Laboratory 8: "Lesions Lab"This laboratory exercise provides an excellent opportunity to "pull together" what you have learned in neuroanatomy during the past few weeks while reviewing the localization of major systems in the CNS. On the following pages, you will find six "idealized" case studies of patients exhibiting a variety of neurological symptoms (remember, real life is nothing like these classic textbook examples!). Your challenge, if you choose to accept, is to analyze these cases, identify the level of the neuroaxis where you believe the damage occured, and use your knowledge of the loocation of tracts and nuclei at that level to explain the symptomology. To help you with this task, highlighted thumbnail prints of images from the UIC Brainstem set that roughly correspond to the levels of the neuroaxis involved in these case are displayed in the sidebar. The highlight shows the approximate area at each level where damage to neural tissue may have occurred. Keep in mind that the order of the presentation of the images does not correspond to the order of the cases. To show you how to use this information, the answer to Case 1, a classic example of the Brown-Sequard syndrome, is given. Identify the nuclei, nerves or tracts involved in the lesion that would produce the symptoms that were described. If the symptoms are sudden in onset, assume a vascular accident and identify the arterial branches that could be involved. When the left side of the image is shadowed, assume that the damage is on the left side of the brain and vice versa. Since these images are taken from our slide collection, you may not see every salient feature that corresponds to the casw symptoms. However, keep in mind the relative level represented by the image, hence, the structures you would expect to find at that level. You'll find most of the information you need to solve these problems in your textbook and lecture handouts. Begin ... |