| Term | Definition |
|---|
| dorsal | back |
| ventral | stomach |
| rostral | up |
| caudal | down |
| superior | above inferior |
| inferior | below superior |
| medial | toward the midline plane of bilateral symmetry |
| lateral | away from the midline plane of bilateral symmetry |
| anterior | ventral |
| posterior | dorsal |
| parallel processing | information is carried by more than one pathway through the nervous system and these pathways run independently of each other |
| thalamus | major center for receiving sensory info and transmitting it to the cortex; major center for receiving motor info from the cortex and transmitting it to the spinal cord |
| interneuron | a processing neuron that lies entirely within the CNS |
| glial cell | a cell that provides support and myelination for a neuron; it may also buffer the ionic environment |
| nerve | a collection of processes from neurons that is outside the CNS |
| tract | a collection of processes from neurons that is inside the CNS |
| ganglia | collections of nerve cell bodies outside the brain and spinal cord |
| central nervous system | brain + spinal cord |
| cerebral cortex | grey matter; contains cell bodies |
| occipital pole | cortex that is responsible for processing visual information |
| temporal cortex | portions of the cortex involved in production and understanding of language |
| nucleus | anatomical group of cell bodies of functionally related neurons |
| vestibular nucleus | nucleus that contains cells that receive info from sensory cells that respond to the body's position in space |
| basal ganglai | nuclei that modulate the patterns of motor output |
| thalamus | way-station for sensory info coming to the cerebral cortex and motor info leaving the cerebral cortex |
| hypothalamus | nuclei that contain neurons that integrate or modulate info from several sources and that in turn control many parts of the body |
| cerebellum | a structure that consists of a both a cortex and deep nuclei that plays a role in shaping motor behavior and contributes to learning motor patterns |
| brainstem | medulla + pons; caudal portion of the brain |
| medulla | lower portion of that brainstem that deals with autonomic functions, such as breathing and blood pressure |
| pons | upper portion of the brainstem relays sensory information between the cerebellum and cerebrum, aids in relaying other messages in the brain, controls arousal, and regulates respiration |
| reticular activating system | a diffusely distributed set of neurons that appear to regulate sleep and wakefulness and may also play a role in attention or consciousness |
| cervical | 8 segments of the spinal cord; first part |
| thoracic | 12 segment of the spinal cord; second part |
| lumbar | 5 segments of the spinal cord; third part |
| sacral | 5 segments of the spinal cord; fourth part |
| dorsal spinal cord | the back, sensory part of the spinal cord |
| dorsal spinal nerves | axons of the spinal cord that serve a sensory function and have afferent fibers |
| ventral spinal cord | the stomach, motor part of the spinal cord |
| ventral spinal nerves | axons of the spinal cord that serve a motor function and have efferent fibers |
| proprioceptive | information about the position of muscles and joints |
| dorsal and lateral columns | ascending pathways carrying fine touch, pressure, and proprioceptive info |
| anterolateral pathway | fibers carrying pain information and pressure; aka ventrolateral |
| dorsolateral and ventromedial columns | descending fibers carrying motor info |
Combine with other sets
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