Anatomy and physiology of
nervous system
Katrin Gross-Paju
Basis for understanding nervous system diseases
• Neurological symptoms=location of brain damage
• How do you determine the cause/disease?
• Course
• Acute onset
• Progressive
• Investigations
• Visualisation
• Anatomy
• Modern possibilties
• Neurophysiology
• Genetic studies
• Treatments
Diagnostic process – what brain region?
• Symptoms
• Signs
Brain and skull
Motor functions
Voluntary movements
Damage
Weakness
Total weakness - paralysis
Very mild weakness - paresis
Movement coordination
Too little movements
 Parkinson´ disease
Too many movements
 involuntary
Taalamus
Nucl caudatus
Globus pallidus
Putamen
Subst nigra
Nucl ruber
Cerebellum: balance and coordination
• Balance and coordination
problems
Dominant hemisphere – speech problems
Autonomous nervous system
Autonomous nervous system:
III
VII, IX
X
S2
S4
Tilt test
Postural ortostatic tachycardia syndrome
complaints
Paradoxical drop of blood pressure
Clinical symptoms
• Older age
• Falls
• Dizzeness when standing
Methods of investigation
Complaints, signs, disease history
Disease by history
• Headache
Computed tomography - CT
X-ray
Emergency situation
CT brain
Traumatic brain injury
Stroke – intracerebral hemorrhage
BROTT ET AL 1997 Yu Yl et al. Stroke 1992
Mendelow AD et al. Lancet 2005, MAYER ET AL 2005
Poungvarin N et al. NEJM 1987
Stroke – ischaemic stroke
ND
24.01 2007
30.01 2007
Magnet-resonance tomography
Magnetic field
1,5 T
3T
Normal brain
Acute stroke
Flairis nähtamatu
Diagnosis: demyelinating disease
KT-s nähtamatu
Prognosis: Demyelinating diseases
EEG
Epilepsy
SPE(C)T – dopamine transporter
• Diseases affecting dopamine transport
Impact of a neurological disease
Extensive brain damage – PML
JC virus induced
brain damage in
HIV
treatments
• Disease course modifying treatments (cure)
• Limited to autoimmune diseases
• Symptom control
• Parkinson`s disease
• Genetic diseases
• Exact cause – no treatment