AIMS AND LEARNING OUTCOMES

The lectures of Neuroanatomy aim to provide students with adequate knowledge on the Nervous System organization that allow them to understand its normal physiology and the pathologies that may arise from the impairment of its normal function. The goal of the lectures is to provide the knowledge of the different structures of the nervous system and the understanding of how they are interconnected for a correct functioning. The understanding of the issues discussed during the lectures should allow the students to deepen specific neuroanatomy issues autonomously.

TEACHING METHODS

The teaching activity is organized in lectures for a total amount of time of 20 hours. During these lectures all the issues the student has to know for the final exam will be explained and discussed with the help of visual aids.

SYLLABUS/CONTENT

Introduction to the study of neuroanatomy.

General organization of the nervous system.

Meningeal coverings and the ventricular system.

The spinal cord: external and internal organization. The spinal nerves.

The brain stem: external and internal organization. Main nuclei of the brain stem. The tectum. The reticular formation. The cranial nerves.

The cerebellum: external and internal organization. Nuclei and cerebellar cortex.

The diencephalon: thalamus, hypothalamus, basic facts on epithalamus and subthalamus.

The telencephalon: external configuration. The cerebral cortex. The basal nuclei. Organization of the telencephalic white matter. Overview of the limbic system. The ippocampus. Cerebral specializations. Brodmann areas. Cerebral asymmetries.

Afferent systems. Overview of the different receptor types. Exteroceptive and proprioceptive sensory receptors. Ascending sensory pathways. The olfactory receptors and and the olfaction pathway. The gustatory receptors and the taste pathway. The eye and the visual system. The ear and the auditory and vestibular systems.

The motor systems. The corticospinal pathway and basic facts on non corticospinal motor sytems. The autonomic system.

Blood supply of the brain.

RECOMMENDED READING/BIBLIOGRAPHY

G.J. Tortora, M.T. Nielsen - Principi di Anatomia Umana – Editrice Ambrosiana

Fitzgerald, Neuroanatomia, Edra