19 Structures of the motor system and the reward circuit

Using the information in Chapter 10 and Chapter 11 of your textbook (Open Neuroscience Initiative), the anatomy books available in the lab, and your lecture slides as a guide, try to identify the following structures on the sheep brain and/or the brain models (note: some are very hard to see):

• Cerebellum
  • Vermis
  • Primary fissure
  • Anterior lobe
  • Posterior lobe
  • Flocculonodular lobe
  • Cerebellar peduncles (consider how the cerebellum is connected to the rest of the brain)
• Basal ganglia
  • Dorsal striatum
  • Ventral striatum
  • Globus pallidus
• Habenula
• Prefrontal cortex
• Ventral tegmental area (midbrain)

Compare these regions to the human brain models available in lab.

Some of these structures are hard to find. Don’t forget to consider figures from the lecture slides such as the following:

View the spinal cord models. Can you identify the dorsal and ventral horns? Which contains synapses associated with motor output? What are the names of the pre- and post-synaptic neurons that synapse in the ventral horn?

For your homework points this week, answer the question on the exit ticket before you leave.