UNIT OF STUDY 6, B MED 2806.

SENSORY AND MOTOR FUNCTION.

LECTURE, U6L2, THE CENTRAL NERVOUS SYSTEM 2.

VIEWS OF THE BRAIN.

BRAIN STEM.
CEREBELLUM.
DIENCEPHALON.
CEREBRAL HEMISPHERES.
PRECISION OF PATHWAYS.
LOCALISATION OF FUNCTION.
LEVELS OF ORGANISATION.

STRUCTURE OF THE CENTRAL NERVOUS SYSTEM 2.

Views of the Brain.
While the brain is a single structure individual structures are presented in different views of the whole brain or
sections of the brain. A structure may appear in more than one view or section and may look different depending
on the view or section.
Several standard views or sections are used. Lateral cerebral hemisphere, saggittal section, coronal section,
horizontal section, dorsal, ventral and lateral brain stem. The sections are designated in the anatomical position.
A transverse section is at right angles to the axis of the brain which because of the cephalic flexure, at the
midbrain diencephalon junction, approximates to a horizontal section below the flexure and a coronal section
above the flexure.
Brain Stem.
Almost vertical in the anatomical position.
Three parts, from caudal to rostral, medulla, pons and midbrain. The cerebellum is attached to the dorsal surface
of the pons and medulla. The cranial nerves 3 to 12 also attach to the brainstem.
Key external features include. Ventrally the pyramids, olives, pons and cerebral peduncles. Dorsally the gracile
and cuneate tubercles, cerebellar peduncles, rhomboid fossa, the four colliculi and the attachment of most of the
cranial nerves.
Within the brainstem are the mesencephalic aquaduct, fourth ventricle with its floor the rhomboid fossa, the
cranial nerve and other nuclei (eg gracile, cuneate), the reticular formation and many fibre tracts (eg medial
lemniscus, spinothalamic, corticospinal) particularly those passing to and from the cerebral cortex, spinal cord
and the cerebellum.
Cerebellum.
Cortex (3 layers), white matter, deep nuclei (eg dentate). Attached to pons and medulla by three fibre bundles
called peduncles. Input from spinal cord, vestibular apparatus and cerebral cortex. Output particularly back to
cerebral cortex via thalamus. Important modulator in motor function.
Diencephalon.
Four parts, thalamus, hypothalamus, epithalamus, subthalamus.
Thalamus, large, above hypothalamic sulcus, many subnuclei, some involved in sensory relay and motor
circuits, particularly to the cerebral cortex.
Hypothalamus, below hypothalamic sulcus, contains the mamillary bodies and infundibulum (pituitary stalk)
inferiorly, anterior is the optic chiasma, also contains many subnuclei. Involed in autonomic, endocrine and
other homeostasic functions.
Epithalamus, includes pineal gland.
Cerebral Hemispheres (Telencephalon).
Developes embryologically from the telencephalon.
Contains various parts. Cortex, medullary white matter, various nuclei eg the caudate and lentiform nuclei (the
corpus striatum or part of basal ganglia) and the amygdala. The lentiform nucleus has two further parts the
putamen and the globus pallidus.
The two hemispheres are joined by the commissural fibres of the corpus callosum.
Cortex, layers of gray matter, mostly 6 layers, 3 in the hippocampus. Externally gyri (elevations) and sulci
(depressions). Lobes, frontal, parietal, temporal, occipital some descriptions include a limbic lobe and the insula.
Functional localization eg vision occipital lobe, hearing part of temporal lobe, secondary and association areas.
Caudate and lentiform nuclei, grey matter, deep within hemispheres, important in motor function.
Amygdala, temporal lobe, olfaction, memory, behaviour.
Medullary white matter, commissural fibres (between hemispheres), long and short association fibres (within
each hemisphere), projection fibres (to and from hemispheres from diencephalon, brainstem etc)
Precision of Pathways.
Some collections of neurons and pathways act more precisely than others.
Examples (Precise / Less precise). Dorsal columns / spinothalamic tracts of spinal cord. Corticospinal /
reticulospinal tracts of spinal cord. Cone / rod pathways in the visual system.

Precision pathways, faithful, surround inhibition, more cells and fibres, analytical, control, less sensitive. Less
precise pathways, divergent, amplified, sometimes quicker, less space and energy, alerting, more sensitive.
Each approach of value, parallel processing.
Localisation and Specificity of Function Within The CNS.
Groups of spatially related neurons with connections forming circuits and pathways and sharing function. Such
as nuclei and the cerebral cortex and pathways that lead to or from them. Examples. Cortex, motor (precentral
gyrus), somato-sensory (postcentral gyrus), hearing (superior temporal gyrus), vision (around calcarine sulcus),
olfaction ( parahippocampal gyrus), memory (hippocampal gyrus), motor speech (inferior frontal gyrus).
Some further organized reflecting adjacent body structures, somatotopy.
Levels/Hierarchies Of Organisation.
Stuctures (nuclei etc) at various points in the pathway or circuit have a different integrative contribution to the
overall function of the pathway or system.
Spinal cord, brain stem, diencephalon, cortex (primary, secondary, association).
Evolutionary and individual development parallels.
Examples. Sensory and motor structures.
References.
Kapit.W.and Elson.L.M.02, Anatomy Coloring Book 3rd Ed, P 73 74, 78 79.