Cadena Chapter 12, 13, and 14

function of the meninges

• Cover and protect CNS

• Contain cerebrospinal fluid

• Form partitions in skull

• Protect blood vessels and enclose venous sinuses

Strongest meninx is made up of two layers of fibrous connective tissue

• dura mater

• pia mater

• arachnoid mater

Delicate connective tissue that clings tightly to brain, following every convolution

• pia mater

• dura mater

• arachnoid mater

allows lipid-soluble substances, as well as blood gases to pass freely through cell membrane

• simple diffusion

• specific transport mechanisms

bundle of motor neuron axons that exit the spinal cord

• dorsal roots

• ventral roots

• spinal nerves

sensory input to cord

• ventral roots

• dorsal roots

• spinal nerves

White matter, myelinated and nonmyelinated nerve fibers run in three directions

• ascending

• transverse

• descending

• longitudinal

Conduct sensory pathways upward through a chain of three neurons

• descending pathways

• ascending pathways

Deliver efferent impulses from brain to spinal cord

• ascending pathways

• descending pathways

Cross section of cord resembles butterfly or letter “H”

• white matter

• gray matter