ANAT2010!

& ANAT2910!
Concepts in Neuroanatomy!
Lecture 1!
Introduction!
!
Dr. Karen Cullen !
Anatomy & Histology !
Anderson Stuart Building Rm S464 !
kcullen@anatomy.usyd.edu.au!

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Concepts in Neuroanatomy!
The plan for todays lecture
Explanation of practical matters related to the course

Assessment breakdown

Obligations for students of ANAT2010 & ANAT2910

Overview of material to be studied

Questions
 Course
Handbook
ANAT2010 & ANAT2910
Concepts in Neuroanatomy
2017

The handbook PDF is

available on Blackboard

Tutorial notes to be
published on Blackboard
separately on individual
Read this subject pages
 For information

Blackboard page

Trust these

Course handbook When in doubt, trust the course handbook &

Blackboard announcements for correct info!
Getting started
 Schedule

Lectures
Wed 9-10 am Abercrombie 1130
Fri 2-3pm 101 New Law School
o EXCEPT for 11 August & 18 August 1-2 pm
Topics & outlines

Practical sessions also called tutorials in anatomy

Begin week 3 computer-based tutorial on neurohistology

From week 4, attendance is taken by student ID card scanning

For Week 3 we may need to add additional sessions for space.

1st tutorial in week 3 is probably about 1 hrs.
 Anderson Anderson Stuart Building
Retzius
Cotton
seminar room

Stuart Building
Bishop
N248!
under construction
N201 !

Anatomy
office

E201
Assignment
dropbox

Tutorial you are here

Eastern Avenue
Front Steps
rooms

LAWNS
W201 !

Leeuwenhoek
Level 2

Tutorial
rooms

Macintosh

Harveian
Theatre
W413 !
E411 !

Wilson W401 !
S434!
S402 !
Museum Prosectory

Wilson Vesalian
Museum Theatre Macintosh
Dissecting
Theatre

Level 4
Lost? See building map on Blackboard
 Wilson Anatomy Museum
Enrolled anatomy students may use student
cards for access to the museum during business
hours.
This world-class museum contains specimens for
study.
Please use the museum for quiet study.
No food or drink or photography of any kind allowed
within the museum EVER
Guests are not permitted.

http://sydney.edu.au/medicine/
anatomy/museums/index.php
 Obligations
flash
Complete the obligations module (lab requirements) player
issues
Mandatory for working with human specimens!
Complete the online module
Score 100% No mark, no entry
Some early birds may have seen their marks vanish on Tuesday L
so you need to re-do the 8 questions Check your (my) grades.

You also need to complete

the Academic Honesty
module. Library website.
Takes only a few minutes!
Assessment Breakdown

ANAT2010 & ANAT2910

ANAT2910
Difference? 15% independent written
assignment and format of practical exam

ANAT2010
 Assessments
Theory exam 45%
o Lecture material mainly but will *benefit* from learning the practical material

Practical exam 15%

o Practical material
ANAT2910 & ANAT2010

Mid semester Quiz 10%

o Lecture and practical material with emphasis on prac material
o Questions are very much like the prac questions and online quiz questions except written answers
required.

Short online quizzes 3 x 5%

o Online submission quiz style
o Identifications, short answer, matching, multiple choice
o Use these wisely!
o Progressively more difficult
o Untimed with ~ 1 week to complete

Written assignment 15%

o To be described further in prac sessions and on Blackboard
o ANAT2010 poster & brochure
o ANAT2910 short scientific review * topic selection to open end of week.
 Examinations
Practical exam
During formal exam week
Identification of structures in photos, models or images*.
o Short answer questions on function of the structure
o More about this including formative assessments during practical sessions
o Good strategy complete the questions and identifications in the notes
and in class. We practice a lot! You will see just about every possible
question during the semester.
o *For ANAT2910 identifications in wet specimens

Theory exam
During formal exam week
o single best answer MCQs
o short questions (few words or phrase), identifications in diagrams, fill in a
table
o Sampled from all lectures.
o May also refer to material in practicals & online quizzes (its all the same
brain)
 textbooks & atlases

Resources
Do I need a textbook? Yes. Does it need
to be this one not really but your 2007 ed. Still fine!
reading list refers to Bear et al. Helpful but not required!

See also Blackboard links to ebooks, atlases and extra readings

There are computers in the Wet Anatomy rooms but you cannot use your own device.
 Communications
Blackboard announcements.
o Log in regularly. I post regularly with info, reminders, urgent stuff (lecture delays, weather
disasters, network disasters, broken bones**). Key messages I send to your email.
Email - official University communication
o Check regularly.
Email etiquette
o MUST be posted from a uni address all others deleted or junked.
o MUST have full name in the body of the message (make yourself a signature now!)
o MUST have ANAT2010 or ANAT2910 in the subject
o Dont put your SID in the subject heading.
o Please do not email with questions clearly answered elsewhere such as assignment deadlines
and formats, room locations , etc
o Save general questions for discussion sites quicker for you and quicker for me
Blackboard discussions Piazza
o Use this site for general issues worked really well in 2016. Anon postings possible, but keep it
nice
o Direct personal stuff to me by email
In person!
o For assistance with quizzes, course content, assessments, subject selection, please see tutors
in practical sessions. Our pracs are very interactive.
o For individual matters talk with me course coordinator
o Make an appointment via email

o ** rarely happens but it has

 Practical sessions
Begin week 3 (dry lab)
First session is a computer-based tutorial on Cells of the Brain
Neurohistology
The first assessment (online quiz 1) will be on the computer
tutorial
Notes posted on Blackboard by each week.
Anatomy lab (wet lab) tutorials begin week 4
o You will need gloves, lab coat and covered shoes
o You must complete the student obligations module before attendance!
o Sign in with your student ID card
o Advice: buy a box of gloves, plastic clipboard,
o large ziplock bag and keep a special pen for wet labs
Written Assignments
For printed submissions you will need a TYPED
coversheet (all printed assessments are also
submitted electronically).

Drop box outside anatomy office E201

Online submissions will have an declaration

statement no coversheet needed

We use Turnitin for the written assignments

similarity detection.

Online quizzes have no coversheet, but do have a

declaration requirement

Complete the Academic honesty module.

Fairness, honesty and equity

 Special Consideration
If you cannot submit on time
o 10% per diem penalty

Special consideration
o Online application
o 3 days to complete
o Application is not guaranteed acceptance
o Requires documentation
o Ongoing problems act early, seek help, consult disabilities services, Special
arrangements
Learning goals
To understand the characteristics and essential structure of the cells
comprising the human nervous system

. by understanding brain constituents, the principles of brain

organization, the connections between neurons, development
and modification of the brain and complex interaction of the
brain constituents in sensation, movement and cognition

The practical sessions will provide direct experience with learning

basic human neuroanatomy including the vocabulary, structural
relationships, pathways and and basic functions.

The lectures will develop themes within the study of the brain
each theme will illustrate a particular concept in structure/function
relationships.

STRUCTURE FUNCTION
This subject surveys topics in neuroanatomy in order to introduce core
concepts in the study of the brain.

The lectures are strongly geared toward examining the structure/function

relationship in the brain.

What are the cellular components that make up the structure of the central and
peripheral nervous system?

How do they work together to support neuronal signalling and protect the
brains micro and macro-environment?

How is the brain built?

What are the core neuronal compartments and connections that allow us to
effect movement of the body (musculoskeletal) as well as visceral and
vascular (blood vessel) action?

What components and connections support the emotional motor system?

What are the basic principles (& exceptions) in sensory detection of the
external and internal world the receptors, the peripheral and central
components, the chain of connections and processing along the pathway
to conscious perception? unconscious sensation?

How is the extraordinary human cerebral cortex organised?

How are the regions and connections of the brain mapped? Whats a
map anyway?

How is the brain constructed from neurons to glia, from the global plan
to establishing detailed connections, during development?
What are some of the anatomical bases of cognitive processes
perception of pain, memory formation?

What occurs in the brain as a result of neurodegenerative diseases?

Decline in cognition and movement.

We will also look at the experimental basis of current concepts in

neuroanatomy including in vivo structural and functional imaging and
tracing of pathways in laboratory models.
The different cell types of the brain and their anatomy
Goal: understand the differences between the diverse cell types of the brain & interdependence of
neurons, macroglia, microglia, endothelial cells, pericytes
The excitable cell: the neuron
Goal: understand the significance of excitatory & inhibitory functions of neurons and their means of
communication
Goal: understand the fundamental composition of the nervous system
Basic neuronal categories & their connections
Goal: recognize the differences between sensory neurons, motor neurons, and interneurons in the
mammalian brain and spinal cord.
Complex arrangements of groups of neurons & their connections
Goal: understand essential features of sensory & motor pathways
Goal: understand the basic connectivity of multiple sensory systems from the periphery to the CNS
Goal: understand the multiple pathways of motor output to skeletal muscle, viscera and glands
Development of the brain
Goal: understand the macro and micro mechanisms of brain development
Goal: understand the origins and migration of neurons and molecular mechanisms of forming and
refining connections in development and in memory formation.
Higher cognition - the sum of the parts & lessons from degeneration
Goal: understand cortical functions in perception (example pain and somatosensation) and
declarative memory. Learn from structure/function relationships to understand the outcome of
neurodegeneration
Techniques in neuroanatomy
Goal: understand the experimental basis of our current understanding of the structure/function
relationship in the brain in vivo and in animal models
 Concepts in Neuroanatomy !

Themes

Composition of the nervous system

Organisation of the nervous system

Motor pathways

Sensory pathways

Building a brain development & memory

Aging and neurodegeneration

Techniques in neuroantomy from in vivo imaging to neuronal tracing

 Composition of the nervous system!

What is a nervous system?

An organised association of neurons and supporting cells (glia) with its
own blood supply (endothelial cells)
Neurons
Main signaling units in the nervous system (the excitable cells)
Several morphologies - bipolar, unipolar, multipolar
Glia
Macroglial cells (astrocytes and oligodendrocytes)
Historically - thought to have solely a supporting role to neurons, now known to be much more
than helpers
10x more glial cells than neurons
Pericytes
Immune cells and contractile cells (surround blood vessels)
Microglial cells
Cells of the immune system - invaders from the bone marrow
Endothelial cells
Line blood vessels - front line of the blood supply to the nervous system
Form the blood brain barrier
 The Human Brain

Weight ~ average 1.4 Kg (~ 2% body weight)

~ 100,000,000,000 neurons (that is 1011 or 100 billion)

1,000-10,000 synapses per neuron *
* How do we know?

Uses 20% of bodys oxygen (94% used by grey matter)

15-25% of total blood supply body at rest

Composition
10-12% lipids (compare muscle 5%)
8% proteins (compare muscle18-20%)

60% white matter, 40% grey matter

77% of cerebral volume is cerebral cortex
Most of the brains volume is not neurons
Crowd supported neuroantomy
You can contribute http://eyewire.org/explore
Astrocytes - the star cells

Nature Communications 2, Article number:

446 doi:10.1038/ncomms1460
 Connectivity

Cajal 1900
 Connectogram

humanconnectome.org humanconnectome.org
Cerebellar cortex Purkinje cell
 Back to basics
Revise your basic cell anatomy
Well make these specific for the neuron in lecture 2.
 The neuronal soma
Typical neuron has 15-20m diameter soma
Has a prominent nucleus containing
chromosomal DNA in the nucleolus
Prominent Golgi apparatus - for
processing of proteins

Elaborate endoplasmic reticulum

(ER) & abundant free ribosomes
Rough endoplasmic reticulum = Nissl
substance

Abundant mitochondria - site of

oxidative metabolism
Neurons - high metabolic activity

Bear et al (2007) Neuroscience. Exploring the Brain:

Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.
 rough endoplasmic reticulum (rER)
most abundant organelle in neurons
reflects their very high level of protein synthesis

Nissl

nucleus

nucleolus

Cullen 2009

Made up of membrane stacks dotted with ribosomes ~ 25nm diameter

Contain mRNA & are sites of protein synthesis (protein translation)
Bear et al (2007) Neuroscience. Exploring the Brain: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.
 putting information
together in novel ways
creating
breaking concepts into
components and understand how
analysing the parts are related
use learnt material in
applying novel ways

making sense of learnt

understanding material

remembering recalling material from

long term memory

Blooms taxonomy
 putting information
together in novel ways
creating
breaking concepts into
components and understand how
analysing the parts are related
use learnt material in
applying novel ways

making sense of learnt

understanding material

remembering recalling material from

long term memory

Blooms taxonomy
 Unidirectional signal of neurons

Sensory Systems (afferent) towards

direction of signal is from the periphery (e.g., skin, joints) towards brain
Trigger may be from outside the body (e.g. visual world) or internal
(e.g. via visceral receptors, chemoreceptors)
Transduced by a special sense organ/structure (e.g. pressure
receptor in skin, photoreceptor in retina)
Transmitted to the brain for interpretation/integration
Motor Systems (efferent) away
direction of signal is to the periphery
Voluntary (to skeletal muscle)
Involuntary signals (to smooth muscle contraction, glandular action)

Direction of signal passage through a neuron is always the same

DENDRITE > CELL BODY > AXON

Bear et al (2007) Neuroscience. Exploring the Brain:

Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.
 Synapse
Specialized junctions between
neurons

Where neurons communicate

through chemical messengers
neurotransmitters.
May also be electrical synapse
MORE LECTURE 3

Surface view of synapses

Sites where axon terminals are
Carlson NR (2010) Foundations of contacting dendrite
Behavioral Neuroscience: Pearson
Education.