1 Orientation
The human central nervous system or neuraxis
consists of the brain (encephalon) and the spinal
cord (medulla spinalis). The brain is encased by
the skull; the spinal cord lies within the spinal
canal, extending from the foramen magnum to
the level of the second lumbar vertebra. Globally,
the brain can be subdivided into the cerebrum,
the cerebellum and the truncus cerebri or brain
stem (Fig. 1.1). On the basis of its ontogeny the
brain can be divided into three main parts, the
rhombencephalon or hindbrain, the mesenceph-
alon or midbrain and the prosencephalon or
forebrain (Fig. 1.2). The rhombencephalon clas-
sically includes the medulla oblongata or myel-
encephalon and the metencephalon. The medulla
oblongata represents an expanded rostral exten-
sion of the spinal cord. The metencephalon
forms a large ventral protrusion, known as the
pons, whereas its much expanded dorsal portion
is differentiated into the cerebellum. The isthmus
is the rostralmost portion of the hindbrain [1],
bordering on the midbrain. The mesencephalon
is a short wedge-shaped segment of the brain be-
tween the rhombencephalon and the prosen-
cephalon. Together, the medulla oblongata, pons
and mesencephalon form the brain stem.
The prosencephalon comprises the diencepha-
lon, or betweenbrain and the telencephalon, or
endbrain. The diencephalon contains two impor-
tant nuclear complexes, the large thalamus and
the much smaller, somewhat funnel-shaped hy-
pothalamus. The telencephalon is mainly com-
posed of the two cerebral hemispheres, but also
comprises the small telencephalon impar, which
is caudally directly continuous with the dien-
cephalon (Fig. 1.2). The cerebral hemispheres
form by far the largest parts of the human brain:
They surround and cover both the diencephalon
and the midbrain. The surface of the cerebral
hemispheres is thrown into a number of gyri
or convolutions, separated by sulci or fissures.
The central nervous system develops from a
tube-like anlage (Chap. 2), in which the primor-
dial neural walls surround a continuous, fluid-
filled ventricular cavity. This cavity persists as
a system of communicating ventricles in the
adult brain (Fig. 1.3). It comprises the dia-
mond-shaped, rhombencephalic, fourth ventri-
cle; the narrow, slit-like diencephalic third ven-
tricle; and the large, crescent-shaped, lateral
ventricles in the cerebral hemispheres. On both
sides the lateral ventricle communicates with
the third ventricle via the interventricular fora-
men. The third and fourth ventricles are inter-
connected by the narrow, mesencephalic cere-
bral aqueduct. At the spinal level, the ventricular
system is reduced to the thin central canal.
The cerebral hemispheres are subdivided
into five main parts or lobes: lobus frontalis,
lobus parietalis, lobus temporalis, lobus occipi-
talis and lobus limbicus (Fig. 1.4). Most,
though not all, of the boundaries between
these lobes coincide with sulci or fissures.
The weight of the brain in normal young
adults ranges from 1050 g to 1800 g [2]. It is
positively correlated with the body weight. The
mean weight of the male brain is 1350 g and
that of the female is 1250 g. The spinal cord
weighs about 35 g.
References
1. His W (1893) Vorschläge zur Eintheilung des Ge-
hirns. Arch Anat Physiol Anat Abt 172–180
2. Roland PE, Zilles K (1994) Brain atlases: a new re-
search tool. Trends Neurosci 17:458–467
4 Section I Orientation, Development, Gross Anatomy, Blood Supply and Meninges

1 Cerebrum
2 Cerebellum
3 Truncus cerebri
4 Medulla spinalis

Fig. 1.1. The central nervous system in situ (1/6 ´)

 1 Orientation 5

1 Telecephalon

Prosencephalon

Neuraxis (systema nervosum centrale)

(Cerebrum)

2 Telencephalon impar

3 Diencephalon

Encephalon
4 Mesencephalon

Rhombencephalon

Truncus cerebri
5 Pons
Meten-
6 Cere-
cephalon
bellum

7 Myelencephalon
(Medulla
oblongata)

8 Medulla spinalis

Fig. 1.2. Medial surface of the right half of the brain in the bisected head indicating the position of its major
subdivisions (2/5 ´)

1 Lateral ventricle
2 Interventricular foramen
3 Third ventricle
4 Mesencephalic aqueduct
5 Fourth ventricle
6 Central canal

Fig. 1.3. The ventricular system of the brain. The arrow passes through the interventricular foramen from
the third ventricle to the lateral ventricle (3/5 ´)
6 Section I Orientation, Development, Gross Anatomy, Blood Supply and Meninges

1 Occipital pole 5 Frontoparietal operculum 9 Frontal lobe

2 Occipital lobe 6 Temporal operculum 10 Frontal pole
3 Parietal lobe 7 Frontal operculum 11 Limbic lobe
4 Temporal lobe 8 Temporal pole

Fig. 1.4 A–D. Subdivisions of the right cerebral hemisphere into lobes. A Lateral view; B medial view; C supe-
rior view; D inferior view (1/2 ´)