neuroanatomy

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Anatomy of the human brain.

Neuroanatomy is the study of the anatomy of nervous tissue and neural structures of the nervous system. In vertebrates the routes that the myriad nerves take from the brain to the rest of the body (or "periphery"), and the internal structure of the brain in particular, are both extremely elaborate. As a result, the study of neuroanatomy has developed into a discipline in itself, although it also represents a specialization within neuroscience. The delineation of distinct structures and regions of the brain has figured centrally in investigating how it works. For example, much of what neuroscientists have learned comes from observing how damage or "lesions" to specific brain areas affects behavior or other neural functions.

Neuroanatomy is that branch of neuroscience which deals with the study of gross structure of the brain and the nervous system.

Examples

Para-sagittal MRI of the head in a patient with benign familial macrocephaly.

The human nervous system is divided into the central and peripheral nervous systems. The central nervous system consists of the brain and spinal cord, and plays a key role in controlling behavior. The peripheral nervous system is made up of all the neurons in the body outside of the central nervous system, and is further subdivided into the somatic and autonomic nervous systems. The somatic nervous system is made up of afferent neurons that convey sensory information from the sense organs to the brain and spinal cord, and efferent neurons that carry motor instructions to the muscles. The autonomic nervous system also has two subdivisions. The sympathetic nervous system is a set of nerves that activate what has been called the "fight-or-flight" response that prepares the body for action. The parasympathetic nervous system instead prepares the body to rest and conserve energy.

References

See also

Neurology

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Neuroanatomy

• Neuroanatomy, an annual journal of clinical neuroanatomy
• Mouse, Rat, Primate and Human Brain Atlases (UCLA Center for Computational Biology)
• brainmaps.org: High-Resolution Neuroanatomically-Annotated Brain Atlases
• BrainInfo for Neuroanatomy
• High quality neuroanatomical visual glossary with several hundred entries
• Brain Gene Expression Map, mouse gene expression neuroanatomical resource from St. Jude Children's Research Hospital
• Brain Architecture Management System, several atlases of brain anatomy
• White Matter Atlas, Diffusion Tensor Imaging Atlas of the Brain's White Matter Tracts