In this final laboratory session, we return to the forebrain (recall that the forebrain includes the derivatives of the embryonic prosencephalon). Now that you have acquired a framework for understanding the regional anatomy of the human brain and some understanding of the blood supply to both superficial and deep brain structures, you are ready to explore the internal organization of the forebrain. This lab will focus on the internal anatomy of the forebrain as seen in slabs cut through one of the standard anatomical planes (coronal, axial or horizontal, and sagittal).
- Examine slabs through the human forebrain
- Learning ojectives:
- localize the principal features of the forebrain that are visible with the unaided eye, including major gray matter and white matter structures in the cerebral hemispheres (as listed in the Table on page 2)..
- Specimens: whole brain slabs cut in the coronal, axial/horizontal or parasagittal plane
- Activities:
- Beginning with a set of forebrain slabs cut in the coronal plane, identify in the tissue all gray and white matter structures that are identified in Figures 4.7-4.11
- Pay particular attention to Challenge 4.1 with a goal of identifying the internal capsule and the deep gray matter structures that surround it
- Repeat Challenge 4.1 using forebrain slabs cut in the axial/horizontal and/or parasagittal plane, referring to the Sectional Anatomy Photographic Atlas or MR atlas in Sylvius4 Online
- Work through Challenge 4.2 by focusing on the medial temporal lobe. Consider the relative location of the amygdala and the hippocampus in relation to the temporal horn of the lateral ventricle
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