Brain behavior and movement (BBS1004) cases, lecture, and practicals

BRAIN
BEHAVIOR
AND
MOVEMENT
SUMMARY
MELINA BARBUT

,CASE 1 & LECTURE 3 & LECTURE 5 & LECTURE 6: BRAIN

PART 1: OVERALL ORGANIZATION

Overall organization of nervous system




nervous system
nervous system




• Nervous system divides into CNS and PNS
o CNS → integration and command center of the body
o PNS → conveys the information between CNS and rest of the body

Somatic nervous system (SNS)
• Sensory fibers from the skin, skeletal muscles and joints
• Motor fibers to skeletal muscle
• Function: afferent and efferent information flow between CNS and periphery

Autonomic nervous system (ANS)
• Divides into 3; sympathetic nervous system, parasympathetic nervous system, enteric
nervous system
• Sympathetic = action/activity
• Parasympathetic = restoring balance
• Enteric = gut
• Function: involuntary motor control of organs and body functions

PART 2: MAJOR CNS COMPONENTS



1

,What are the major CNS components?
• CNS mainly consists of brain and the spinal cord and first 6 components are parts of the
brain
1. Cerebrum
2. Diencephalon
3. Midbrain (brainstem)
4. Pons (brainstem)
5. Medulla oblongata (brainstem)
6. Cerebellum
7. Spinal cord
• Three parts are common for all mammals: cerebrum, cerebellum, spinal cord

The cerebrum
• It is the largest part of the brain
• Functions are;
o Initiating movement
o Regulating temperature
o Enabling speech, judgment, thinking and reasoning, problem-solving, emotions
and learning
o Relates to senses (vision, hearing, touching…)

Grey matter and white matter
• Cerebrum contains white matter (in the center) and grey matter
o Grey matter (also called cerebral cortex) is associated with
processing and cognition
o White matter consists of glial cells and myelinated axons that
connect the various grey matter areas

Cerebral cortex
• Cerebral cortex is covered with gyri (folds) and sulci (grooves)
• Cerebral cortex is divided into two hemispheres; left and right
• Two hemispheres are joined by a large fissure called longitudinal fissure
(interhemispheric fissure)
• Right hemisphere controls the left side of the body and the left side controls the right
side of the body
• Two halves communicate with one another through a large C-shaped structure of white
matter and nerve pathways called the corpus callosum (located at the center of the
cerebrum)




2

, The cerebellum
• The functions are;
o Coordination of movement (receives information from other regions of the brain
and nervous system and uses the information)
o Balance
o Memory
o Proprioception
• Located at the back of the head; below the temporal and occipital lobes and above the
brainstem
• It is separated from this lobes by the tentorium cerebelli
• It consists of two hemispheres and a vermis that connects them

Grey matter and white matter
• Like other structures in the CNS, cerebellum also consists of grey and white matter
• Cerebellar cortex (grey matter);
o Layer containing folded tissue which contains most of the cerebellum’s neurons
• Cerebellar nuclei (white matter);
o Innermost part of the cerebellum containing nerve cells that communicate
information with the cerebellar cortex
o Embedded in the white matter there are four nuclei (dentate, emboliform, globose,
fastigial)




Brain stem
• It connects the cerebrum to the spinal cord
• It regulates
o Breathing
o Heart rate
o Balance



3