Terms

Front 1

Medial-lateral

Back 1

Medial means toward the median plane; lateral means away from the median plane.

Front 2

Anterior-posterior

Back 2

Above the midbrain, anterior means toward the front of the brain and posterior toward the back. At and below the midbrain, anterior means toward the ventral surface of the body and posterior toward the dorsal.

Front 3

Rostral-caudal

Back 3

Above the midbrain, rostral means toward the front of the brain and caudal toward the back. At and below the midbrain, rostral means toward the cerebral cortex and caudal means toward the sacral end of the spinal cord.

Front 4

Dorsal-ventral

Back 4

Rostral to the midbrain, dorsal refers to the top of the brain and ventral the bottom. Caudal to the midbrain, dorsal refers to the posterior surface of the body and ventral to the anterior surface.

Front 5

Superior-inferior

Back 5

Both at positions above and below the midbrain, superior means toward the top of the cerebral cortex and inferior means toward the bottom of the spinal cord.

Front 6

Ipsilateral-contralateral

Back 6

Ipsilateral means on the same side with reference to a specific point; contralateral means on the opposite side.

Front 7

Commissure and decussation

Back 7

Commissure means a group of nerve fibers connecting one side of the brain with the other. Decussation means the crossing over of these nerve fibers.

Front 8

Neuron

Back 8

The anatomical and functional unit of the nervous system. Consists of a nerve cell body, dendrites (recieve signals) and an axon (which transmits signals).

Front 9

Nucleus

Back 9

Refers to a group of neurons located in a specific region of the brain or spinal cord that generally have a similar appearance, recieve information from similar sources, and share similar functions.

Front 10

Tract

Back 10

Many axons grouped together, which typically pass from a given nucleus to a common target region or to several regions.

Front 11

White and gray matter

Back 11

The region appearing white is white matter (due to the large number of myelinated axons preset) and the region appearing gray is the gray matter (consists mostly of neuronal cell bodies and lacking myelinated axons).

Front 12

Glial cells

Back 12

Nonneural cells that form the interstitial tissue of the nervous system. Different types include astrocytes, oligodendroglia, microglia, and ependymal and choroid epithelial cells.

Front 13

Central nervous system (CNS)

Back 13

Includes the brain and spinal cord and is surrounded and protected by three connective tissue coverings called meninges.

Front 14

Peripheral nervous system (PNS)

Back 14

Spinal and cranial nerves outside the CNS.

Front 15

Autonomic nervous system

Back 15

Functional subdivision of nervous system present in CNS and PNS. Innervates smooth muscle glands.

Front 16

Somatic nervous sytem

Back 16

Functional subdivision of nervous system present in CNS and PNS. Innervates mainly musculoskeletal structures and sense organs of skin.