License Image Nerve cells communicate with each other when the synaptic end bulb on the axon of one cell makes contact with a dendrite or cell body of another. Nerve cell impulses are conducted from one cell to another across this connection, called a synapse. The end bulb contains synaptic vesicles which are filled with […]
Nervous
Sensory Input, Motor Response
License Image Neurons can be sensory (afferent) or motor (efferent) or association (interneurons). Sensory neurons carry information from receptors located throughout the body to the brain. Information from both the internal (inside the body) and external environments, in the form of light, heat, pressure, taste, and smell is detected by sensory neurons. Motor neurons carry […]
Infant Brain Side View
License Image This side view of an infants head shows the brain, the cut edge of the skull, the dura mater (green), arachnoid mater (blue) and sub arachnoid space.
Infant Brain Coronal View
License Image The brain is surrounded by three thin fibrous membranes. The dura mater is the outermost membrane (green) and is closely adherent to the inner surface of the skull. It is tough and inelastic. Below that is the arachnoid mater (blue), a thinner and more delicate layer. The pia is the innermost, very thin […]
Shaken Baby
License Image SBS, or shaken baby syndrome is the injury resulting from the violent shaking of an infant or child causing a rotating and whiplash like motion of the child’s head. When very young, a child or infants head is relatively large and the neck muscles undeveloped, providing very little support. During shaking, rapid acceleration-deceleration […]
Shaken Baby – Subdural Hematoma
License Image During injury the blood vessels around the brain can tear and form a pool of blood between the dura and arachnoid membranes. This is called a subdural hematoma. This pooling of blood around the brain takes up space and causes increased pressure within the skull. After a period of time the blood in […]
Shaken Baby Syndrome
License Image This side to side comparison of a normal infant brain and an injured infant brain, shows some important differences. In the injured brain image below: The subarachnoid space has all but disappeared as the injured brain swells and fills up the small space inside the skull. The ventricles have become compressed and flattened. […]
