The meninges and blood vessels of brain

and spinal cord, and the cerebrospinal fluid

Sanqiang Pan
Department of Anatomy
Medical College of Jinan University
 Part one
The meninges (or coverings) of brain and
spinal cord

Three meninges envelop the brain and

spinal cord (from outer to inner): the dura, the
arachnoid and the pia maters.
Meninges
I . The dura mater
1 The spinal dura mater
• The epidural space: A space between the
spinal dura and the periosteum of the
vertebral canal, which contains the loose
areolar tissue, lymphatic vessels and venous
plexuses. The spinal nerves pass through the
space.
• Epidural block
Spinal dura mater
epidural space
2. The cerebral dura mater
(1) Characteristics:
• loose contact with the calvaria, closely attached at the
base of skull;
• form dura septa: the cerebral falx and the cerebellar
tentorium
• form dura venous sinuses(lack smooth muscle):
Inferior sagittal sinus→straight sinus→(superior
sagittal sinus→)confluence of sinuses→(cavernous
sinuses→) transverse sinuses→sigmoid sinuses →
internal jugular vein
Epidural hematoma
CSF leak
(2) The cavernous sinuses
• Location: on either side of the sella turcica.
• Communication: with the facial vein via the
ophthalmic vein, and with the pterygoid
plexus through the foramen ovale.
• Structures passing through the sinuses: the
internal carotid artery, the oculomotor nerve
(III), trochlear nerve (IV) ,the ophthalmic and
the maxillary divisions of the trigeminal
nerve(V), and the abducens nerve(VI).
II. The arachnoid mater
is a avascular membrane.
1.The subarachnoid space: between the
arachnoid and the pia maters, filled with the
cerebrospinal fluid(CSF).
2. The subarachnoid cisterns: these widened the
subarachnoid space.
3. The arachnoid granulations: berry-like clumps
of the arachnoid protruding into superior
sagittal sinus and other sinuses.
III. The pia mater
contains rich blood vessels. And combines
with the ependyma and choroids vessels to
form the choroid plexus of the third , fourth
and lateral ventricles. Between the dorsal and
ventral nerve roots of the spinal cord to form
the denticulate ligament.
Spinal pia mater
 Part two The blood vessels of the brain and
spinal cord
I. The arteries of brain
come from two pairs of large vessels: the
internal carotid arteries and vertebral arteries .
The internal carotid arteries supply the
anterior two-thirds of the cerebral
hemisphere and parts of the diencephalon.
The posterior one-third of the cerebral
hemispheres , the remainder of the
diencephalons,brain stem and cerebellum are
supplied by the vertebral arteries.
Arteries of brain
1. The internal carotid artery
(1) Course
(2) Segments
• Cervical
• Petrous
• Caverous
• Cerebral (supraclinoid)
Carotid siphon: includes caverous and cerebral
segments. Present U or V shape. Atherosclerosis
occures here.
(3) Main branches:
• Anterior cerebral A.
• Middle cerebral A.: runs in the lateral sulcus and
supply most of the dorsolateral surface of the
cerebral hemisphere and the lentiform nucleus,
caudate nucleus, the internal capsule.
• Posterior communicating A.
• Anterior choroidal A.
• Ophthalmic A.
Ant. cerebral A.
Anterior cerebral A.
Middle cerebral A.
Middle cerebral A.
Posterior communicating A.
 2 The vertebral artery
Two vertebral arteries unit to form the basilar artery.
(1) Main branches of the vertebral A.
• Anterior and posterior spinal A.
• Posterior inferior cerebellar A.

(2) Main branches of the basilar artery

• Anterior inferior cerebellar A.
• Pontine A.
• Superior cerebellar A.
• Posterior cerebral A.
Vertebral arteries
3 The circle of Willis(cerebral arterial circle)
formed by the anterior and posterior cerebral
arteries, the anterior and posterior communicating
arteries, and a segment of internal carotid arteries.
This is important for the functionally adequate
anastomosis to occur.
II. The veins of the brain
do not run together with the arteries, and usually are
divided into superficial and deep groups.
(III) The blood vessels of spinal cord
The blood of the spinal cord comes from the anterior
and posterior spinal arteries of the vertebral artery,
and also from the posterior intercostal and the
lumbar arteries.
Spinal arteries
Spinal arteries
 Part three Cerebrospinal fluid(CSF)

Normal CSF is clear, colorless, and odorless. And fills

with ventricles, the subarachnoid space and the central
canal of the spinal cord. And produced by the choroids
plexuses of the ventricles.
1 Function:
play a role like lymph in the central nervous system,
has function of the support, protection, nutrition,
and carries away metabolites.
2 Circulation:
Lateral ventricles (through the interventricular
foramens) → the subarachnoid space the third
ventricle(through the cerebral aqueduct) →the
fourth ventricle(through lateral and medial apertures)
→the subarachnoid space (through the arachnoid
granulations)→ dura sinuses → veins
 Part four Barriers in the nervous system
1 Blood-brain barrier(BBB): consists of the endothelial
cell and basement membrane of capillaries, and the
processes of astrocyte.This barrier is absent in
several specialized regions of the brain: the basal
hypothalamus, the pineal gland, the small area near
the third ventricle, and area postrema of the fourth
ventricle.
2 Blood-CSF barrier
3 CSF-brain barrier