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Neurosurgical Techniques
Lesion: Damage to brain area (electrical or chemical)
Ablation: Removal of brain area
Stereotaxic Instrument: Device used for precise neurosurgical procedures
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Shows where brain activity occurs
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Good for viewing soft tissue such as tumors
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Produces records of brainwaves
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Divisions of the Vertebrate Nervous System
Nervous system is comprised of 2 major subsystems: The Central Nervous
System (CNS) and The Peripheral Nervous System (PNS)
CNS: Brain & Spinal cord – Processes, interprets, stores info; issues orders to muscles,
glands and organs
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Command central of the nervous system
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Communicates with the sense organs
and muscles below the level of the head
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PNS: Transmits info to & from the CNS
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Transmit messages for
motor movement from the CNS to the body
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Autonomic Nervous System: Regulates behavior of internal glands & organs divided
into 2 subsystems:
Sympathetic and Parasympathetic Nervous Systems
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Responsible
for the fight or flight response
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Decreases functions increased by the sympathetic nervous system
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Anatomical Terms
Ventral: towards the stomach
Dorsal: towards the back
Anterior: towards the front
Posterior: towards the back
Lateral: towards the side
Medial: towards the middle

Superior: above
Inferior: below
Ipsilateral: Same side
Contralateral: Opposite Side
Horizontal: Shows brain structures as seen from the side
Sagittal: Shows brain structures as seen from the side
Coronal: Shows brain structures as seen from the front
Specialized Parts
Gray matter: cell bodies & dendrites
White matter: axons, mostly myelinated
Tract/Projection: Set of axons in the CNS
Nerve: Set of axons in the PNS
Nucleus: clyster of neuron cell bodies within CNS
Ganglion: cluster of neuron cell bodies in the PNS
Gyrus (plural: gyri): Bumpy parts of brain (mounds)
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Fissure: Long, deep sulcus
Brain Structures
3 major divisions: Hindbrain, Midbrain, Forebrain
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Located at the posterior portion of the brain
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Responsible for vital reflexes such as
breathing, heart rate, vomiting, salivation, coughing and sneezing
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Pons: Lies on each side of the medulla (ventral and anterior)
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Cerebellum: Located posterior to the brainstem with many deep folds
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Also important for shifting attention
between auditory and visual stimuli
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-Inferior Colliculus: Helps process auditory info
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Brain stem: consists of the medulla, pons, midbrain, some forebrain structures
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Limbic System: Associated with motivation, emotion, drives and aggression, and
includes: olfactory bulb, hypothalamus, hippocampus, and amygdala
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Regulates autonomic nervous system
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Pituitary Gland: hormone producing gland found at the base of the hypothalamus
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Hippocampus: Large structure of the limbic system critical for storing certain types of
memory
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Directing motivated behavior at an appropriate target
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Basal Ganglia: Comprised of the caudate nucleus, the putamen and the globus
pallidus
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Nucleus basalis: receives input from the hypothalamus & basal ganglia
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Ventricles: four fluid-filled cavities within the brain containing cerebrospinal fluid
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Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF): A clear fluid similar to blood plasma found in the brain &
spinal cord: provides “cushioning” for the brain
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Choroid plexus: groups of cells in the 4 ventricles that
continually manufacture CSF
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4 lobes of the cerebral cortex: occipital,
parietal, temporal, frontal
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Contains Broca’s
area (principal speech area)
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Parietal lobe: involved in body sensations
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Temporal lobe: involved in hearing
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Contains primary auditory cortex: Target for auditory info &
essential for processing spoken language
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Contains striate cortex or
primary visual area
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Central Sulcus: middle upper part on the side
Longitudinal fissure: separates the left and right brain
Lateral fissure: separates the bottom half of the brain
Corpus callosum: large bundle of axons joining the 2 hemispheres
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Binding problem: refers to the questions of how the visual, auditory, & other areas of
the brain produce a perception of a single object
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Hemispheres

Left Hemisphere: right hand, writing, language, science skills, math, lists, logic, linear
thinking mode
Right Hemisphere: emotions, spatial awareness, music, creativity, imagination,
dimension, gestalt (whole picture), holistic
Commissure: A set of axons that connects the hemispheres: corpus callosum, anterior
commissure, hippocampal commissure
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Visual Field: What is visible at any moment
Left & right visual fields: each processed in contralateral hemisphere
Optic Chiasm: Where crossover of info occurs
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Auditory connections: Each hemisphere gets info, but contralateral hemisphere pays
more attention
Epilepsy: condition involving excessive, synchronized neural activity
Seizure: Behavioral symptom; mild to severe
Focus: Point in brain where seizure begins
Commissurotomy: Severing of the corpus callosum
Split-brain patient: Has undergone a Commissurotomy
Planum temporale: critical for speech comprehension
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Maturation of the corpus collosum occurs gradually over time
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Plasticity After Brain Damage:
Brain damage: tumors, infections, toxic substances, degenerative diseases, closed
head injuries, stroke
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Common cause of brain damage in the elderly
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They can
both cause Edema: The accumulation of fluid in the brain
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Tissue plasminogen activator (tPA): Breaks up blood clots & reduces effects of
ischemic strokes
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Cannabinoids: minimize cells loss after brain damage by decreasing the release of
glutamate
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Diaschisis: Decreased activity of surviving neurons after damage to other neurons
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PNS axon grows back at a
rate of 1 mm per day
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Collateral sprouts: New branches formed by other non-damaged axons that attach to
vacant receptors
Denervation super-sensitivity: Heightened sensitivity to a neurotransmitter after the
destruction of an incoming axon and usually result of increased receptors
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Phantom limb: continuation of sensation of an amputated body part & reflects this
process
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Can lead to the feeling of sensations in the

amputated part of the body when other parts of the body are stimulated
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Deafferenaterd limbs: Limbs that have lost their afferent sensory input

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