Medical Neuroscience Laboratory Guide Spring 2013 V. 13.1.0 Offered and Coordinated by the Department of Neurobiology and Anatomy The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston To access Adobe Acrobat PDF versions of the course syllabus as well as other course information, visit the official course website at: http://nba.uth.tmc.edu/courses/neuroscience/ Contents © 2000-Present University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston. All Rights Reserved. Unauthorized use of contents subject to civil and/or criminal prosecution. Table of Contents General Laboratory Information ................................................................................................................. 1 General Procedures for Examination of Human Brain Material ................................................................. 3 Neuroscience Laboratory Staff ................................................................................................................... 4 Laboratory Room Instructors ...................................................................................................................... 4 Lab Group Assignments .............................................................................................................................. 5 Overview of the Nervous System ............................................................................................................. 10 Laboratory Exercise #1: External Anatomy of the Brain ......................................................................... 26 Principles of Neurological Examination ................................................................................................... 44 Clinical Post Lab #1: External Anatomy of the Brain .............................................................................. 47 Laboratory Exercise #2: Internal Organization of the Brain ..................................................................... 50 Clinical Post Lab #2: Internal Organization of the Brain ......................................................................... 57 Laboratory Exercise #3: Ventricles, Blood Vessels, and External Surface of the Brain Stem ................. 59 Clinical Post Lab #3: Ventricles, Blood Vessels, and External Surfaces of the Brain Stem ................... 69 Laboratory Exercise #4: Spinal Cord: External and Internal Anatomy and Introduction to Somatosensory Pathways .............................................................................................. 73 Clinical Post Lab #4: Spinal Cord: External and Internal Anatomy and Introduction to Somatosensory Pathways .............................................................................................. 84 Laboratory Exercise #5: Somatosensory, Viscerosensory and Spinocerebellar Pathways ....................... 88 Clinical Post Lab #5: Somatosensory, Viscerosensory and Spinocerebellar Pathways.......................... 105 Laboratory Exercise #6: Auditory, Vestibular, Gustatory and Olfactory Systems ................................. 110 Clinical Post Lab #6: Auditory, Vestibular, Gustatory, and Olfactory Systems..................................... 119 Laboratory Exercise #7: Visual System and Oculomotor Control.......................................................... 120 Clinical Post Lab #7: Visual System and Oculomotor Control .............................................................. 135 Laboratory Exercise #8: Higher Motor Function .................................................................................... 141 Clinical Post Lab #8: Higher Motor Function......................................................................................... 154 Laboratory Exercise #9: Descending Pathways to the Spinal Cord ........................................................ 158 Clinical Post Lab #9: Descending Pathways to the Spinal Cord ............................................................ 166 Laboratory Exercise #10: Cranial Nerve Nuclei and Brainstem Circulation .......................................... 170 Clinical Post Lab #10: Cranial Nerve Nuclei and Brainstem Circulation .............................................. 199 Laboratory Exercise #11 Part A: The Limbic System ............................................................................ 204 Laboratory Exercise #11 Part B: The Hypothalamus ............................................................................. 209 Clinical Post Lab #11 (Parts A and B): The Limbic System and the Hypothalamus ............................. 214 Page 1 General Laboratory Information Laboratories are designed for self-study and are staffed by faculty and selected upper class medical and graduate students. Laboratory instructions are presented in this guide. Students are expected to review this material before each laboratory. In the laboratory exercises, you should learn to identify the locations of the structures in bold type. You should also learn the names, connections (if provided), and functions of the structures that appear in bold type or in italics. You will also be responsible for knowledge of the clinical consequences of damage to the identified structures when such information is provided to you in the exercise. Often new terminology will be underlined or italicized. Learn the definitions and the specific meanings of these terms in the context in which they are used. Prior to arriving at a particular laboratory, students are expected to have used the NeuroLab Online Program in the “review mode” to learn the structures to be demonstrated in the laboratory. Later during the laboratory, students will need to bring their laptop and complete that particular lesson in the NeuroLab Online program in the “exercise mode” and answer the questions at the end of the lesson in class, you will have one (1) hour for this exercise. You are advised to review it at home. You can access Neuroanatomy Lab Online at: https://oac22.hsc.uth.tmc.edu/courses/neuroanatomy/ Before each Laboratory Exercise, the class will meet in Room 2.006 for a brief introduction to the laboratory section. Laboratories will be held in rooms 2.105, 2.107, 2.129 and 2.131. Students will be assigned to a lab room, as indicated in the Lab Seating Assignments that will be made available on the course website. In addition, each laboratory group (4-5 students) will be assigned specific laboratory equipment and supplies, and will be responsible for returning all items at the completion of the course. Materials to be entrusted to students include a container with a human whole brain, hemisected brain, spinal cord and brain stem and cerebellum. Failure to return these materials on time at the end of the semester will result in the placement of letters of misconduct for the group in the students' blue books through the Dean's office. On occasions, additional materials will be issued to your group in the laboratory and these items need to be left in the laboratory after the end of the laboratory session. These materials include specimen pans, certain knives, and other materials needed for the lab. Plastic brain models and mounted plastic brain tissue embedments are on display in rooms 2.105, 2.107, 2.129, 2.131. Students may have 24-hour access to the laboratories by reporting to security after hours, except when other courses and exams are in session. Students will need to bring their own protective gloves, dissection kit, and water proof protective aprons (to keep tissue and liquid materials off of their clothes). In addition, students need to bring to the lab reference materials such as: John Nolte, The Human Brain, 6th Edition, 2008, Mosby and S.J. DeArmond, et al., Structure of the Human Brain; A Photographic Atlas, 3rd Edition, 1989, Oxford Press. Some students prefer additional references such as: Woosley et al., The Brain Atlas. Required readings in Nolte and references to atlas figures in DeArmond are indicated for each Laboratory Exercise. You are encouraged to bring Nolte and DeArmond to the laboratory, as the figures cited would be helpful in understanding the 3-dimensional organization of the pathways and functional systems described to you in the Laboratory Guide. Medical Neuroscience 2013 : Laboratory Guide Page 2 Text highlighted in blue (such as this) in Laboratory Exercises 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10 and 11 are review material and/or clinical correlations. It is suggested that you read these text boxes BEFORE or AFTER the laboratory exercises and not during the Laboratory Exercises. Medical Neuroscience 2013 : Laboratory Guide Page 3 General Procedures for Examination of Human Brain Material 1. Bring Your Dissection Kit And Gloves. 2. Use Gloves. Because the brains used in the Neuroscience Laboratory are chemically “fixed”, use gloves to handle these specimens. 3. Use Specimen Pan. Remove the brain specimen from the container (2 gallon bucket) and place it in the aluminum pan provided. 4. Periodically Moisten Specimen with Water. Every 15 minutes moisten the brain with WATER to prevent it from drying. You may use the squeeze bottles labeled water in the laboratory for this purpose. DO NOT USE ANY BOTTLE LABELED “BLEACH” to moisten your brain specimen. 5. Use Biohazard Bags For Disposal Of Any Brain Parts. Even fixed human brains rarely contain potentially dangerous agents. An example would be prions, non-living infectious molecules. Brain material which is no longer useful for study should be properly disposed of in the Orange or Red Biohazard bags placed in the laboratory. Gloves, or paper which has been