Neuroanatomy

Authors

Affiliations

Nate Yomogida, B.S., SPT

Doctor of Physical Therapy

B.S. in Kinesiology

Chloë Kerstein, B.S., SPT

Doctor of Physical Therapy

B.A. in Neuroscience

Figure 1: Central and Peripheral Nervous Systems¹

Figure 2: Somatic, Autonomic, and Enteric Structures of the Nervous Systems¹

Reading list

• Anatomic basis of neurologic diagnosis²

Gray and White Matter

Figure 3: Gray and White Matter¹

Neuron

Figure 4: Parts of a Neuron¹

Figure 5: Neuron classification by Shape¹

Figure 6: Other neuron classifications¹

Figure 7: Glial cells of the CNS¹

Myelin

Figure 8: The process of Myelination¹

Function

Figure 9: Testing the water (Posterior view)¹

1. “The sensory neuron has endings in the skin that sense a stimulus such as water temperature. The strength of the signal that starts here is dependent on the strength of the stimulus.”¹
2. “The graded potential from the sensory endings, if strong enough, will initiate an action potential at the initial segment of the axon (which is immediately adjacent to the sensory endings in the skin).”¹
3. “The axon of the peripheral sensory neuron enters the spinal cord and contacts another neuron in the gray matter. The contact is a synapse where another graded potential is caused by the release of a chemical signal from the axon terminals.”¹
4. “An action potential is initiated at the initial segment of this neuron and travels up the sensory pathway to a region of the brain called the thalamus. Another synapse passes the information along to the next neuron.”¹
5. “The sensory pathway ends when the signal reaches the cerebral cortex.”¹
6. “After integration with neurons in other parts of the cerebral cortex, a motor command is sent from the precentral gyrus of the frontal cortex.”¹
7. “The upper motor neuron sends an action potential down to the spinal cord. The target of the upper motor neuron is the dendrites of the lower motor neuron in the gray matter of the spinal cord.”¹
8. “The axon of the lower motor neuron emerges from the spinal cord in a nerve and connects to a muscle through a neuromuscular junction to cause contraction of the target muscle.”¹

Sensation

Figure 10: Sensory input: Receptors in the skin sense the temperature of the water¹

References

1.

Betts JG, Blaker W. Anatomy and Physiology. 2nd ed. OpenStax; 2022. https://openstax.org/details/books/anatomy-and-physiology-2e/?Book%20details

2.

Alberstone CD, Benzel EC, Jones SE, Wang ZI, Steinmetz MP. Anatomic Basis of Neurologic Diagnosis. Second edition. Thieme; 2023.