ILOs:

• Identify the bones which make up the cranial cavity and appreciate their significance in head injury.
• Name the 3 meningeal layers, understand their relation to each other and to the skull, and identify the major meningeal folds (falx cerebri and tentorium cerebelli).
• Distinguish the relation of the following vessels to the meningeal layers and spaces: middle meningeal artery, cerebral arteries and their branches, venous sinuses.
• Appreciate the significance of the relationship between meninges and blood vessels in various types of intracranial bleed.
• Identify the 4 lobes of the cerebral hemispheres.
• Identify the following functional areas of the cerebral cortex: motor, somatosensory, auditory, visual and speech.
• Recognise the normal arrangement of the ventricles of the brain.
• Describe the pathway between the retina and the visual cortex, as well as the autonomic innervation of the eye.
• Appreciate the significance of the pupil, eyelids and visual fields as aids to diagnosis.

Briefing

Part 1: Neurocranial anatomy

• What are the bones of the neurocranium?
• What are the sutures of the skull?
• What are fontanelles?
• How do the sutures differ in Neonates?
• What anatomical landmark can assist in determining cranial pressure in a neonate?
• What else does this help with?
• What can you see in the following photos?