NERVOUS SYSTEM STRUCTURES - To Know

The following is the list of structures you need to know for the lab practical. As much as possible,
I have followed the order of presentation in the textbook.

Neuron structure and types:
        Cell bodies, dendrites, axons, terminals
Glial types:
        CNS -- astrocytes, microglia, oligodendrocytes (myelin sheath), ependymal cells (CSF)
        PNS -- Schwann cells (myelin sheath w/ nodes of Ranvier), satellite cells (in DRG^†)

VENTRICLES: Each has its own choroid plexus (patch of ependymal cells)

lateral (1 & 2) ( in cerebrum)
septum pellucidum (divider between lateral ventricles)
third (in diencephalon) and fourth (surrounded by brain stem & cerebellum)
cerebral aqueduct (through midbrain [see below]; connects third and fourth ventricles)

CEREBRUM - encloses lateral ventricles; cranial nerves I & II from here
    GENERALIZED FEATURES:
         Gyri -- precentral, postcentral
         Sulci -- central, lateral
         Fissures -- longitudinal, transverse
         Hemispheres
         Lobes -- frontal, parietal, occipital, temporal, insula

    CORTICAL REGIONS (gray matter):
          Primary motor area (precentral gyrus), Primary somatosensory area (post-central
            gyrus), premotor cortex, prefrontal cortex, visual (occipital) cortex, auditory cortex
        Association Areas

    WHITE MATTER (tracts):
        Commissures -- corpus callosum, interthalamic adhesion* (see diencephalon below)
        Association and Projection fibers (tracts) -- decussation of pyramids
        Olfactory Bulbs and tracts
        Optic nerves/Optic chiasma

DIENCEPHALON -- two halves enclose third ventricle
     THALAMUS*: interthalamic adhesion represents commissure between two halves
     HYPOTHALAMUS: associated structures include mammillary bodies, infundibulum
        (stalk) for pituitary gland
     EPITHALAMUS: pineal gland, choroid plexus (in roof of third ventricle)

BRAIN STEM
    MIDBRAIN: Cerebral peduncles surrounding cerebral aqueduct (connects third and
        fourth ventricles); corpora quadrigemina (four bodies), including the superior and
        inferior colliculi; superior cerebellar peduncles9, cranial nerves III & IV from here
    PONS: middle cerebellar peduncles 9, cranial nerves V - VII
    MEDULLA OBLONGATA: inferior cerebellar penducles9, cranial nerves VIII - XII
        from here; decussation of pyramids

CEREBELLUM -- with pons and medulla, surround fourth ventricle
Hemispheres connected by vermis; folia, lobes and fissures (don=t need to know specifics),
arbor vitae (cerebellar white matter), connections to all three brainstem regions by cerebellar
peduncles (see 9 above)

BRAIN COVERINGS:
    Meninges -- dura mater (periosteal and meningeal layers), arachnoid matter, pia mater
    Meningeal spaces -- subdural, subarachnoid
    Septa/Falxes

SPINAL CORD
    GENERALIZED FEATURES:
        Meninges (as around brain); with epidural space
        Conus medullaris, filum terminale, and cauda equina
        Cervical/lumbar enlargements
        Anterior median fissure/posterior median sulcus
        Central Canal (through gray commissure)

    GRAY MATTER:
        gray commissure; posterior horns (synapses with interneurons from sensory
            neurons), lateral horns (in certain regions only; cell bodies of autonomic
            motor neurons), anterior horns (cell bodies of somatic motor neurons)

WHITE MATTER:
posterior, lateral, anterior funiculi (columns; ascending [sensory] and descending [motor[)

    ROOTS and SPINAL NERVES:
        ventral roots (motor neurons); dorsal roots (sensory neurons) and their ganglia^†
        (cell bodies of sensory neurons, with satellite cells surrounding the cell bodies),
        dorsal and ventral rami (Chapter 13, pg. 502 - 503), gray and white rami
        communicantes and sympathetic chain (paravertebral) ganglia (Chap. 14,
        pgs. 531 - 533)