(no subject)

[electricland]

For quite a long time, if I thought about the brain at all, I always assumed it was basically a blob of undifferentiated goo. The motor homunculus was a revelation to me. The interconnected areas that deal with speech, language, reading and writing are still a marvel. The development of executive function is just neat.

There are days, though, when I wish the brain was still a blob of goo. It would make my job a lot simpler, because I wouldn't have to find clever ways of explaining stuff like this:

Basal nuclei: ...in official anatomical terminology the term includes the nucleus caudatus, nucleus lentiformis, corpus striatum, capsula interna, and corona radiata (including the capsula externa and capsula extrema). [From Dorlands]

vs.

The major components of the basal ganglia are the caudate nucleus, putamen, and globus pallidus. [Kandel, Schwartz & Jessell]
Chase this around further and you get:

Corpus striatum: one of the components of the basal nuclei; ... arranged in two principal masses, the caudate nucleus and the lentiform nucleus...

Caudate nucleus: ...the caudate nucleus and putamen form a functional unit (the neostriatum) of the corpus striatum. (That one comes with an illustration of the caudate nucleus, which is attached to the putamen on one end and the amygdaloid on the other.}

Lentiform nucleus: the part of the corpus striatum somewhat resembing a biconvex lens, divided into an external, larger, lateral part (putamen) and an internal, smaller, lighter colored medial part (globus pallidus), which is in turn subdivided into a smaller, medial and a larger, lateral part by the medial medullary lamina...
Oh, and sometimes the amydgala gets to be part of the basal nuclei as well.

Too many bits! Too many bits of the brain! Back to the primeval ooze with it all! Or at the very least, if there could be consensus on what is part of what, that would be nice.

Here's what I came up with:

Basal nuclei = basal ganglia

• Corpus striatum
  
  • Caudate nucleus
  • Lentiform nucleus
    
    • Putamen
    • Globus pallidus
• Capsula interna (less exciting)
• Corona radiata (less exciting)
  
  • Capsula externa
  • Capsula extrema
• Amygdala (except when it isn't)

Now, picking the important parts and tossing the rest, that's the hard part.

All this for two sentences in the final script. I wonder sometimes...