Comprehensive overview of neuroanatomy. The course is organised in three units:
I. Macroscopic organisation of the brain, the main types of cells that compose the brain (neurons and glia), how these cells interact with each other, anatomical and modern imaging technology to visualise brain anatomy.
1. General organisation of the nervous system, anatomical terms and planes.
2. Structure and function of neurons and glia.
3. Anatomical and physiological properties that allow neurons to communicate with each other.
4. Macroscopic anatomy of the brain and main internal and external structures, meninges, connective tissues, and fluids based on 3D (macroscopic tissue/models) and 2D (cross-sections) images.
5. Different types of modern neuroimaging tools, including CT, PET/SPECT and MRI (including T1, T2, T2-FLAIR, DTI and fMRI).
II. Anatomy of the spinal cord and brainstem, the main ascending and descending pathways, and the structure and function of the cranial nerves and nuclei.
6. Anatomy of the spinal cord and brainstem in 3D (macroscopic tissue/models) and 2D images (cross-sectional).
7. Main ascending and descending pathways of the spinal cord.
8. Name and function of the cranial nerves and the location of their nuclei.
9. Neurobiology and the special sensory pathways.
III. Major parts of the upper motor system, the limbic and autonomic systems, and the higher order cognitive and sensory processing areas of the brain.
10. Anatomy and function of the three main parts of the upper motor systems (motor cortex, cerebellum, basal ganglia).
11. Structure and function of the limbic and autonomic systems.
12. Higher-order processing in the auditory, vestibular, visual, somatosensory and chemosensory systems.
13.Capacities for plastic change in higher brain areas, as well as stable organisational or functional properties that do not appear to be plastic
