22 Vascular System Cerebrovascular diseases are one of the most common neurologic disorders, accounting for nearly 50% of all neurologic patients in a general hospital. Furthermore, stroke is the third…

13 Cerebral Cortex Major Sulci and Fissures See Fig. 13.1. The frontal, temporal, parietal, and occipital lobes are delimited by the lateral, parieto-occipital, central (rolan-dic), and calcarine sulci. The lateral…

3 Plexuses Cervical Plexus The cervical plexus is composed of a collection of sensory and motor branches derived from the C1–C4 spinal nerves. It comprises a series of anastomotic loops…

4 Nerve Roots and Spinal Nerves A ventral and dorsal nerve root exits the spinal cord at each segmental level, carrying motor and sensory fibers, respectively. The nerve roots in…

6 Brainstem The brainstem comprises the medulla, pons, and mid-brain. Like the spinal cord, with which it is caudally contiguous, it contains multiple long ascending and descending pathways that are…

2 Peripheral Nerves This chapter discusses the functional anatomy and clinical correlation of the peripheral nerves of the upper and lower extremities. The discussion is limited to those nerves that…

23 Cerebrospinal Fluid The meninges are composed of three connective tissue sheaths that envelope the central nervous system (CNS) and separate it from its bony encasement. From outside in, these…

8 Cerebellum External Appearance See Fig. 8.1. The cerebellum is composed of two cerebellar hemispheres joined by a median vermis. The superior vermis is confluent with the hemispheres, whereas the…

9 Thalamus The cerebrum comprises a central core, or diencephalon, surrounded by the cerebral hemispheres, or telen-cephalon. The diencephalon contains the third ventricle and adjacent structures, including (1) the thalamus,…

21 Consciousness Consciousness means awareness of self and environment. The modern era of the study of consciousness began in the 1920s when it was discovered that awake and sleeping states…