Neuroanatomy

PSY 511.001 Spr 2026

Rick Gilmore

Department of Psychology

Prelude

Figure 1: ctdalilah (2006)

Figure 2: Kids Learning Tube (2015)

Announcements

• Exercise LVL due today.
  • Canvas dropbox
• Exercise ANAT due next Thursday, January 29, 2026.
  • Canvas dropbox

Today’s topics

• Neuroanatomy
• In-class lab
  • Exercise ANAT

Neuroanatomy

Why study?

• Master basic vocabulary for reading literature

Computational perspective

• Inputs from
  • World
  • Body
  • Nervous system

flowchart TD
  N[Nervous System] --> B[Body]
  B --> W[World]
  W --> B
  B --> N

• Outputs to
  • World
  • Body
  • Nervous system

• What computations occur where?

Functional anatomy perspective

• Located where
• Connected to
• Involved in

Brain anatomy through dance

• Anterior/Posterior
• Medial/Lateral
• Superior/Inferior
• Dorsal/Ventral
• Rostral/Caudal

Wikipedia¹

https://medictests.com/units/standard-anatomical-terms-and-planes

Planes of section from http://www.scienceteacherprogram.org/

Nervous system

• Central Nervous System (CNS)
  • Encased in bone
  • Brain
  • Spinal cord
• Peripheral Nervous System (PNS)

Nervous system of Harriet Cole, see McNaughton (2018)

Wikipedia²

CNS Organization

Major division	Ventricular Landmark	Embryonic Division	Structure
Forebrain	Lateral	Telencephalon	Cerebral cortex
			Basal ganglia
			Hippocampus, amygdala

Major division	Ventricular Landmark	Embryonic Division	Structure
	Third	Diencephalon	Thalamus
			Hypothalamus

Major division	Ventricular Landmark	Embryonic Division	Structure
Midbrain	Cerebral Aqueduct	Mesencephalon	Tectum, tegmentum

Major division	Ventricular Landmark	Embryonic Division	Structure
Hindbrain	4th	Metencephalon	Cerebellum, pons
	–	Mylencephalon	Medulla oblongata

Embryonic human brain from Wikipedia

Cross section of embryonic brain from Wikipedia

• Forebrain, midbrain, hindbrain terminology derives from embryonic stages in CNS development.

Cerebrum

• (Cerebral) cortex
• Subcortical (below the cortex) structures

Labelled MRI including thalamus and hypothalamus

Cerebral Cortex: Landmarks

• Cerebral hemispheres
• Bumps
  • Gyrus or gyri
• Grooves
  • Sulcus or sulci: shallow
  • Fissure: deep
• Medial longitudinal fissure
• Corpus callosum

From www.anatomyqa.com

Cerebral cortex: Lobes

• Lateral (sagittal) view
• Lobes
  • Frontal
  • Temporal
  • Parietal
  • Occipital

Wikipedia³

Cerebral cortex: Lobes

Bones of the skull from Wikipedia

Alternative view of the relationship between bones of the skull and lobes of the cerebral cortex

Cerebral cortex: Lobes

• Frontal: Motor cortex (M1)
• Temporal: Auditory cortex (A1)
• Parietal: Somatosensory cortex (S1)
• Occipital: Visual cortex (V1)
• Insula: Gustatory

Wikipedia⁴

Cerebral cortex: M1

Wikipedia⁵

Cerebral cortex: A1

Wikipedia⁶

Cerebral cortex: S1

Wikipedia⁷

Cerebral cortex: V1

Wikipedia⁸

Cerebral cortex: Insula

• Primary gustatory cortex
• Self-awareness, interpersonal experiences, motor control, interoception

Namkung et al. (2017) Figure 1⁹

Cerebral cortex: Brodmann areas

• Korbinian Brodmann
• Cytoarchitecture
• Examples
  • BA 41 & 42: audition; BA 44 & 45: Broca’s area
  • BA 17, 18: vision

Brodmann areas

Cerebrum: Subcortical

• Basal ganglia
• Hippocampus
• Amygdala

Basal ganglia

• Striatum
  • Caudate nucleus
  • Putamen
• Globus pallidus
• Subthalamic nucleus
• Substantia nigra (tegmentum)

MRI of the basal ganglia

Basal ganglia

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8c/Cortical_surface_with_an_overlay_of_the_basal_ganglia_and_thalamus.jpg

Hippocampus

• Hippocampus means “sea horse”
• Fornix (axon fiber bundle) projects to (mammillary bodies of) hypothalamus

Hippocampus and Sea Horse

Hippocampus

• Initial storage of memories for specific facts (semantic memory) or events (episodic memory)
• Place memory in non-human animals (& humans?)

MRI of hippocampus

Amygdala

• Physiological state, behavioral readiness, affect
• NOT the fear center! (LeDoux, 2015).
• Projection to hypothalamus

Cassidy2012-ue Figure 2

Major division	Ventricular Landmark	Embryonic Division	Structure
	Third	Diencephalon	Thalamus
			Hypothalamus

Diencephalon

• Thalamus
• Hypothalamus

Diencephalon from Wikipedia

Thalamus

• Input to cortex
• Functionally distinct nuclei
  • Lateral geniculate nucleus (LGN), vision
  • Medial geniculate nucleus (MGN), audition
  • Pulvinar, attention?

Nuclei of the thalamus

Hypothalamus

Nuclei of the hypothalamus

Hypothalamus

• Five Fs:
  • Fighting/fleeing/freezing
  • Feeding
  • Reproduction

Hypothalamus

• Controls pituitary gland (“master” gland)
  • Anterior pituitary (indirect release of hormones)
    • e.g., Corticotropin Releasing Hormone (CRH) -> release of cortisol from Adrenal Cortex (adjacent to kidney)
  • Posterior pituitary (direct release of hormones)
    • Oxytocin
    • Vasopressin (aka, Arginine Vasopressin – AVP; Anti-diuretic Hormone – ADH)

Major division	Ventricular Landmark	Embryonic Division	Structure
Midbrain	Cerebral Aqueduct	Mesencephalon	Tectum, tegmentum
Hindbrain	4th	Metencephalon	Cerebellum, pons
	–	Mylencephalon	Medulla oblongata

Midbrain

• Tectum (roof), dorsal
• Tegmentum (floor), ventral

Tectum

• “Roof” of the midbrain
• Superior and inferior colliculus (colliculi is plural for ‘little hill’)

Labeled MRI of Tectum

Tectum: Components

• Superior colliculus (colliculi)
  • Reflexive orienting of eyes, head, ears (superior colliculi)
• Inferior colliculus
  • Auditory processing (from brainstem to auditory thalamus)

Labeled locations of Inferior and Superior Colliculi of the dorsal midbrain or Tectum from Wikipedia

Tegmentum

• “Floor” of the midbrain
• Species-typical movement sequences
• Neuromodulatory nuclei release NTs
  • Norepinephrine (NE)
  • Serotonin (5-HT)
  • Dopamine (DA) – from ventral tegmental area (VTA)

https://neupsykey.com/the-midbrain/

Hindbrain

• Structures adjacent (or caudal to) 4th ventricle
• Components
  • Pons
  • Cerebellum
  • Medulla oblongata

Lateral view of brainstem from Wikipedia

Pons

• Bulge on ventral brain stem
• Relay to cerebellum

Illustration of brainstem from Wikipedia

Cerebellum

• “Little brain”, but most neurons in CNS
• Dorsal to pons
• Movement coordination, simple learning (classical conditioning)

Animated GIF of cerebellum from Wikipedia

Medulla oblongata

• Cardiovascular regulation
• Muscle tone
• Fibers of passage
  • Ascending fibers (from body), a.k.a. afferents
  • Descending fibers (exiting brain), a.k.a., efferents

Illustration of brainstem from Wikipedia

Input/output

• Via cranial nerves (in CNS)
• Via spinal nerves (in PNS)
• Hierarchical organization
  • Substantial interconnection

Swanson (2005) Figure 1

Cranial nerves

Cranial nerves from https://www.britannica.com/science/cranial-nerve#/media/1/141797/46720

Spinal nerves

https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Saeede-Rahimi-Damirchi-Darasi/publication/324683974/figure/fig10/AS:753484697726976@1556656159277/Diagram-showing-the-relationship-between-spinal-nerve-roots-and-vertebrae-27.jp

Spinal cord

• Spinal column w/ vertebrae
• Segments
  • Cervical (8), thoracic (12), lumbar (5), sacral (5), coccygeal (1)
• 31 (anterior & posterior) nerve pairs
• Cauda equina

https://www.physio-pedia.com/Cauda_Equina

Spinal cord: Axial

Anterior and posterior roots of spinal cord

Axial view of spinal cord anterior and posterior roots

PNS Organization

• Somatic nervous system
• Autonomic nervous system (ANS)
  • Sympathetic
  • Parasympathetic
  • Enteric (gut, intestinal tract)

Wikipedia¹⁰

Somatic nervous system

SimplyPsychology

Autonomic nervous system

• Controls “vegetative functions”
  • Limited voluntary control

• Sympathetic
  • Prepares body for action
  • “Fight, flee, or fight”
• Parasympathetic (around the sympathetic)
  • Restorative function
  • “Rest & digest”

Autonomic nervous system

Wikipedia¹¹

Wikipedia¹²

Autonomic nervous system: Enteric

Furness (2012) Figure 1

Neuroanatomy lab

Overview

• 3 groups
• Rotate among stations every ~25 min
• Identify as many structures as possible

Wrap-up

Main points

• Directional terms
• What is it
• Where is it
  • Relative to other things
  • CNS/PNS
  • Forebrain/midbrain/hindbrain

• Cerebral cortex and its subparts
• Grey matter vs. white matter

Next time…

• Action
• Due: Exercise ANAT • Neuroanatomy
  • Canvas dropbox

Resources

References

ctdalilah. (2006, October). Pinky and the brain-brainstem. Youtube. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=snO68aJTOpM

Furness, J. B. (2012). The enteric nervous system and neurogastroenterology. Nature Reviews. Gastroenterology & Hepatology, 9(5), 286–294. https://doi.org/10.1038/nrgastro.2012.32

Kids Learning Tube. (2015, October). Human body for Kids/Brain Song/Human body systems. Youtube. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qw8E9WnZTQk

LeDoux, J. (2015, August 10). The Amygdala Is NOT the Brain’s Fear Center. Psychology Today. Retrieved from https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/i-got-mind-tell-you/201508/the-amygdala-is-not-the-brains-fear-center

McNaughton, A. (2018, November 20). Dissecting Harriet Cole: Uncovering women’s history in the archives. Retrieved January 8, 2025, from https://drexel.edu/legacy-center/blog/overview/2018/november/dissecting-harriet-cole-uncovering-womens-history-in-the-archives/

Namkung, H., Kim, S.-H., & Sawa, A. (2017). The insula: An underestimated brain area in clinical neuroscience, psychiatry, and neurology. Trends in Neurosciences, 40(4), 200–207. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tins.2017.02.002

Swanson, L. W. (2005). Anatomy of the soul as reflected in the cerebral hemispheres: Neural circuits underlying voluntary control of basic motivated behaviors. Journal of Comparative Neurology, 493(1), 122–131. https://doi.org/10.1002/cne.20733

Footnotes

1. “By Original: OpenStax Vector: Pixelsquid🎱 - Own work based on: Human Neuroaxis-en.jpg:, CC BY 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=97420092”

2. By Own work, CC BY 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=10187018

3. By Sebastian023, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=21020857

4. By Sebastian023, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=21020857

5. By Cortex sensorimoteur1.jpg: Pancratderivative work: Iamozy - Own work, This file was derived from: Cortex sensorimoteur1.jpg:, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=33981076

6. By Chittka L, Brockmann - Perception Space—The Final Frontier, A PLoS Biology Vol. 3, No. 4, e137 doi:10.1371/journal.pbio.0030137 ([1]/[2]), vectorised by Inductiveload, CC BY-SA 2.5, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=5958918

7. By Jimhutchins (talk) - The original image was uploaded on en.wikipedia as en:Image:Postcentral_gyrus.png, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=4481990

8. By Brodmann - File:Brodmann_Cytoarchitectonics.PNG, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=8221432

9. Figure 1. Anatomy of the Human Insula. The human insular cortex is bilaterally located deep within the lateral sulcus separating the temporal lobe from the parietal and frontal lobes. The insula is covered with folds of the adjacent frontal, parietal, and temporal opercula. The circumference of the insula is outlined by the circular sulcus, and the deep central sulcus of the insula separates the anterior and posterior parts. Three short insular gyri are found in the anterior insula (AI), whereas two long insular gyri lie in the posterior insula (PI). Cytoarchitecturally, the insula is roughly divided into anterior agranular and posterior granular sections with a transitional dysgranular mid-section.

10. By Own work, CC BY 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=10187018

11. By OpenStax College - Anatomy & Physiology, Connexions Web site. http://cnx.org/content/col11496/1.6/, Jun 19, 2013., CC BY 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=30148020

12. By Henry Vandyke Carter - Henry Gray (1918) Anatomy of the Human Body (See “Book” section below)Bartleby.com: Gray’s Anatomy, Plate 839, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=792179