Central Nervous System: CNS

Spinal Cord Brain

The Spinal Cord

  Foramen magnum to L1 or L2 Runs through the vertebral canal of the vertebral column Functions
1. Sensory and motor innervation of entire body inferior to the head through the spinal nerves 2. Two-way conduction pathway between the body and the brain 3. Major center for reflexes

Spinal cord
 Fetal 3rd month: ends at coccyx  Birth: ends at L3  Adult position at approx L1-2 during childhood  End: conus medullaris
 This tapers into filum terminale of connective tissue, tethered to coccyx

 Spinal cord segments are superior to where their corresponding spinal nerves emerge through intervetebral foramina (see also fig 17.5, p 288)  Denticulate ligaments: lateral shelves of pia mater anchoring to dura (meninges: more later)
http://www.apparelyzed.com/spinalcord.html

Spinal nerves
 Part of the peripheral nervous system  31 pairs attach through dorsal and ventral nerve roots  Lie in intervertebral foramina

Spinal nerves continued

       Divided based on vertebral locations 8 cervical 12 thoracic 5 lumbar 5 sacral 1 coccygeal Cauda equina (horses tail): collection of nerve roots at inferior end of vertebral canal

Spinal nerves continued

 Note: cervical spinal nerves exit from above the respective vertebra
 Spinal nerve root 1 from above C1  Spinal nerve root 2 from between C1 and C2, etc.

 Clinically, for example when referring to disc impingement, both levels of vertebra mentioned, e.g. C6-7 disc impinging on root 7  Symptoms usually indicate which level
More about spinal nerves in the peripheral nervous system lecture

Protection:

3 meninges: dura mater (outer) arachnoid mater (middle) pia mater (inner) 3 potential spaces epidural: outside dura subdural: between dura & arachnoid subarachnoid: deep to arachnoid

Bone Meninges CSF (cerebrospinal fluid)

Spinal cord coverings and spaces

http://www.eorthopod.com/images/ContentImages/pm/pm_general_esi/pmp_g eneral_esi_epidural_space.jpg

LP (lumbar puncure) = spinal tap (needle introduced into subdural space to collect CSF)
Lumbar spine needs to be flexed so can go between spinous processes
Originally thought to be a narrow fluid-filled interval between the dural and arachnoid; now known to be an artificial space created by the separation of the arachnoid from the dura as the result of trauma or some ongoing pathologic process; in the healthy state, the arachnoid is attached to the dura and a naturally occurring subdural space is not present. http://cancerweb.ncl.ac.uk/cgibin/omd?subdural+space

Epidural space is external to dura Anesthestics are often injected into epidural space Injection into correct space is vital; mistakes can be lethal

Spinal cord anatomy

    Posterior median sulcus (p) Anterior median fissure (a) White matter (yellow here) Gray matter (brown here)
p a

Gray/White in spinal cord

 Hollow central cavity (central canal)  Gray matter surrounds cavity  White matter surrounds gray matter (white: ascending and descending tracts of axons)  H shaped on cross section  Dorsal half of H: cell bodies of interneurons  Ventral half of H: cell bodies of motor neurons  No cortex (as in brain)

Dorsal (posterior) white Central canal______ gray

Ventral (anterior)

Spinal cord anatomy

 Gray commissure with central canal  Columns of gray running the length of the spinal cord
 Posterior (dorsal) horns (cell bodies of interneurons)  Anterior (ventral) horns (cell bodies of motor neurons)

 Lateral horns in thoracic and superior lumbar cord

* * * *

White matter of the spinal cord

(myelinated and unmyelinated axons)  Ascending fibers: sensory information from sensory neurons of body up to brain  Descending fibers: motor instructions from brain to spinal cord
 Stimulates contraction of bodys muscles  Stimumulates secretion from bodys glands

 Commissural fibers: white-matter fibers crossing from one side of cord to the other  Most pathways cross (or decussate) at some point  Most synapse two or three times along the way, e.g. in brain stem, thalamus or other

The Brain: embryonic development

 Develops from neural tube  Brain subdivides into
 Forebrain  Midbrain  Hindbrain

 These further divide, each with a fluid filled region: ventricle, aqueduct or canal
 Spinal cord also has a canal

 Two major bends, or flexures, occur (midbrain and cervical)

Brain development
    Learn forebrain, midbrain and hindbrain in (b) See next color coded pics in reference to (d) Learn (e) Encephalos means brain (otherwise you dont need to learn c)

 Space restrictions force cerebral hemispheres to grow posteriorly over rest of brain, enveloping it  Cerebral hemispheres grow into horseshoe shape (b and c)  Continued growth causes creases, folds and wrinkles

Anatomical classification
 Cerebral hemispheres  Diencephalon
 Thalamus  Hypothalamus

 Brain stem
 Midbrain  Pons  Medulla

 Cerebellum  Spinal cord

Parts of Brain

Cerebrum Diencephalon Brainstem Cerebellum

Usual pattern of gray/white in CNS

 White exterior to gray _________________  Gray surrounds hollow central cavity____________________________  Two regions with additional gray called _____________________________ cortex
 Cerebrum: cerebral cortex  Cerebellum: cerebellar cortex

Gray and White Matter

 Like spinal cord but with another layer of gray outside the white
 Called cortex  Cerebrum and cerebellum have

 Inner gray: brain nuclei (not cell nuclei)

 Clusters of cell bodies Remember, in PNS clusters of cell bodies were called ganglia
More words: brains stem is caudal (toward tail) to the more rostral (noseward) cerebrum

Ventricles
 Central cavities expanded  Filled with CSF (cerebrospinal fluid)  Lined by ependymal cells (these cells lining the choroid plexus make the CSF: see later slides)  Continuous with each other and central canal of spinal cord
In the following slides, the ventricles are the parts colored blue

 Lateral ventricles
 Paired, horseshoe shape  In cerebral hemispheres  Anterior are close, separated only by thin Septum pellucidum

 Third ventricle
 In diencephalon  Connections
 Interventricular foramen  Cerebral aqueduct

 Fourth ventricle
 In the brainstem  Dorsal to pons and top of medulla  Holes connect it with subarachnoid space

Subarachnoid space
 Aqua blue in this pic ________  Under thick coverings of brain  Filled with CSF also  Red: choroid plexus (more later)

Surface anatomy
 Gyri (plural of gyrus)
 Elevated ridges  Entire surface

 Grooves separate gyri

 A sulcus is a shallow groove (plural, sulci)  Deeper grooves are fissures

 Gyri (plural of gyrus)

 Elevated ridges  Entire surface

 Grooves separate gyri

 A sulcus is a shallow groove (plural, sulci)  Deeper grooves are fissures

Parts of Brain

Cerebrum Diencephalon Brainstem Cerebellum

simplified

 Back of brain: perception  Top of brain: movement  Front of brain: thinking

Cerebral hemispheres
 Lobes: under bones of same name
 Frontal  Parietal  Temporal  Occipital  Plus: Insula (buried deep in lateral sulcus)

Cerebral hemispheres: note lobes

 Divided by longitudinal fissure into right & left sides  Central sulcus divides frontal from parietal lobes

 Lateral sulcus separates temporal lobe from parietal lobe  arieto-occipital sulcus divides occipital and parietal lobes (not seen from outside)  Transverse cerebral fissure separates cerebral hemispheres from cerebellum

coronal section
 Note: longitudinal fissure, lateral sulcus, insula  Note: cerebral cortex (external sheet of gray), cerebral white, deep gray (basal ganglia)

Cerebral cortex
 Executive functioning capability  Gray matter: of neuron cell bodies, dendrites, short unmyelinated axons
 100 billion neurons with average of 10,000 contacts each

 No fiber tracts (would be white)  2-4 mm thick (about 1/8 inch)  Brodmann areas (historical: 52 structurally different areas given #s)  Neuroimaging: functional organization
(example later)

 Prenatal life: genes are responsible for creating the architecture of the brain
 Cortex is the last to develop and very immature at birth

 Birth: excess of neurons but not inter-connected

 1st month of life: a million synapses/sec are made; this is genetic

 1st 3 years of life: synaptic overgrowth (connections)

 After this the density remains constant though some grow, some die

 Preadolescence: another increase in synaptic formation  Adolescence until 25: brain becomes a reconstruction site
 Connections important for self-regulation (in prefrontal cortex) are being remodeled: important for a sense of wholeness  Causes personal turbulence  Susceptible to stress and toxins (like alcohol and drugs) during these years; affects the rest of ones life

 The mind changes the brain (throughout life)

 Where brain activation occurs, synapses happen  When pay attention & focus mind, neural firing occurs and brain structure changes (synapses are formed)  Human connections impact neural connections (ongoing experiences and learning include the interpersonal ones)
adapted from Dr. Daniel Siegel, UCLA

Cerebral cortex
 All the neurons are interneurons
 By definition confined to the CNS  They have to synapse somewhere before the info passes to the peripheral nerves

 Three kinds of functional areas

 Motor areas: movement  Sensory areas: perception  Association areas: integrate diverse information to enable purposeful action

Sensory areas
Posterior to central sulcus
 Primary somatosensory cortex: postcentral gyrus of parietal lobe
(allows conscious awareness of sensation and the ability to localize it: where the sensation is from)

 Somatosensory association area: behind it

(understanding of what is being felt: the meaning of it)

From special sense organs

 Sight: occipital lobe
 Primary visual cortex (17)
 Handles info from contralateral retina (right of visual field is on left side)  Map of visual space  If damaged: functionally blind because no conscious awareness of sight

 Visual association area (18 & 19)

 Face recognition is usually on the right side

 Hearing: temporal lobe

 Primary auditory area (41)  Auditory association area (22)

Refer back to this labeled version as needed

 Smell (olfactory sense): uncus

 Deep in temporal lobe along medial surface

 fMRI: functional magnetic resonance imaging  Cerebral cortex of person speaking & hearing  Activity (blood flow) in posterior frontal and superior temporal lobes respectively

Motor areas
Anterior to central sulcus  Primary motor area
 Precentral gyrus of frontal lobe (4)  Conscious or voluntary movement of skeletal muscles

 Primary motor area continued

 Precentral gyrus of frontal lobe  Precise, conscious or voluntary movement of skeletal muscles  Large neurons called pyramidal cells  Their axons: form massive pyramidal or corticospinal tracts
 Decend through brain stem and spinal cord  Cross to contralateral (the other) side in brainstem  Therefore: right side of the brain controls the left side of the body, and the left side of the brain controls the right side of the body

Motor areas continued

 Brocas area (44): specialized motor speech area
 Base of precentral gyrus just above lateral sulcus in only one hemisphere, usually left  Word articulation: the movements necessary for speech  Damage: can understand but cant speak; or if can still speak, words are right but difficult to understand

Motor areas continued

 Premotor cortex (6): complex movements asociated with highly processed sensory info; also planning of movements  Frontal eye fields (inferior 8): voluntary movements of eyes

Homunculus little man

 Body map: human body spatially represented
 Where on cortex; upside down

Association Areas
Remember  Three kinds of functional areas (cerebrum)
1. Motor areas: movement 2. Sensory areas: perception

3. Association areas: everything else

Association Areas
 Tie together different kinds of sensory input  Associate new input with memories  Is to be renamed higher-order processing areas

Prefrontal cortex: cognition

This area is remodeled during adolescence until the age of 25 and is very important for well-being; it coordinates the brain/body and inter-personal world as a whole

Intellect Abstract ideas Judgment Personality Impulse control Persistence Complex Reasoning Long-term planning

Social skills Appreciating humor Conscience Mood Mental flexibility Empathy

Executive functioning e.g. multiple step problem solving requiring temporary storage of info (working memory)

Wernickes area
Region involved in recognizing and understanding spoken words

   

Junction of parietal and temporal lobes One hemisphere only, usually left (Outlined by dashes) Pathology: comprehension impaired for written and spoken language: output fluent and voluminous but incoherent (words understandable but dont make sense; as opposed to the opposite with Brocas area)

Cerebral white matter

 Extensive communication
 Areas of cortex with each other  Areas of cortex with brain stem and spinal cord

 Via (mostly) myelinated axon fibers bundled into tracts

 Commissures  Association fibers  Projection fibers

 Commissures: interconnect right and left hemispheres so can act as a whole

 Corpus callosum is largest

 Association fibers: connect different parts of the same hemisphere; can be long or short

 Projection fibers: run vertically

 Cerebral cortex running down (with motor instructions)  Or ascend to cerebral cortex from below (sensory info to cortex)

 Corona radiata: spray of projection fibers

 From precentral (motor) gyrus  Combines with sensory fibers traveling to sensory cortex  Form a band of fibers called internal capsule*
___________Sensory input to brain Motor output from brain__________

 Projection fibers
 Corona radiata: _________________ fanning out of the fibers  Internal capsule: ___________________ bundled, pass down

 Commisure
 Corpus callosum: ________________ connects right and left hemispheres

 Decussation: crossing of _____________________ pyramidal tracts

 Cerebral hemisphere gray

 Cortex already reviewed  Basal forebrain nuclei: near hypothalamus - related to arousal, learning, memory and motor control  Islands of gray: nuclei (clusters of neuron cell bodies) Important group is basal ganglia
(here ganglia doesnt refer to PNS cell bodies)

Basal ganglia
    Subcortical motor nuclei Part of extrapyramidal system Cooperate with cerebral cortex in controlling movements Most important ones: caudate nucleus, lentiform nucleus composed of putamen and globus pallidus  Not part of basal forebrain nuclei (which are related to arousal, learning , memory and motor control)

Transverse section

 Internal capsule passes between diencephalon and basal ganglia to give them a striped appearance
 Caudate and lentiform sometimes called corpus striatum because of this

Basal ganglia
 Cooperate with cerebral cortex in controlling movements  Communicate with cerebral cortex, receive input from cortical areas, send most of output back to motor cortex through thalamus  Involved with stopping/starting & intensity of movements  Dyskinesias bad movements
 Parkinsons disease: loss of inhibition from substantia nigra of midbrain everything slows down  Huntington disease: overstimulation (choreoathetosis) degeneration of corpus striatum which inhibits; eventual degeneration of cerebral cortex (AD; genetic test available)  Extrapyramidal drug side effects: tardive dyskinesia
 Can be irreversible; haloperidol, thorazine and similar drugs

Basal ganglia
 Note relationship of basal ganglia to thalamus and ventricles

Transverse section again

Diencephalon (part of forebrain)

Contains dozens of nuclei of gray matter  Thalamus  Hypothalamus  Epithalamus (mainly pineal)

Thalamus (egg shaped; means inner room)

 Two large lobes of gray matter (over a dozen nuclei)  Laterally enclose the 3rd ventricle  Gateway to cerebral cortex: every part of brain that communicates with cerebral cortex relays signals through a nucleus in the thalamus (e.g. certain nucleus for info from retina, another from ears, etc.)  Processing (editing) occurs also in thalamus

Coronal section

Hypothalamus
Forms inferolateral walls of 3rd ventricle Many named nuclei
Coronal section

Diencephalon surface anatomy

Hypothalamus is between optic chiasma to and including mamillary bodies

   

Olfactory bulbs Olfactory tracts Optic nerves Optic chiasma (partial cross over)  Optic tracts  Mammillary bodies
(looking at brain from below)

Diencephalon surface anatomy

Hypothalamus is between optic chiasma to and including mamillary bodies

(from Ch 14: cranial nerve diagram)

Cranial Nerve names

Identify as many as you can when looking at model and sheep brain (they will be more fully discussed in Chapter 14)

Hypothalamus
 Below thalamus  Main visceral control center
 Autonomic nervous system (peripheral motor neurons controlling smooth and cardiac muscle and gland secretions): heart rate, blood pressure, gastrointestinal tract, sweat and salivary glands, etc.  Emotional responses (pleasure, rage, sex drive, fear)  Body temp, hunger, thirst sensations  Some behaviors  Regulation of sleep-wake centers: circadian rhythm (receives info on light/dark cycles from optic nerve)  Control of endocrine system through pituitary gland  Involved, with other sites, in formation of memory

Hypothalamus (one example of its functioning)

Control of endocrine system through pituitary gland

Epithalamus
 Third and most dorsal part of diencephalon  Part of roof of 3rd ventricle  Pineal gland or body (unpaired): produces melatonin signaling nighttime sleep  Also a tiny group of nuclei Coronal section

Brain Stem
Rigidly programmed automatic behavior necessary for survival Passageway for fiber tracts running between cerebrum and spinal cord Heavily involved with innvervation of face and head (10 of the12 cranial nerves attach to it)

 Midbrain  Pons  Medulla oblongata

Brain stem
 Midbrain  Pons  Medulla oblongata

Midbrain

Corpora quadrigemina:

__Cerebral peduncles____
Contain pyramidal motor tracts

XVisual reflexes XAuditory reflexes

_______Periaqueductal gray
(flight/flight; nausea with visceral pain; some cranial nerve nuclei)

______Substantia nigra (degeneration causes Parkingsons disease)

Pons

Also contains several CN and other nuclei

__Middle cerebellar peduncles_

3 cerebellar peduncles__ (one to each of the three parts of the brain stem)

Dorsal view

Medulla oblongata

Relays sensory info to cerebral cortex and cerebellum Contains many CN and other nuclei Autonomic centers controlling heart rate, respiratory rhythm, blood pressure; involuntary centers of vomiting, swallowing, etc.

_______Pyramids ____pyramidal decussation

Pyramidal=corticospinal tracts; these are motor tracts which cross over in the decussation. They are named pyramids because they supposedly look like them, and also they originate from pyramidal neurons in the motor cortex. The tracts have the name of origin 1st, therefore corticospinal tells you they go from the cortex (cortico-) to the spinal cord (-spinal) see later slides

Dorsal view

With all the labels.

Brain Stem in mid-sagittal plane Note cerebral aqueduct and fourth ventricle*

* *

Two major hemispheres: three lobes each Anterior Posterior Floculonodular Separated from brain stem by 4th ventricle Vermis: midline lobe connecting hemispheres

Cerebellum

Outer cortex of gray Inner branching white matter, called arbor vitae

Functions of cerebellum
    Smooths, coordinates & fine tunes bodily movements Helps maintain body posture Helps maintain equilibrium How?
 Gets info from cerebrum re: movements being planned  Gets info from inner ear re: equilibrium  Gets info from proprioceptors (sensory receptors informing where the parts of the body actually are)  Using feedback, adjustments are made

 Also some role in cognition  Damage: ataxia, incoordination, wide-based gait, overshooting, proprioception problems

Functional brain systems

(as opposed to anatomical ones)

Networks of distant neurons that function together

Limbic system Reticular formation

Limbic system
(not a discrete structure - includes many brain areas)
 Most important parts:  Hipocampus  Amygdala  Cingulate gyrus  Orbitofrontal cortex (not labeled; is behind eyes - part of the prefrontal cortex but connects closely)

Limbic system continued

 Called the emotional brain  Is essential for flexible, stable, adaptive functioning  Links different areas so integration can occur
 Integration: separate things are brought together as a whole  Processes emotions and allocates attentional resources

 Necessary for emotional balance, adaptation to environmental demands (including fearful situations, etc.), for creating meaningful connections with others (e.g. ability to interpret facial expressions and respond appropriately), and more

Reticular formation
Runs through central core of medulla, pons and midbrain

 Reticular activating system (RAS): keeps the cerebral cortex alert and conscious  Some motor control

Brain protection
1.Meninges 2. Cerebrospinal fluid 3. Blood brain barrier

Meninges
1. Dura mater: 2 layers of fibrous connective tissue, fused except for dural sinuses
  Periosteal layer attached to bone Meningeal layer - proper brain covering

2. Arachnoid mater 3. Pia mater

Note superior sagittal sinus

Dura mater - dural partitions

Subdivide cranial cavity & limit movement of brain
 Falx cerebri
 In longitudinal fissure; attaches to crista galli of ethmoid bone

 Falx cerebelli
 Runs vertically along vermis of cerebellum

 Tentorium cerebelli
 Sheet in transverse fissure between cerebrum & cerebellum

 Arachnoid mater
 Between dura and arachnoid: subdural space  Dura and arachnoid cover brain loosely  Deep to arachnoid is subarachnoid space
 Filled with CSF  Lots of vessels run through (susceptible to tearing)

 Superiorly, forms arachnoid villi: CSF valves

 Allow draining into dural blood sinuses

 Pia mater
 Delicate, clings to brain following convolutions

Cerebrospinal Fluid CSF

 Made in choroid plexuses (roofs of ventricles)
 Filtration of plasma from capillaries through ependymal cells (electrolytes, glucose)

   

500 ml/d; total volume 100-160 ml (1/2 c) Cushions and nourishes brain Assayed in diagnosing meningitis, bleeds, MS Hydrocephalus: excessive accumulation

CSF circulation: through ventricles, median and lateral apertures, subarachnoid space, arachnoid villi, and into the blood of the superior sagittal sinus

CSF: -Made in choroid plexus -Drained through arachnoid villus

Hydrocephalus

Blood-Brain Barrier
 Tight junctions between endothelial cells of brain capillaries, instead of the usual permeability  Highly selective transport mechanisms  Allows nutrients, O2, CO2  Not a barrier against uncharged and lipid soluble molecules; allows alcohol, nicotine, and some drugs including anesthetics

White matter of the spinal cord

 Ascending pathways: sensory information by multineuron chains from body up to more rostral regions of CNS
 Dorsal column  Spinothalamic tracts  Spinocerebellar tracts

 Descending pathways: motor instructions from brain to more caudal regions of the CNS
 Pyramidal (corticospinal) most important to know  All others (extrapyramidal)

 Commissural fibers: crossing from one side of cord to the other  Most pathways cross (or decussate) at some point  Most synapse two or three times along the way, e.g. in brain stem, thalamus or other

Major fiber tracts in white matter of spinal cord

sensory motor

Damage: to motor areas paralysis to sensory areas - paresthesias

Major ascending pathways for the somatic senses

(thousands of nerve fibers in each) Spinocerebellar: proprioception from skeletal muscles to cerebellum of same side (dont cross) Dorsal column: discriminative touch sensation through thalamus to somatosensory cortex (cross in medulla) Spinothalamic: carries nondiscriminate sensations (pain, temp, pressure) through the thalamus to the primary somatosensory cortex (cross in spinal cord before ascending)

Some Descending Pathways

Synapse with ventral (anterior) horn interneurons

Pyramidal tracts: Lateral corticospinal cross in pyramids of medulla; voluntary motor to limb muscles Ventral (anterior) corticospinal cross at spinal cord; voluntary to axial muscles Extrapyramidal tracts: one example

 Check out: Medical gross anatomy atlas images (good teaching pics): http://anatomy.med.umich.edu/atlas/atlas_index.ht ml (can access from Paul Wissmans site also: -anatomy and physiology -brain and spinal cord -brain pics at U. Mich)  Really good site for photos of human brain dissections: http://library.med.utah.edu/WebPath/HISTHTML/N EURANAT/NEURANCA.html

Hints & additional pics

 Unless your prints of the slides are very large and clear, look at the pictures from the book on your computer screen or in the book itself so you can read all the labels  Anything in bold, italicized or repeated should be learned  Remembering the terminology from the quiz will help you figure things out  Anterior horn cells = ventral motor neurons  Forget funiculi; know dorsal column (spinal cord)

 Know the names of the ventricles and which ones connect to which, in order  You dont need to know the #s of the Brodman areas  You do need to know where are the: primary somatosensory, primary motor, brocas speech, visual cortex, the lobes of the brain, main sulci and fissures, precentral and postcentral gyri and which go with which of motor and sensory, etc  For the most part, the medical info is FYI

From this site, which also has text explanations: http://www.emc.maricopa.edu/facul ty/farabee/BIOBK/BioBookNERV.h tml

Brain, sagittal sec, medial view

1. Cerebral hemisphere 2. Corpus callosum 3. Thalamus 4. Midbrain 5. Pons 6. Cerebellum 7. Medulla oblongata

Internal capsule
1. 2. 3. Anterior limb of internal capsule Genu of internal capsule Posterior limb of internal capsule

Pons & cerebellum, sagittal section, medial view

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. Midbrain Cerebellum Pons Medulla oblongata Inferior colliculus Superior medullary velum 7. Fourth ventricle
You dont need to know #s 5 & 6)

Sagittal section through spinal cord

1. Intervertebral disc 2. Vertebral body 3. Dura mater 4. Extradural or epidural space 5. Spinal cord 6. Subdural space