IV - Terms & Nervous System

8 important questions on IV - Terms & Nervous System

What is the most important commisure, and what are the other white matter tracts?

  • White matter tracts may project between different cortical regions within the same hemisphere called association tracts
  • Project between different cortical regions in different hemispheres or commisures.
  • Projection tracts are between cortical or subcortical structures,

The most important commissure is the corpos callosum.

What was seen as the seat of mental life and what is the function of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF).

The ventricles were incorrectly seen as being the seat of mental life. Ventricles are hollow chambers filled with cerebrospinal fluid or CSF.

CSF has non-cognitive functions. It carries waste metabolites, transfers some messenger signals and provides a protective cushion for the brain.

How is brain evolution thought of, and what is the example given with the visual pathway?

Brain evolution can be thought of as adding additional structures onto older ones rather than replacing older structures with newer ones.

The main visual pathway in humans travels from the retina to the occipital lobe, but a number of older visual pathways also exist and contribute to vision. The older pathways constitute the dominant form of seeing for other species.
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What are the three ways brains are sliced in two dimensional ways?

  • Coronal cross section: slice in the vertical plane through both hemispheres
  • A sagittal section: slice in the vertical plane going through one of the hemisphere. It can be a  midline or medial section.
  • An axial section: horizontal section in the horizontal plane.

How can you see the sagittal, coronal, axial sections of the brain?

The terms of sections of the brain are shown in this figure 2.8

What terms enable navigation in two dimensions front-back or top-bottom?

Anterior, posterior, superior and inferior, (APSI)
Rostral, caudal, dorsal, ventral (RCDV)


enable two dimension navigation.

What do the terms lateral and medial refer to and why is medial ambigious?

The term lateral and medial refer to directions towards the outer surface and the centre of the brain.

The term medial is ambiguous because it can also be used to refer to the middle of the structures generally.

What are the three parts of the Diencephalon and where is the Diencephalon part of?

The diencephalon is part of the forebrain.

The three parts of the diencephalon are the Thalamus, Hypothalamus and the mamillary bodies.

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