The Brain and Cranial Nerves

• Brain functions in sensations, memory, emotions, decision

making, behavior
 Principal Parts of the Brain
• Cerebrum
• Diencephalon
– thalamus &
hypothalamus
• Cerebellum
• Brainstem
– medulla, pons &
midbrain
Photo of Sagittal Section of Brain
 Meninges
• Dura mater -- outermost, tough membrane
– outer periosteal layer against bone
– where separated from inner meningeal layer forms dural
venous sinuses draining blood from brain
– supportive structures formed by dura mater
• falx cerebri, falx cerebelli and tentorium cerebelli
– epidural space filled with fat in lower back region
• epidural anaesthesia during childbirth
• Arachnoid mater is spider web filamentous layer
• Pia mater is a thin vascular layer adherent to contours of
brain
Cranial Meninges
 Meningitis
• Inflammation of the meninges
• Serious disease of infancy and childhood
– between 3 months and 2 years of age
• Bacterial and virus invasion of the CNS by way of the
nose and throat
– pia mater and arachnoid are most likely to be affected
• Signs include high fever, stiff neck, drowsiness and
intense headache and may progress to coma
• Diagnose by examining the CSF
 Blood Supply to Brain
• Arterial blood supply is branches from circle of Willis
on base of brain
• Vessels on surface of brain----penetrate tissue
• Uses 20% of our bodies oxygen & glucose needs
– blood flow to an area increases with activity in that area
– deprivation of O2 for 4 min does permanent injury
• at that time, lysosome release enzymes
Blood-Brain and Blood-CSF Barriers
• Blood-brain barrier
– protects cells from some toxins and pathogens
• proteins & antibiotics can not pass
– tight junctions seal together epithelial cells, continuous
basement membrane, astrocyte processes covering
capillaries
– permeable to lipid-soluble materials (alcohol, O2, CO2,
nicotine and anesthetics)
– circumventricular organs in 3rd & 4th ventricles at breaks
in the barrier where blood has direct access
• monitoring of glucose, pH, osmolarity & other variations
• allows route for HIV virus to invade the brain
• Blood-CSF barrier at choroid plexus is ependymal
cells joined by tight junctions
 Cerebrospinal Fluid
• 80-150 ml of Clear liquid fills ventricles and canals &
bathes its external surface (in subarachnoid space)
• Brain produces & absorbs about 500 ml/day
– filtration of blood through choroid plexus
– has more Na+ & Cl- but less K+ & Ca+2 than plasma
• Functions
– buoyancy -- floats brain so it neutrally buoyant
– protection -- cushions from hitting inside of skull
– chemical stability -- rinses away wastes and optimal ionic
concentrations for action potentials
• Escapes from 4th ventricle to surround the brain
• Absorbed by arachnoid villi into venous sinus
Brain Ventricles
Ventricles of the Brain
 Ventricles and Cerebrospinal Fluid

• Internal chambers within the CNS

– lateral ventricles found inside cerebral hemispheres
– third ventricle is single vertical space under corpus
callosum
– cerebral aqueduct runs through midbrain
– fourth ventricle is small chamber between pons &
cerebellum
– central canal runs down through spinal cord
• Lined with ependymal cells and containing choroid
plexus of capillaries that produce CSF
 Drainage of CSF from Ventricles

• One median aperture & two lateral apertures allow CSF to

exit from the interior of the brain
Flow of Cerebrospinal Fluid
 Reabsorption of CSF

• Reabsorbed through arachnoid villi

– grapelike clusters of arachnoid penetrate dural venous sinus
• 20 ml/hour reabsorption rate = same as production rate
 Hydrocephalus
• Blockage of drainage of CSF (tumor, inflammation,
developmental malformation, meningitis,
hemorrhage or injury
• Continued production cause an increase in
pressure --- hydrocephalus
• In newborn or fetus, the fontanels allow this
internal pressure to cause expansion of the skull
and damage to the brain tissue
• Neurosurgeon implants a drain shunting the CSF
to the veins of the neck or the abdomen
 Hindbrain: Medulla Oblongata

• 3 cm extension of spinal cord

• Ascending & descending nerve tracts
• Nuclei of sensory & motor cranial
nerves (IX, X, XI, and XII)
• Cardiac center adjusts rate & force of heart beat
• Vasomotor center adjusts blood vessel diameter
• Respiratory centers control rate & depth of breathing
• Reflex centers for coughing, sneezing, gagging,
swallowing, vomiting, salivation, sweating, movements
of tongue & head
Ventral Surface of Medulla Oblongata

• Ventral surface bulge

– pyramids
– large motor tract
– decussation of most fibers
• left cortex controls right muscles
• Olive = olivary nucleus
– neurons send input to
cerebellum
– proprioceptive signals
– gives precision to movements
Dorsal Surface of Medulla Oblongata

• Nucleus gracilis & nucleus cuneatus = sensory neurons

– relay information to thalamus on opposite side of brain
• 5 cranial nerves arise from medulla -- 8 thru 12
 XII=Hypoglossal Nerve

• Provides tongue movements of speech, food

manipulation & swallowing
• Damage results in inability to protrude tongue if both
are damaged or deviation towards injured side &
ipsilateral atrophy if one side is damaged
• Mixed, primarily motor
 XI=Accessory Nerve

• Cranial portion
– arises medulla
– skeletal mm of throat & soft palate
• Spinal portion
– arises cervical spinal cord
– sternocleidomastoid and trapezius mm.
• Damage causes impaired head, neck & shoulder movement, head turns
towards injured side
 X=Vagus Nerve

• Receives sensations from viscera

• Controls cardiac muscle and smooth muscle of the viscera,
Controls secretion of digestive fluids
• Damage causes hoarseness or loss of voice, impaired swallowing &
fatal if both are cut
 IX=Glossopharyngeal Nerve

• Provides control over swallowing, salivation, gagging,

sensations from posterior 1/3 of tongue, control of BP
and respiration
• Damage results in loss of bitter & sour taste & impaired
swallowing
 VIII=Vestibulocochlear Nerve

• Cochlear branch begins in medulla

– receptors in cochlea
– hearing
– if damaged deafness or tinnitus (ringing) is produced
• Vestibular branch begins in pons
– receptors in vestibular apparatus
– sense of balance
• Damage produces deafness, vertigo, nausea, loss of balance &
nystagmus
 Injury to the Medulla

• Hard blow to the back of the head may be fatal

• Cranial nerve malfunctions on same side as injury;
loss of sensation or paralysis of throat or tongue;
irregularities in breathing and heart rhythm
 Pons
• Bulge in the brainstem, rostral to
the medulla
• Ascending sensory tracts
• Descending motor tracts
• Pathways in & out of cerebellum
• Pneumotaxic & apneustic areas help control breathing
• Nuclei concerned with sleep, hearing, balance, taste,
eye movements, facial expression, facial sensation,
swallowing, bladder control & posture
– cranial nerves V, VI, VII, and VIII
Pons

• One inch long

• White fiber tracts ascend
and descend
• Pneumotaxic & apneustic
areas help control
breathing
• Middle cerebellar
peduncles carry sensory
info to the cerebellum
• Cranial nerves 5 thru 7
 VII=Facial Nerve

• Provides facial expressions, sense of taste on anterior

2/3’s of tongue, salivary glands and tear, nasal & palatine
glands
• Damage produces sagging facial muscles & disturbed
sense of taste (missing sweet & salty)
 Branches of Facial Nerve

Clinical test: Test anterior 2/3’s of tongue with substances such as

sugar, salt, vinegar, and quinine; test response of tear glands to
ammonia fumes; test motor functions by asking subject to close eyes,
smile, whistle, frown, raise eyebrows, etc.
 VI=Abducens Nerve

• Lateral rectus eye muscle

• Damage results in inability to rotate eye
laterally & at rest eye rotates medially
 V=Trigeminal Nerve

• Main sensory nerve to face (touch, pain and

temperature) and muscles of mastication
• Damage produces loss of sensation & impaired
chewing
Midbrain

• One inch in length

• Extends from pons
to diencephalon
• Cerebral aqueduct
connects 3rd
ventricle above to
4th ventricle below
 Midbrain, Cross Section

• Mesencephalon
• Central aqueduct
• CN III and IV
– eye movement
• Cerebral peduncles
hold corticospinal tract
• Tegmentum connects
to cerebellum & helps
control fine movements through red nucleus
• Substantia nigra sends inhibitory signals to basal ganglia &
thalamus (degeneration leads to tremors and Parkinson disease)
 Superior & Inferior Colliculus
• Tectum (4 nuclei) called corpora quadrigemina
– superior colliculus (tracking moving objects )
– inferior colliculus (reflex turning of head to sound)
 Reticular Formation
• Clusters of gray matter
scattered throughout pons,
midbrain & medulla
• Motor Arm
– Regulate balance & posture
– relaying information from
eyes & ears to cerebellum
– gaze centers allow you to track moving object
– Includes cardiac & vasomotor centers
– Origin of descending analgesic pathways
 Reticular Formation Cont.
• Reticular Activating System
– alerts cerebral cortex to sensory signals (sound of
alarm, flash light, smoke or intruder) to awaken
from sleep
– maintains consciousness & helps keep you awake
with stimuli from ears, eyes, skin and muscles
– Regulates sleep
– injury leads to irreversible coma
 Diencephalon: Thalamus

• Oval mass of gray matter protruding into lateral

ventricle (part of diencephalon)
• Receives nearly all sensory information on its way to
cerebral cortex
– integrate & directs information to appropriate area
• Interconnected to limbic system so involved in
emotional & memory functions
 Cerebellum

• 2 cerebellar hemispheres and vermis (central area)

• Function
– correct voluntary muscle contraction and posture based on
sensory data from body about actual movements
– sense of equilibrium
 Cerebellum

• Transverse fissure between cerebellum & cerebrum

• Cerebellar cortex (folia) & central nuclei are grey matter
• Arbor vitae = tree of life = white matter
 Cerebellar Peduncles

• Superior, middle & inferior peduncles attach to brainstem

– inferior carries sensory information from spinal cord
– middle carries sensory fibers from cerebral cortex & basal ganglia
– superior carries motor fibers that extend to motor control areas
Diencephalon Surrounds 3rd Ventricle

• Surrounds 3rd ventricle

• Superior part of walls is thalamus
• Inferior part of walls & floor is hypothalamus
 Thalamus

• 1 inch long mass of gray mater in each half of brain (connected

across the 3rd ventricle by intermediate mass)
• Relay station for sensory information on way to cortex
• Crude perception of some sensations
 Thalamic Nuclei

• Nuclei have different roles

– relays auditory and visual impulses, taste and somatic sensations
– receives impulses from cerebellum or basal ganglia
– anterior nucleus concerned with emotions, memory and
acquisition of knowledge (cognition)
 Hypothalamus

• Dozen or so nuclei in 4 major regions

– mammillary bodies are relay station for olfactory reflexes;
infundibulum suspends the pituitary gland
• Major regulator of homeostasis
– receives somatic and visceral input, taste, smell & hearing information;
monitors osmotic pressure, temperature of blood
 Functions of Hypothalamus
• Controls and integrates activities of the ANS which
regulates smooth, cardiac muscle and glands
• Synthesizes regulatory hormones that control the
anterior pituitary
• Contains cell bodies of axons that end in posterior
pituitary where they secrete hormones
• Regulates rage, aggression, pain, pleasure & arousal
• Feeding, thirst & satiety centers
• Controls body temperature
• Regulates daily patterns of sleep
Epithalamus
• Pineal gland
– endocrine gland the size
of small pea
– secretes melatonin
during darkness
– promotes sleepiness &
sets biological clock
• Habenular nuclei
– emotional responses to
odors
 Subthalamus & CVO
• Subthalamus
– small area just inferior to thalamus
– work with basal ganglia, cerebrum & cerebellum to
control body movements
• Circumventricular organs
– in walls of 3rd & 4th ventricles
– monitor changes in blood chemistry because lack
blood brain barrier (parts of hypothalamus, pineal
& pituitary gland)
– sites of entry of HIV virus into brain (dementia)
 IV=Trochlear Nerve

• Superior oblique eye muscle

• Damage causes double vision & inability to rotate
eye inferolaterally
 Oculomotor Nerve

• Levator palpebrae raises eyelid (ptosis)

• 4 extrinsic eye muscles (inferior oblique, superior, inferior, and
medial rectus)
• 2 intrinsic eye muscles
– accomodation for near vision (changing shape of lens during reading)
– constriction of pupil
• Damage causes drooping eyelid, dilated pupil, double vision,
difficulty focusing & inability to move eye in certain directions
 Cerebrum
(Cerebral Hemispheres)
• Cerebral cortex is gray matter
overlying white matter
– 3 mm thick containing billions
of cells
– grew so quickly formed folds
(gyri) and grooves (sulci or fissures)
• Longitudinal fissure separates left
& right cerebral hemispheres
• Corpus callosum is band of white matter connecting
left and right cerebral hemispheres
• Each hemisphere is subdivided into 4 lobes
 Cerebral Cortex
• Surface layer of gray matter -- 3 mm thick
• Neocortex (six-layered tissue)
– newest part of the cortex (paleocortex & archicortex)
– layers vary in thickness in different regions of brain
• 2 types of cells
– stellate cells
• have dendrites projecting
in all directions
– pyramidal cells
• have an axon that passes
out of the area
Cerebrum -- Gross Anatomy

Parieto-occipital
sulcus
Insula within Lateral Fissure
 Cerebral White Matter

• Association fibers between gyri in same hemisphere

• Commissural fibers from one hemisphere to other
• Projection fibers form descending & ascending tracts
Tracts of Cerebral White Matter
 Tracts of Cerebral White Matter
• Most of volume of cerebrum is white matter
• Types of tracts
– projection tracts
• extend vertically from brain to spinal cord forming
internal capsule
– commissural tracts
• cross from one hemisphere to the other
– corpus callosum is wide band of white fiber tracts
– anterior & posterior commissures are pencil-lead sized
– association tracts
• connect lobes & gyri of each hemisphere to each other
Functional Regions of Cerebral
Cortex
Sensory Areas of Cerebral Cortex

Receive sensory information from the thalamus

Primary somatosensory area = postcentral gyrus = 1,2,3
Primary visual area = 17
Primary auditory area = 41 & 42
Primary gustatory area = 43
 Somesthetic Sensation
• Somesthetic signals travel up gracile and
cuneate fascicui and spinothalamic tracts of
spinal cord
• Somatosensory area is postcentral gyrus
 Sensory Homunculus
• Demonstrates that
the area of the
cortex dedicated
to the sensations
of various body
parts is
proportional to
how sensitive that
part of the body is.
 Special Senses
• Organs of smell, vision, hearing & equilibrium
project to specialized regions of the brain
• Locations
– taste is lower end of postcentral gyrus
– smell is medial temporal lobe & inferior frontal
lobe
– vision is occipital lobe
– hearing is superior temporal lobe
– equilibrium is mainly the cerebellum, but to
unknown areas of cerebral cortex via the thalamus
 Association Areas of Cerebral Cortex

• Somatosensory area = 5 & 7 (integrate & interpret)

• Visual association area = 18 & 19 (recognize & evaluate)
• Auditory association area(Wernicke’s) = 22(words become speech)
• Gnostic area = 5,7,39 & 40 (integrate all senses & respond)
• Premotor area = 6 (learned skilled movements such as typing)
• Frontal eye field =8 (scanning eye movements such as phone book)
 Sensory Association Areas
• Association areas interpret sensory information
• Somesthetic association area (parietal lobe)
– position of limbs, location of touch or pain, and shape,
weight & texture of an object
• Visual association area (occipital lobe)
– identify the things we see
– faces are recognized in temporal lobe
• Auditory association area (temporal lobe)
– remember the name of a piece of music or identify a
person by his voice
 Motor Areas of Cerebral Cortex

• Voluntary motor initiation

– Primary motor area = 4 = precentral gyrus
• controls voluntary contractions of skeletal muscles on other side
– Motor speech area = 44 = Broca’s area
• production of speech -- control of tongue & airway
 Motor Control
• Intention to contract a muscle begins in motor
association (premotor) area of frontal lobes
• Precentral gyrus (primary motor area) processes that
order by sending signals to the spinal cord
– pyramidal cells called upper motor neurons
– supply muscles of contralateral side due to decussation
• Motor homunculus is
proportional to number
of muscle motor units in
a region (fine control)
Motor Homunculus
 Cerebral Palsy
• Loss of motor control and coordination
• Damage to motor areas of the brain
– infection of pregnant woman with rubella virus
– radiation during fetal life
– temporary lack of O2 during birth
• Not a progressive disease, but irreversible
 Functions of Cerebrum Lobes
• Frontal contains voluntary
motor functions and areas for
planning, mood, smell and
social judgement
• Parietal contains areas for sensory reception &
integration of sensory information
• Occipital is visual center of brain
• Temporal contains areas for hearing, smell,
learning, memory, emotional behavior
• Insula is still little known
 Cognition
• Cognition is mental processes such as awareness,
perception, thinking, knowledge & memory
– 75% of brain is association areas where integration of
sensory & motor information occurs
• Examples of effects of brain lesions
– parietal lobe -- contralateral neglect syndrome
– temporal lobe -- agnosia (inability to recognize
objects) or prosopagnosia (inability to recognize faces)
– frontal lobe -- problems with personality (inability to
plan & execute appropriate behavior)
 Accidental Lobotomy of Phineas Gage
• Accidental destruction of
ventromedial region of
both frontal lobes
• Personality change to an
irreverent, profane and
fitful person
• Neuroscientists believe
planning, moral
judgement, and
emotional control are
functions of the
prefrontal cortex
 Emotion
• Prefrontal cortex controls how emotions are expressed
(seat of judgement)
• Emotions form in hypothalamus & amygdala
– artificial stimulation produces fear, anger, pleasure, love,
parental affection, etc.
– electrode in median forebrain bundle in rat or human and a
foot pedal
• press all day to the exclusion of food (report a quiet, relaxed feeling)
• Much of our behavior is learned by rewards and
punishments or responses of others to them
 Basal Nuclei

• Masses of gray matter deep to cerebral cortex

• Receive input from substantia nigra & motor cortex
& send signals back to these regions
• Involved in motor control & inhibition of tremors
Basal Nuclei
 Parkinson Disease
• Progressive disorder striking victims at age 60
• Environmental toxins may be the cause
• Neurons from the substantia nigra do not release
enough dopamine onto basal ganglia
– tremor, rigidity, bradykinesia (slow movement) or
hypokinesia (decreasing range of movement)
– may affect walking, speech, even facial expression
• Treatments
– drugs to increase dopamine levels, or to prevent its
breakdown, surgery to transplant fetal tissue or removal of
part of globus pallidus to slow tremors
 Limbic System

• Loop of cortical structures surrounding deep brain

– amygdala, hippocampus, fornix & cingulate gyrus
• Amydala important in emotions and hippocampus in memory
-- rest are not sure
• Emotional brain--intense pleasure & intense pain
• Strong emotions increase efficiency of memory
 Reticular Activating System
• RAS has connections to
cortex & spinal cord.
• Many types of inputs
activate the RAS---pain,
light, noise, muscle
activity, touch
• Produces state of wakefulness
called consciousness
• Coma is sleeplike state
– deep coma has no reflexes
– death if cardiovascular reflexes are
lost
 Sleep
• State of altered or partial consciousness from
which a person can be aroused
• Triggers for sleep are unclear
– adenosine levels increase with brain activity
– adenosine levels inhibit activity in RAS
– caffeine prevents adenosine from inhibiting RAS
• Two types of normal sleep
– NREM = non-rapid eye movement sleep
– REM = rapid eye movement sleep
 Non-Rapid Eye Movement Sleep
• Stage 1
– person is drifting off with eyes
closed (first few minutes)
• Stage 2
– fragments of dreams
– eyes may roll from side to side
• Stage 3
– very relaxed, moderately deep
– 20 minutes, body temperature & BP have dropped
• Stage 4 = deep sleep
– bed-wetting & sleep walking occur in this phase
 REM Sleep
• Most dreams occur during REM sleep
• In first 90 minutes of sleep:
– go from stage 1 to 4 of NREM,
– go up to stage 2 of NREM
– to REM sleep
• Cycles repeat until total REM sleep totals 90 to 120 minutes
• Neuronal activity & oxygen use highest in REM sleep
• Total sleeping & dreaming time decreases with age
 EEG and Brain Waves

• Electroencephalogram records voltage changes from

postsynaptic potentials in cerebral cortex
• Differences in amplitude & frequency distinguish 4
types of brain waves
 Brain Waves & Sleep
• States of consciousness can be correlated with EEG
• 4 types of brain waves
– alpha occur when awake & resting with eyes closed
– beta occur with eyes open performing mental tasks
– theta occur during sleep or emotional stress
– delta occur during deep sleep
• Sleep is temporary state of unconsciousness
– coma is state of unconsciousness with no possible arousal
– reticular formation seems to regulate state of alertness
– suprachiasmatic nucleus acts as biological clock to set our circadian
rhythm of sleep and waking
 Stages of Sleep
• Non-REM sleep occurs in stages
– 4 stages occurring in first 30 to 45 minutes of sleep
• stage 1 is drifting sensation (would claim was not sleeping)
• stage 2 still easily aroused
• stage 3 vital signs change -- BP, pulse & breathing rates drop
– reached in 20 minutes
• stage 4 is deep sleep -- difficult to arouse
– seems to have a restorative effect
• REM sleep occurs about 5 times a night
– rapid eye movements under the eyelids, vital signs increase,
EEG resembles awake person, dreams and penile erections
occur
– may help sort & strengthen information from memory
 Sleep Stages and Brain Waves
• Brain waves change
as we pass through 4
stages of sleep
– alpha waves
– sleep spindles
– theta
– delta waves
 Sleep Stages

• Notice how REM sleep periods become longer and

more frequent in the second half of the night
 Learning & Memory
• Learning is acquiring new knowledge
• Memory is retaining that knowledge
– short-term memory
• recall phone number while dialing
• depends upon electrical events (reverberating circuits)
– long-term memory
• frequent retrieval of specific information helps with memory
consolidation (learning)
• structural or biochemical changes occurs
– increase in dendrites, enlarge endbulbs, increase in presynaptic terminals
or formation of additional membrane receptors
– Automatic Memory
• Recently acquired memory lost first with coma or shock
treatments
 Memory & Synaptic Plasticity
• Memories are not stored in individual cells
• Physical basis of memory is a pathway of cells
– called a memory trace or engram
– new synapses or existing synapses have been modified to
make transmission easier (synaptic plasticity)
• Synaptic potentiation
– process of making transmission easier
– correlates with different forms of memory
• immediate memory
• short-term memory
• long-term memory
 Immediate Memory
• Ability to hold something in your thoughts for
just a few seconds
• Feel for the flow of events (sense of the
present)
• Our memory of what just happened “echoes”
in our minds for a few seconds
– reverberating circuits
 Short-Term Memory
• Lasts from a few seconds to several hours
– quickly forgotten if distracted with something new
• Working memory allows us to keep something in mind
long enough search for keys, dial the phone
– reverberating circuits
• Facilitation causes memory to longer lasting
– tetanic stimulation (rapid,repetitive signals) causes Ca+2
accumulates & cell becomes more likely to fire
• Posttetanic potentiation (to jog a memory)
– Ca+2 level in synaptic knob has stayed elevated long after
tetanic stimulation, so little stimulation will be needed to
recover that memory
 Long-Term Memory
• May last up to a lifetime
• Types of long-term memory
– declarative is retention of facts as text or words
– procedural is retention of motor skills -- keyboard
• Physical remodeling of synapses with new branching of
axons or dendrites
• Molecular changes called long-term potentiation
– tetanic stimulation causes ionic changes (Ca+2 entry)
• neuron produces more neurotransmitter receptors
• synthesizes more protein used for synapse remodeling
• releases nitric oxide signals presynaptic neuron to release more
neurotransmitter
 Potentiation
• N-Methyl D-Aspartate receptors
• Co-activation by glutamate and glycine
• Voltage and ligand regulated
• Mg++ blocks channel, but depolarization
pushes Mg out of channel and allows Ca++ to
enter cell
• The movement of Ca++ begins 2nd mess
system making neurotransmitter release (NO)
easier presynaptically and leads to an increase
of receptors postsynaptically
 Memory
• Information management requires learning, memory &
forgetting (eliminating the trivia)
– pathological inability to forget have trouble with reading
comprehension
– anterograde amnesia -- can not store new data
– retrograde amnesia -- can not remember old data
• Hippocampus is important in organizing sensory &
cognitive information into a memory
– lesion to it causes inability to form new memories
• Cerebellum helps learn motor skills
• Amygdala important in emotional memory
• Memories can haunt you
 Fact Memory

Sensory receptor

Sensory cortex

Basal Forebrain
Sensory assoc area

Amygdala Hippocampus
Ventral Median
prefrontal Cortex
Hypothalamus

Thalamus
 Skill Memory

Sensory Assoc Area

Hippocampus

Premotor cortex
Cerebellum

Caudate and Lentiform Nuclei Motor control

 Language
• Includes reading, writing, speaking &
understanding words
• Wernicke’s area permits recognition of spoken &
written language & creates plan of speech
– angular gyrus processes text into a form we can speak
• Broca’s area generates motor program for larynx,
tongue, cheeks & lips
– transmits that to primary motor cortex for action
• Affective language area lesions produce aprosodia
– area area as Broca’s on opposite hemisphere
Language Centers
 Aphasia
• Language areas are located in the left cerebral
hemisphere of most people
• Inability to use or comprehend words = aphasia
• Any language deficit resulting from lesions in same
hemisphere as Wernicke’s & Broca’s areas
• Lesion to Broca’s = nonfluent aphasia
– slow speech, difficulty in choosing words
– know what want to say but can not speak
– entire vocabulary may be 2 to 3 words
 Aphasia cont.
• Lesion to Wernicke’s = fluent aphasia
– speech normal & excessive, but makes little sense
• Anomic aphasia = speech & understanding are
normal but text & pictures make no sense
– damage to common integrative area or auditory
association area
• faulty understanding of spoken or written words
– word deafness = an inability to understand spoken words
– word blindness = an inability to understand written words

• Others = understanding only 1st half of words or

writing only consonants
PET Scans during a Language Task
Lateralization of Cerebral Functions
 Cerebral Lateralization
• Left hemisphere is categorical hemisphere
– specialized for spoken & written language, sequential &
analytical reasoning (math & science), analyze data in linear way
• Right hemisphere is representational hemisphere
– perceives information more holistically, perception of spatial
relationships, pattern, comparison of special senses, imagination
& insight, music and artistic skill
• Highly correlated with handedness
– 91% of people right-handed with left side is categorical
• Lateralization develops with age
– trauma more problems in males since females have more
communication between hemisphere (corpus callosum is thicker
posteriorly)
Hemispheric Lateralization
• Functional
specialization of each
hemisphere more
pronounced in men
• Females have larger
connections between 2
sides
• Damage to left side
produces aphasia
• Damage to same area
on right side produces
speech with little
emotional inflection
 Optic Nerve

• Provides vision
• Damage causes blindness in visual field
 Olfactory Nerve

• Provides sense of smell

• Damage causes impaired sense of smell
• Terminate in olfactory cortex
Cranial Nerve Zero
 Cranial Nerve Zero
• First described in Humans in 1913
• Pheromones
• Begin in olfactory epithelium, but terminate in
lateral and medial septal nuclei and preoptic
areas (hot button sex regions)
 Aging & the Nervous System
• Years 1 to 2
– rapid increase in size due to increase in size of neurons,
growth of neuroglia, myelination & development of
dendritic branches
• Early adulthood until death
– brain weight declines until only 93% by age 80
– number of synaptic contacts declines
– processing of information diminishes
– conduction velocity decreases
– voluntary motor movements slow down
– reflexes slow down
 Cerebrovascular Accident (CVA)
• Third leading cause of death after heart attacks
and cancer
• 2 types of strokes
– ischemic due to decreased blood flow
– hemorrhagic due to rupture of blood vessel
• Risk factors
– high blood pressure, high cholesterol, heart disease,
diabetes, smoking, obesity, alcohol
• Tissue plasminogen activator (t-PA) used within 3
hours of onset will decrease permanent disability
 Transient Ischemic Attack (TIA)
• Episode of temporary cerebral dysfunction
• Cause
– impaired blood flow to the brain
• Symptoms
– dizziness, slurred speech, numbness, paralysis on one
side, double vision
– reach maximum intensity almost immediately
– persists for 5-10 minutes & leaves no deficits
• Treatment is aspirin or anticoagulants; artery
bypass grafting or carotid endarterectomy
 Alzheimer Disease (AD)
• Dementia = loss of reasoning, ability to read, write,
talk, eat & walk
• Afflicts 11% of population over 65
• Causes
– Loss of neurons that release acetylcholine (nucleus basalis)
– Plaques of abnormal proteins outside neurons
– Tangled protein filaments within neurons
– Risk factors -- head injury, heredity (APO4)
• Beneficial effects of estrogen, vitamin E, ibuprofen &
ginko biloba
 Brain Injuries
• Causes of damage
– displacement or distortion of tissue at impact
– increased intracranial pressure
– infections
– free radical damage after ischemia
• Concussion---temporary loss of consciousness
– headache, drowsiness, confusion, lack of concentration
• Contusion--bruising of brain (less than 5 min
unconsciousness but blood in CSF)
• Laceration--tearing of brain (fracture or bullet)
– increased intracranial pressure from hematoma