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Chapter 13
1. Which of the four principal parts of the brain is the largest?
Ans: pg. 446 – cerebrum
2. Which part of the brain attaches to the spinal cord?
Ans: pg. 446 – medulla oblongata of the brain stem
3. How does the skeleton protect the spinal cord?
Ans: pg. 450 – via vertebrae which surround the spinal cord
4. Where are the spinal meninges located?
Ans: pg. 450 – between the spinal cord and the vertebra
5. What are the three layers of the meninges, from superficial to deep?
Ans: pg. 450 – dura mater, arachnoid mater, pia mater
6. Where are the epidural, subdural, and subarachnoid spaces located?
Ans: pg. 450, 451 – epidural: above the dura; subdural: between the dura and the
arachnoid; subarachnoid: between the arachnoid and the pia mater
7. In which meningeal space does cerebrospinal fluid circulate?
Ans: pg. 451 – subarachnoid
8. What vessels return blood from the head to the heart?
Ans: pg. 451 – veins
9. What is another name for a “stroke”?
Ans: pg. 451 – CVA (cerebral vascular accident)
10. How does the blood-brain barrier protect the CNS?
Ans: pg. 451 – preventing passage of harmful substances and pathogens into the
interstitial fluid of brain tissue
11. How does CSF protect the brain and spinal cord?
Ans: pg. 452 – serves as a shock-absorbing medium and protects from blows
(mechanical protection); provides an optimal chemical environment for accurate
neuronal signaling (chemical protection)
12. Which brain region is anterior to the fourth ventricle? Which is posterior to it?
Ans: pg. 454 – a) brain stem (medulla oblongata); b) cerebellum
13. What structures are the sites of CSF production, and where are they located?
Ans: pg. 452 – sites of production: choroid plexuses; locations: lateral ventricles,
third ventricle, fourth ventricle
14. What is the functional difference between the blood-brain barrier and the bloodcerebrospinal fluid barrier?
Ans: pg. 452 – blood-brain barrier controls passage of substances from blood into
interstitial fluid of neural tissue, while the blood-cerebrospinal fluid barrier
controls passage of substances from blood into CSF
15. Where is CSF reabsorbed into the blood?
Ans: pg. 455 – through arachnoid villi into dural sinuses
16. During development, does the gray matter or white matter enlarge more rapidly?
Ans: pg. 457 – gray matter
17. What are the brain folds, shallow grooves, and deep grooves called?
Ans: pg. 457 – brain folds: gyri; shallow grooves: sulci; deep grooves: fissures
18. What deep groove separates the right and left cerebral hemispheres?
Ans: pg. 457 – longitudinal fissure
19. What shallow grooves separate each lobe of the cerebrum from the next?
Ans: pg. 457 – central sulcus (separates frontal lobe from parietal lobe); lateral
cerebral sulcus (separates frontal lobe from temporal lobe); parieto-occipital
sulcus (separates parietal lobe from occipital lobe)
20. Which tracts carry impulses between gyri of the same hemisphere? Between gyri
in opposite hemispheres, between the cerebrum, thalamus, brain stem, and spinal
cord?
Ans: pg. 458 – association fibers (between gyri in same hemisphere);
commissural fibers (between gyri in opposite hemispheres); projection fibers
(between cerebrum and lower brain areas)
21. Describe the location, composition, and functions of the basal nuclei.
Ans: pg. 460, 461 - location: two are side-by-side just lateral to the thalamus and
the third one is closer to the cerebral cortex; composition: masses of neuronal cell
bodies; functions: helps regulate initiation and termination of movements, helps
regulate muscle tone required for specific body movements, controls
subconscious contractions of skeletal muscles, helps initiate and terminate some
cognitive processes such as attention, memory, and planning, may help regulate
emotional behaviors
22. What are the functions of the limbic system?
Ans: pg. 462 – controls most of the involuntary aspects of behavior related to
survival; plays a primary role in a range of emotions, including pain, pleasure,
docility, affection, and anger; functions in memory
23. What area(s) of the cerebral cortex:
a. Receives information about the colors in a flower?
b.
c.
d.
e.
f.
g.
Controls flexion of your fingers?
Instructs your fingers to play a familiar song on the piano?
Distinguishes a baby’s cry from a dog’s bark?
Interprets directions for installing software in a computer?
Identifies where a bug is crawling on your body?
Identifies your car’s gearshift knob while you maintain eye contact with
the road?
h. Receives information about smells when you enter a kitchen?
i. Recognizes an object flying by as a basketball?
Ans: pg. 463 through 466 – a) primary visual area; b) primary motor area; c)
premotor area; d) auditory association area; e) prefrontal cortex; f) primary
somatosensory area; g) somatosensory association area; h) primary olfactory
area; i) primary visual area
24. What does the term “hemispheric lateralization” mean?
Ans: pg. 465 – refers to the functional asymmetry of the brain which means that
the two hemispheres specialize in performing certain unique functions
25. Which areas of the cerebrum contain neurons that demonstrate hemispheric
lateralization for speech?
Ans: pg. 464, 466 – Broca’s speech area of the left hemisphere
26. What structure usually connects the right and left halves of the thalamus?
Ans: pg. 467 – intermediate mass
27. Why is the thalamus considered a “relay station” in the brain?
Ans: pg. 467 – it is connected to the cerebral cortex by the internal capsule
28. Which part of the diencephalon contains the mammillary bodies? What is the
function of the mammillary bodies?
Ans: pg. 467 – a) hypothalamus; b) serve as relay stations for reflexes related to
the sense of smell
29. How does the hypothalamus influence the autonomic nervous system?
Ans: pg. 468 – it controls and integrates activities of the ANS
30. Why is the hypothalamus part of both the nervous system and the endocrine
system?
Ans: pg. 468 – it controls the ANS as well as produces hormones
31. What are the important functions of the hypothalamus?
Ans: pg. 468, 470 – control of the ANS; production of hormones; regulation of
emotional and behavioral patterns, regulation of eating and drinking, control of
body temperature, regulation of circadian rhythms and states of concentration
32. What are the proposed functions of the pineal gland?
Ans: pg. 470 – produces melatonin which is thought to promote sleepiness and
appears to contribute to the setting of the body’s biological clock
33. Where are the midbrain, pons, and medulla located relative to one another?
Ans: pg. 471, 473 – the pons lies directly inferior to the midbrain and anterior to
the cerebellum; the medulla oblongata begins at the inferior border of the pons
and extends to the foramen magnum
34. Which part of the brain stem contains the cerebral peduncles? What is their
importance?
Ans: pg. 471 – a) midbrain; b) They contain axons of motor neurons which
conduct nerve impulses from the cerebrum to the spinal cord, medulla, and pons.
They also contain axons of sensory neurons that extend from the medulla to the
thalamus.
35. What functions are carried out by the superior colliculi? By the inferior colliculi?
Ans: pg. 471 – a) serve as reflex centers for certain visual activities; b) startle
reflex
36. In which regions of the brain stem are the nuclei that help control breathing?
Ans: pg. 473 – pons and medulla oblongata
37. Which part of the brain stem contains the pyramids?
Ans: pg. 474 – medulla oblongata
38. Define decussation of pyramids. What is the functional consequence of
decussation of the pyramids?
Ans: pg. 474 – a) it is the crossing over of axons in the right pyramid to the left
side and axons in the left pyramid to the right side; b) it explains why each side of
the brain controls movements on the opposite side of the body
39. What are two important functions of the reticular formation?
Ans: pg. 474 – helps maintain consciousness and filter incoming sensory
messages
40. How is the cerebellum externally similar to the cerebrum?
Ans: pg. 476 – it has two hemispheres consisting of lobes separated by deep and
distinct fissures
41. What are the functions of the three lobes of the cerebellum?
Ans: pg. 476 – anterior and posterior lobes govern subconscious aspects of
skeletal muscle movements and the flocculonodular lobe contributes to
equilibrium and balance
42. Which structures contain the axons that carry information into and out of the
cerebellum?
Ans: pg. 476 – cerebellar peduncles
43. What portion of the spinal cord connects with nerves of the upper limbs? With
nerves of the lower limbs?
Ans: pg. 477 – a) cervical enlargement; b) lumbar enlargement
44. What are the conus medullaris, filum terminale, and cauda equina?
Ans: pg. 477 – conus medullaris: tapered end of the spinal cord; filum terminale:
an extension of the pia mater that extends inferiorly and anchors the spinal cord to
the coccyx; cauda equina: roots of the nerves that arise from the inferior part of
the spinal cord and do not leave the vertebral column at the same level as they exit
from the cord
45. What structures are found in the posterior roots? The posterior root ganglia? The
anterior roots?
Ans: pg. 478 – a) sensory axons; b) cell bodies of sensory neurons; c) motor
axons
46. How is the spinal cord partially divided into right and left sides?
Ans: pg. 478 – via the anterior median fissure and the posterior median sulcus
47. What connects the gray matter on the two sides of the spinal cord? The white
matter on the two sides of the spinal cord?
Ans: pg. 478 – a) gray commissure; b) anterior (ventral) white commissure
48. Describe the composition of the anterior, posterior, and lateral gray horns.
Ans: pg. 478 – anterior gray horns: cells bodies of somatic motor neurons;
posterior gray horns: somatic and autonomic sensory neuron cell bodies; lateral
gray horns: cell bodies of autonomic motor neurons
49. What is the difference between a horn and a column in the spinal cord?
Ans: pg. 478 – horns are composed of gray matter; columns are composed of
white matter
50. Define each of the following terms: anterior white column, lateral white column,
and posterior white column.
Ans: pg. 478 – white columns that contain tracts containing distinct bundles of
axons having a common origin or destination and carrying similar information
51. Where are ascending and descending tracts located in the spinal cord?
Ans: pg. 478 – in the columns
52. Based on its name, what are the position in the spinal cord, origin, and destination
of the anterior corticospinal tract? Is this a sensory or a motor tract?
Ans: pg. 480 – a) position: anterior column; origin: spine; destination: cortex; b)
motor
53. Which component of the spinal cord white matter transmits information to your
brain that someone has touched your shoulder? Which components transmit
information to your brain that your body feels cold?
Ans: pg. 480, 481 – a) posterior columns; b) lateral and anterior spinothalamic
tracts
54. Which kind of pathway would transmit motor instructions to consciously pick up
a book? To suddenly leap away from an oncoming car? To maintain an upright
posture while you sit in class?
Ans: pg. 481 – a) direct; b) indirect; c) indirect