Memorizing brain stem neuroanatomy?

[linkin06]

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i always sucked at anatomy, and i thought i was done and ok with that. now, i come to neuroanatomy, and my life is awful once again.

anyone have a good way to process all these slices in the brain stem? there doesn't seem must method to this madness...i'm ok with spinal tracts because that to me is more like a process, but anatomy is a huge weakness of mine.

any help is much appreciated and needed!

 

[TooMuchResearch]

Honestly, I'd recommend staring at it for long periods of time while dying a little inside.

 

[JaggerPlate]

I'm literally on an SDN break from memorizing the brain stem as we speak. It blows ... big time. Don't have any tips, but I'll let you know if I find anything that works today.

 

[p1acebo]

Honestly, I'd recommend staring at it for long periods of time while dying a little inside.

I'm literally on an SDN break from memorizing the brain stem as we speak. It blows ... big time. Don't have any tips, but I'll let you know if I find anything that works today.

Both of these, neuro is NOT fun. The brain stem and all of the vague nuclei are NOT fun. Just get use to it.

 

[Siverhideo1985]

It helped me to scroll through the slices from bottom to top (or vice-versa) and concentrate on one track/structure at a time. Go with the easily recognizable one's first and then tackle the harder one's.

For each structure/track I tried to assemble a 3-D picture in my head...a map of sorts. But yeah, it took a lot staring at the pictures and flipping back and forth between slices.

 

[Justforkicks4]

i always sucked at anatomy, and i thought i was done and ok with that. now, i come to neuroanatomy, and my life is awful once again.

anyone have a good way to process all these slices in the brain stem? there doesn't seem must method to this madness...i'm ok with spinal tracts because that to me is more like a process, but anatomy is a huge weakness of mine.

any help is much appreciated and needed!

What textbook/program are you using? We use the Nolte "Human
Brain" text and the online "Digital Brain" program is awesome. It's like Google Maps for the brain! How are your exam quesions structured? If you're given a brainstem section with a lesion and asked about deficits, just focus on the major motor/sensory tracts and nuclei and you'll be golden. Generally speaking: CN 1-4 from midbrain, 5-8 from pons, 9-12 from medulla.

 

[linkin06]

What textbook/program are you using? We use the Nolte "Human
Brain" text and the online "Digital Brain" program is awesome. It's like Google Maps for the brain! How are your exam quesions structured? If you're given a brainstem section with a lesion and asked about deficits, just focus on the major motor/sensory tracts and nuclei and you'll be golden. Generally speaking: CN 1-4 from midbrain, 5-8 from pons, 9-12 from medulla.

i have axx to that site too, didn't know about the digital brain. exploring it now.

except it doesn't load in firefox or safari...oh well

 

[FutureInternist]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Li5nMsXg1Lk

 

[grotto]

Learn learn the GSE, GSA, SSA, etc locations first, then just throw the different nuclei those categories - they are in generally the same place throughout the stem.

Glad to be done with that class. Painful.

 

[osumc2014]

The Haines neuroanatomy book is awesome, it has slices on one side and cartoon with labels on the other for everyslice, highly recommend it

 

[deano5709]

The Haines neuroanatomy book is awesome, it has slices on one side and cartoon with labels on the other for everyslice, highly recommend it

Second the Haines atlas. It is nice to have the cartoons and the matching slices together.

 

[UAAWolf]

i always sucked at anatomy, and i thought i was done and ok with that. now, i come to neuroanatomy, and my life is awful once again.

anyone have a good way to process all these slices in the brain stem? there doesn't seem must method to this madness...i'm ok with spinal tracts because that to me is more like a process, but anatomy is a huge weakness of mine.

any help is much appreciated and needed!

Take a look at "The Human Brain Study Guide" by John Nolte. It is gold for neuro.

http://www.amazon.com/Study-Guide-Accompany-Human-Brain/dp/032301321X

I did really well on my exam using this. And we had to draw the brainstem sections from scratch

 

[herewego]

learn the gross anatomy of the brain and the different regions, then the slides make much more sense, why one area is shifting here or there, or why one area can be seen at a certain level and other areas cant etc.

 

[WhippleWhileWeWork]

Same as last semester, trying to stay off of SDN as much as possible now that we're in the thick of it. Was googling "how to memorize brain stem nuclei" found what can only be myself posting from the past.

i always sucked at anatomy, and i thought i was done and ok with that. now, i come to neuroanatomy, and my life is awful once again.

anyone have a good way to process all these slices in the brain stem? there doesn't seem must method to this madness...i'm ok with spinal tracts because that to me is more like a process, but anatomy is a huge weakness of mine.
!

Honestly, I'd recommend staring at it for long periods of time while dying a little inside.

Currently happening. Brilliant reply @TooMuchResearch

 

[GenericApplicant]

I highly recommend an online atlas called Sylvius that you can buy $25 for a 1 year subscription. All the tracts and nuclei get color coated at each level of the cord, and the sections will retain the color coating scheme, so you can see how every structure is moving in relation to each other as you move inferiorly/superiorly along the cord.

http://www.sinauer.com/sylvius-4-an-interactive-atlas-and-visual-glossary-of-human-neuroanatomy.html

 

[chasm-e-baddoor]

It helped me to scroll through the slices from bottom to top (or vice-versa) and concentrate on one track/structure at a time. Go with the easily recognizable one's first and then tackle the harder one's.

For each structure/track I tried to assemble a 3-D picture in my head...a map of sorts. But yeah, it took a lot staring at the pictures and flipping back and forth between slices.

This is what I used and i learned it in no time.

While i was studying, I'd also look away from the images and visualize the sequence of slices in my head. After each structure, or in between, I'd also try to find good "3d" depictions of them (not actually 3D but pictures that showed the spatial positioning of the structure/track in a "transparent" representation of the entire CNS)

 

[deleted503015]

found this helpful for clinical stuff. had a hard time with the brainstem during anatomy but found this during our neuro block, and things made a ton more sense.

"Rule of 4 of the brainstem"
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15836511

Has stuff like "things starting with M are in the Middle and things starting with S are on the Side", which seems silly but is super helpful for me in terms of trying to determine lateral vs medial syndromes

 

[JM26]

Honestly, I'd recommend staring at it for long periods of time while dying a little inside.

I think a little piece of all of us died during neuro.

 

[byaaaaaaah23]

I really liked Nolte's atlas because it had really great pictures of the brain stem with drawings on the next page tracing out each of the structures so you could go back and look at the real thing and find them too.