Embryonic development of the human brain

Single cell divides, and then cells specialize

Neuronal tube: gives rise to the nervous system
o Neuronal like tissue
o Tube is filled with fluid (cerebrospinal fluid)
Primary brain vesicles
o Prosencephalon: forebrain
o Mesencephalon: midbrain
o Rhombencephalon: hindbrain
Secondary brain vesicles
o Telencephalon: gives rise to the new brain (cerebrum)
Primarily what we think of as the brain
o Diencephalon: Segway between the new brain and the old
brain
Consist of 3 structures: thalamus, hypothalamus,
epithalamus
o Mesencephalon: midbrain
o Metencephalon: consist of pons and cerebellum
o Myelencephalon: medulla oblongata
Ventricle
o The hollow spaces in the brain where we find the
cerebrospinal fluid
o Ventricles of the brain
They are connected to one another and to the central
canal of the spinal cord
Lined by ependymal cells
Contain cerebrospinal fluid
Lateral ventricle
Third ventricle
Cerebral aqueduct
Fourth ventricle
Development of the brain
Starts early in life
Head, neck and trunk form first
Then limbs form off of that
Gray matter - neuron cell bodies
Cortex over cerebrum and cerebellum and central portion of spinal
cord
Forms nuclei deep within brain
White matter bundles of axons
Form tracts that connect parts of the brain
Ascending and descending tracts in the spinal cord
Cerebral hemisphere
Gyri: elevated ridges of tissue

 Sulci: shallow grooves

Fissures: deep sulci
Frontal lobe
Parietal lobe
Temporal lobe
Occipital lobe
Functional areas of the cerebral cortex
Motor areas control voluntary movement
o Primary motor cortex: allows conscious control of precise,
skilled, voluntary movements
Large pyramidal cells of the precentral gyri
Motor homunculi: upside-down caricatures representing
the motor innervation of body regions
o Premotor cortex: controls learned, repetitious, or patterned
motor skills
Involved in the planning of movements
Coordinates simultaneous actions
o Frontal eye field: controls voluntary movement of the eyes
o Brocas area
Associated with speech
Only present in one hemisphere (usually the left)
o Wernickes area
Associated with interpretation of speech
Sensory areas conscious awareness of sensation
o Olfactory cortex: responsible for smell
o Gustatory cortex: involved in perceiving taste
o Visceral sensory area: conscious perception of visceral
sensations
Upset stomach, full bladder, etc.
o Vestibular cortex: conscious awareness of balance
o Primary somatosensory cortex
Receives sensory information from the skin, skeletal
muscles, and joints
Capable of identifying what body region is being
stimulated
o Somatosensory association cortex
Integrates sensory input from primary somatosensory
cortex
Determines the size, texture, and relationship of parts
of objects being felt
o Primary visual cortex
Receives information from the retinas
Visual association areas

 Uses past visual experiences to interpret visual

stimuli
o Primary auditory cortex
Interprets information from inner ear as pitch,
loudness, and locations
Auditory association area
Stores memories of sounds and permits
perception of sounds
Association areas integrate diverse information
o Anterior association area
Involved with intellect, cognition, recall, and personality
Contains working memory needed for judgment,
reasoning, persistence, and planning
o Posterior association area
Plays a role in recognizing patterns and faces
Involved in understanding written and spoken language
(wernikes area)
o Limbic association area
Provides emotional impact that helps establish
memories
Lateralization: division of labor between hemispheres
Left hemisphere: controls language, math, and logic
Right hemisphere: insight, visual-spatial skills, intuition, and artistic skills
Cerebral white matter: how left and right hemispheres communicate
Association fibers: connect different parts of the same hemisphere
Projection fibers: connect the cortex with the lower parts of the
brain and spinal cord
Basal Nuclei (Ganglia)
Subcortical nuclei
Associated with the diencephalon and the midbrain
Functions:
o Influence muscular control
o Help regulate attention and cognition
o Regulate intensity of slow or stereotyped movements
o Inhibit antagonistic and unnecessary movements
Diencephalon
Encloses the third ventricle
Three paired structures
o Thalamus
Consists of bilateral egg-shaped nuclei
Relays information coming into the cerebral cortex

 Responsible for sensation, motor activities, cortical

arousal, learning, and memory
o Hypothalamus
Looks like jelly beans inside
Autonomic control center for many visceral functions
Center for emotional response
Regulates body temp., food intake, water balance, and
thirst
Regulates sleep and the sleep cycle
Controls release of hormones by the anterior pituitary
Produces posterior pituitary hormones
o Epithalamus
Most dorsal portion of the diencephalon
Forms roof of the third ventricle
Contains the pineal gland which secretes melatonin
Melatonin: helps regulate sleep-wake cycles
Brain Stem
3 regions
o midbrain
o pons
o medulla oblongata
where we find the end of the fourth ventricle
continuous with the spinal cord
Midbrain
Sits underneath the diencephalon
cerebral peduncles
o carry motor info from the motor cortex down into the lower
portion of the body
Pons
Regulating respiration
receives afferent info to adjust breathing to match physiological
needs
associated with the fourth ventricle
reticular formation
o cluster of different nuclei that exist within the brain stem
o found in medulla and pons
o set of nuclei that help keep you alert
fibers of pyramidal tract
o descending motor fibers
pontine nuclei
o associated with regulating breathing
Medulla oblongata

 responsible for initiating breathing

The cerebellum
Receives proprioceptive feedback
Arbor vitae
o White matter in the cerebellum
o Carries incoming and outgoing information
Ipsilateral
o Refers to the side in which it receives info
o same side in which the info is coming from
contralateral
o opposite side
receives info ipsilaterally, processes it, and then ___ contralaterally
Limbic system
surrounds the diencephalon
emotions
learning; cannot learn new information without this system
amygdala
o associated with emotional memories
hippocampus
o involved in all factual memories
o not prominent in recall
Reticular formation
exists within the brain stem
RAS (reticular activating system)
o keeps neuronial cells active
o keeps you alert
motor function
Consciousness
being aware of your environment
Memory
short term
o temporary
o capacity of short term memory is 7-10 digits long
long term
we detect outside stimuli via our senses
transfer from STM to LTM
o emotional state
o rehearsal
o association (integration)
o automatic memory
declarative memory

o factual knowledge
o hippocampus is required
nondeclarative memory
o less conscious or unconscious
o do not need hippocampus
Protection of the brain
skull
membranes (meninges)
water cushion (cerebrospinal fluid)
blood-brain barrier
Meninges
Dura mater
o tough
o consists of 2 layer
periosteal: outer layer
meningeal: connected to periosteal layer
arachnoid matter
o middle membrane
o semi tough
o fiber-like projections down towards the pia matter
pia matter
o thin, delicate layer that surrounds the brain
sub arachnoid space
o space between pia and arachnoid matter
o where blood vessels would be located
superior sagittal sinus
arachnoid villi
o one way valves that allow the cerebrospinal fluid to move one
direction and reenter general circulation
Cerebrospinal fluid
Choroid plexus: where we produce cerebrospinal fluid
contains nutrients
helps to transport some neurotransmitters
Hydrocephalus
water on the brain
Accumulation of CSF:
o 1. Ventricles
o 2. Subarachnoid space
Choroid Plexuses
A bundle of capillaries next to the ependymal cells
how CSF forms
Blood-brain barrier
Thicker basal lamina
helps maintain a stable environment for the brain

 makes it difficult for things to get across

parts of the brain that do not have a blood-brain barrier (allow us to
detect things in the blood that may be good/bad and adjust
accordingly)
o hypothalamus
o medulla (portions)
Spinal cord
Functions
o Carries information upwards
o integration is in the form of reflexes
Protection
o Spinal nerves are bathed in cerebral spinal fluid
Spinal nerves: 31 pairs
o Break down into: cervical, lumbar, thoracic, sacral, and
coccygeal
Cervical and lumbar enlargements
o Associated with a lot of neurons and cell bodies that are
present with the increase number of nerves
Cauda equine
o Horses tail
o the collection of nerve roots at the end
injuries
o tear in the neurons that run up and down the spinal cord
o usually results as a physical injury
o can have partial or complete tears
if complete tear, the bottom portion of the spinal cord
with fall and a gap will form
neurons cannot fill that gap, making injury permanent
partial tear: some of the tracts are severed, but not all
of them
symptoms: related to where the injury is and the
magnitude of the injury
paraplegia (lumbar): part of hips and all of your legs
paraplegia (thoracic): breasts down
tetraplegia (cervical C6): lose from shoulders down
tetraplegia (cervical C4): lose neck down
Gray matter
Ventral is always motor (carries info from spinal cord out to an
affecter)
dorsal is always sensory (carries info to the spinal cord)
cell bodies for the ventral root always exist in the ventral horn in
the gray matter

Ascending tracts
moving up (afferent) blue
Descending tracts
moving downwards (efferent) red
lateral corticospinal tract
originate in primary motor cortex
descend down to spine
ventral corticospinal tract
Spinal Nerves
Cervical nerves leave above the vertebra until C8
C8 leaves above T1 vertebra
Dermatome
mapping of the spinal nerves based on your body surface
motor is exact (lose all)
sensory is one above and one below (lose most)
Ascending pathways
first-order neuron
o peripheral neuron
o ascends into dorsal root then into dorsal horn
o once it enters the spinal cord, it will synapse onto the secondorder neuron in the CNS
second-order neuron
o ascend up to the thalamus
o then synapse onto third-order neuron
third-order neuron
o then synapse onto somatosensory cortex
Dorsal column medial lemniscal pathway (discriminative touch)
crosses at medulla
Anterolateral
Crosses at entry
Spinocerebellar
Descending pathways and tracts
1. Upper motor neuron
o CNS only
2. Lower motor neuron
o PNS neuron
Interneuron: connects upper to lower motor neuron

 lateral corticospinal tract

o decussation: where it crosses
Trauma
Hemiperalysis
Paresthesias: loss of pain
Flaccid paralysis
o Associated with a lower motor neuron injury
o no reflexes
spastic paralysis