Oligodendrocytes in the CNS and Schwann cells in the PNS form myelin sheaths by similar processes. In an action similar to the continuous wrapping of a bolt of cloth, the…

The neural stem cells in the spinal cord and hindbrain can be divided into four broad classes: motor neurons and related interneuron progenitors, sensory relay neurons and related interneuron progenitors,…

The direction of growth chosen by axons from different neuron classes must be exquisitely regulated to ensure proper connectivity within spinal cord circuits. Thus motor neurons, whose axons are the…

Many children have CP related to birth trauma (see Plates 1-2 and 1-3) more attributed to hypoxicischemic encephalopathy (HIE). Low oxygen combined with impaired blood flow is particularly damaging. After…

Neural stem cells that give rise to mature brain neurons and glia, with few exceptions, comprise a layer of cells that lines the ventricular space of the neural tube throughout…

Transient hydrocephalus can be temporarily treated with an external ventriculostomy or lumbar drain. These temporary drainage systems allow constant monitoring of the amount and character of CSF drainage, which can…

In the adult brain, the two mature cerebral hemispheres surround the lateral ventricles. These two ventricles, the largest of the ventricular chambers, have three extensions into distinct regions of the…

Symptomatic hydrocephalus is subdivided into obstructive and nonobstructive etiologies. Obstructive hydrocephalus is due to blockage of CSF flow by a congenital malformation, such as aqueductal stenosis or suprasellar arachnoid cyst,…

The central sulcus defines two essential functional regions. On the anterior bank is the precentral gyrus, the location of the primary motor cortex. Neurons of the primary motor cortex send…

Caput succedaneum, an edematous swelling that may be hemorrhagic, is seen in vaginal deliveries. It may transilluminate, is soft, pits, is usually at the vertex over suture lines, and resolves…