior frontal lobe of the brain. It is the site of the primary motor cortex	Precentral gyri
a prominent gyrus in the lateral parietal lobe of the human brain. It is the location of the primary somatosensory cortex, the main sensory receptive area for the sense of touch	Postcentral gyri
is the site of auditory association cortex (and a site of multisensory integration) and thus necessarily plays some role in spoken word recognition	Superior temporal gyri
it is six-layered cortex of relatively recent evolution. By convention, the layers are numbered I through VI, starting at the surface.	Neocortex
large multipolar neurons with pyramid-shaped cell bodies, a large dendrite called an apical dendrite that extends from the apex of the pyramid straight toward the cortex surface, and a very long axon	Pyramidal cells
small starshaped interneurons (neurons with a short axon or no axon)	Stellate cells
neurons in a given vertical column of neocortex often form a mini-circuit that performs a single function	Columnar organization
one important area of cortex that is not neocortex—it has only three major layers .is located at the medial edge of the cerebral cortex as it folds back on itself in the medial temporal lobe and plays a major role in some kinds of memory, particularly memory for spatial location	Hippocampus
a circuit of midline structures that circle the thalamus. is involved in the regulation of motivated behaviors—including the four F’s of motivation: fleeing, feeding,fighting, and sexual behavior. In addition to the structures the mammillary bodies and the hippocampus, major structures include the amygdala, the fornix, the cingulate cortex, and the septum.	Limbic system
the almond-shaped nucleus in the anterior temporal lobe	Amygdala
a part of the brain situated in the medial aspect of the cerebral cortex. The cingulate cortex includes the entire cingulate gyrus, which lies immediately above the corpus callosum, and the continuation of this in the cingulate sulcus.	Cingulate cortx
a C-shaped bundle of nerve fibers in the brain that acts as the major output tract of the hippocampus. also carries some afferent fibres to the hippocampus from structures in the diencephalon and basal forebrain. is part of the limbic system	Fornix
a midline nucleus located at the anterior tip of the cingulate cortex. Several tracts connect it with and mammillary bodies with the amygdala and hippocampus, thereby completing the limbic ring.	Septum
a group of structures found deep within the cerebral hemispheres. The structures generally included in it are the caudate, putamen, and globus pallidus in the cerebrum, the substantia nigra in the midbrain, and the subthalamic nucleus in the diencephalon	Basal ganglia
is a C-shaped structure with a thick anterior portion called the head, which becomes narrower as it extends towards the back of the brain. The middle portion of the is known as the body, and this tapers off into the tail	Caudate
a round structure located at the base of the forebrain (telencephalon). It and caudate nucleus together form the dorsal striatum. It is also one of the structures that comprise the basal nuclei.	Putamen
is a nucleus (a cluster of neurons) in the subcortical basal ganglia of the forebrain.	Striatum
a structure in the brain involved in the regulation of voluntary movement. It is part of the basal ganglia, which, among many other things, regulate movements that occur on the subconscious level.	Globus pallidus