nerves. The third nerve is seen at the level of the superior corpus quadrigeminum running from its nucleus of origin, through the red nucleus, to a groove on the inner side of the crus called the oculo-motor groove, which marks the separation between the crusta and tegmentum. Dorsal to the Sylvian aqueduct is a layer called the lamina quadrigemina and on this the corpora quadrigemina rest. The superior pair of these bodies is overlapped by the pineal body and forms part of the lower visual centres. Connexions can be traced to the optic tract, the higher visual centre on the mesial surface of the occipital lobe, the deep origin of the third or oculo-motor nerve as well as to the mesial and lateral fillet. The inferior pair of quadrigeminal bodies are more closely in touch with the organs of hearing, and are connected by the lateral fillet with the cochlear nucleus of the auditory nerve.
From Cunningham, Text-book of Anatomy. Fig. 8.—Transverse Section through the Human Mesencephalon at the level of the superior Quadrigeminal Body. |
Surface of the Brain.
The peripheral part of each hemisphere, which consists of grey matter, exhibits a characteristic folded appearance, known as gyri (or convolutions) of the cerebrum. These gyri are separated from each other by fissures and sulci, some of which are considered to subdivide the hemisphere into lobes, whilst others separate the gyri in each lobe from each other. In each hemisphere of the human brain five lobes are recognized: the temporo-sphenoidal, frontal, parietal, occipital, and the central lobe or Island of Reil; it should, however, be realized that these lobes do not exactly correspond to the outlines of the bones after which they are named. Passing obliquely on the outer face of the hemisphere from before, upward and backward, is the well marked Sylvian fissure (fig. 9, s), which is the first to appear in the development of the hemisphere. Below it lies the temporo-sphenoidal lobe, and above and in front of it, the parietal and frontal lobes. As soon as it appears on the external surface of the brain the fissure divides into three limbs, anterior horizontal (s1), ascending (s2), and posterior horizontal (s3), the latter being by far the longest. The place whence these diverge is the Sylvian point and corresponds to the pterion on the surface of the skull (see Anatomy: Superficial and Artistic). Between these three limbs and the vallecula or main stem of the fissure are four triangular tongues or opercula; these are named, according to their position, orbital (fig. 9, C), frontal (pars triangularis) (B), fronto-parietal (pars basilaris) (A) and temporal. The frontal lobe is separated from the parietal by the fissure of Rolando (fig. 9, r) which extends on the outer face of the hemisphere from the longitudinal fissure obliquely downward and forward towards the Sylvian fissure. About 2 in. from the hinder end of the hemisphere is the parieto-occipital fissure, which, commencing at the longitudinal fissure, passes down the inner surface of the hemisphere, and transversely outwards for a short distance on the outer surface of the hemisphere; it separates the parietal and occipital lobes from each other.
The Temporo-Sphenoidal Lobe presents on the outer surface of the hemisphere three convolutions, arranged in parallel tiers from above downward, and named superior, middle and inferior temporal gyri. The fissure which separates the superior and middle of these convolutions is called the parallel fissure (fig. 9, t1). The Occipital Lobe also consists from above downwards of three parallel gyri, named superior, middle and inferior occipital. The Frontal Lobe is more complex; immediately in front of the fissure of Rolando, and forming indeed its anterior boundary, is a convolution named ascending frontal or pre-central, which ascends obliquely backward and upward from the Sylvian to the longitudinal fissure. Springing from the front of this gyrus, and passing forward to the anterior end of the cerebrum, are three gyri, arranged in parallel tiers from above downwards, and named superior, middle and inferior frontal gyri, which are also prolonged on to the orbital face of the frontal lobe. The Parietal Lobe is also complex; its most anterior gyrus, named ascending parietal or post-central, ascends parallel to and immediately behind the fissure of Rolando. Springing from the upper end of the back of this gyrus is the supra-parietal lobule, which, forming the boundary of the longitudinal fissure, extends as far back as the parieto-occipital fissure; springing from the lower end of the back of this gyrus is the supra-marginal, which forms the