Information about Meninges

Meninges of the CNS
subject #193 872
Arterymiddle meningeal artery, meningeal branches of the ascending pharyngeal artery, accessory meningeal artery, branch of anterior ethmoidal artery, meningeal branches of vertebral artery
Nervemiddle meningeal nerve, nervus spinosus
MeSH Meninges
Dorlands/Elsevier m_09/12523818
The meninges (singular meninx) is the system of membranes which envelop the central nervous system. The meninges consist of three layers: the dura mater, the arachnoid mater, and the pia mater. The primary function of the meninges and of the cerebrospinal fluid is to protect the central nervous system.

Anatomy

Pia mater

The pia or pia mater is a very delicate membrane. It is attached to (nearest) the brain or the spinal cord. As such it follows all the minor contours of the brain (gyri and sulci). The pia mater is the meningeal envelope which firmly adheres to the surface of the brain and spinal cord. It is a very thin membrane composed of fibrous tissue covered on its outer surface by a sheet of flat cells thought to be impermeable to fluid. The pia mater is pierced by blood vessels which travel to the brain and spinal cord, and its capillaries are responsible for nourishing the brain.

Arachnoid mater

The middle element of the meninges is the arachnoid mater, so named because of its spider web-like appearance. It provides a cushioning effect for the central nervous system. The arachnoid mater exists as a thin, transparent membrane. It is composed of fibrous tissue and, like the pia mater, is covered by flat cells also thought to be impermeable to fluid. The arachnoid does not follow the convolutions of the surface of the brain and so looks like a loosely fitting sac. In the region of the brain, particularly, a large number of fine filaments called arachnoid trabeculae pass from the arachnoid through the subarachnoid space to blend with the tissue of the pia mater.

The arachnoid and pia mater are sometimes together called the leptomeninges.

Dura mater

The dura mater (also rarely called meninx fibrosa, or pachymeninx) is a thick, durable membrane, closest to the skull. It contains larger blood vessels which split into the capilliaries in the pia mater. It is composed of dense fibrous tissue, and its inner surface is covered by flattened cells like those present on the surfaces of the pia mater and arachnoid. The dura mater is a sac which envelops the arachnoid and has been modified to serve several functions. The dura mater surrounds and supports the large venous channels (dural sinuses) carrying blood from the brain toward the heart.

Spaces

The subarachnoid space is the space which normally exists between the arachnoid and the pia mater, which is filled with cerebrospinal fluid.

Normally, the dura mater is attached to the skull in the head, or to the bones of the vertebral canal in the spinal cord. The arachnoid is attached to the dura mater, and the pia mater is attached to the central nervous system tissue. When the dura mater and the arachnoid separate through injury or illness, the space between them is the subdural space.

Pathology

There are three types of hemorrhage involving the meninges:[1] Other medical conditions which affect the meninges include meningitis (usually from fungal, bacterial, or viral infection) and meningiomas arising from the meninges or from tumors formed elsewhere in the body which metastasize to the meninges.

Additional images


Diagrammatic representation of a section across the top of the skull

Diagrammatic section of scalp.


References

1. ^ Orlando Regional Healthcare, Education and Development. 2004. "Overview of Adult Traumatic Brain Injuries." Retrieved on September 6, 2007.


Arteries are muscular blood vessels that carry blood away from the heart.[1] All arteries, with the exception of the pulmonary and umbilical arteries, carry oxygenated blood.

The circulatory system is extremely important for sustaining life.
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The middle meningeal artery (Latin arteria meningea media) is typically the first branch of the first part (retromandibular part) of the maxillary artery; one of the two terminal branches of the external carotid artery.
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The Meningeal Branches of the ascending pharyngeal artery are several small vessels, which supply the dura mater.

One, the posterior meningeal, passes through the mastoid foramen before entering the cranium via the jugular foramen.
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The accessory meningeal artery (also accessory branch of middle meningeal artery, pterygomeningeal artery, small meningeal or parvidural branch) is a branch of the maxillary artery, sometimes derived from the middle meningeal artery.
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The anterior ethmoidal artery, also anterior ethmoid artery is an artery of the head.

Course

It accompanies the nasociliary nerve through the anterior ethmoidal canal, supplies the anterior and middle ethmoidal cells and frontal sinus, and enters the cranium


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The meningeal branches of vertebral artery (posterior meningeal branch) springs from the vertebral opposite the foramen magnum, ramifies between the bone and dura mater in the cerebellar fossa, and supplies the falx cerebelli.
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A nerve is an enclosed, cable-like bundle of axons (the long, slender projection of a neuron). Neurons are sometimes called nerve cells, though this term is technically imprecise since many neurons do not form nerves, and nerves also include the glial cells that
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The middle meningeal nerve (meningeal or dural branch) is given off from the maxillary nerve directly after its origin from the semilunar ganglion

It accompanies the middle meningeal artery and supplies the dura mater.
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The meningeal branch of the mandibular nerve (recurrent branch, nervus spinosus) is a branch of the mandibular nerve that supplies e.g. the dura mater.

Course

It enters the skull through the foramen spinosum with the middle meningeal artery.
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Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) is a huge controlled vocabulary (or metadata system) for the purpose of indexing journal articles and books in the life sciences. Created and updated by the United States National Library of Medicine (NLM), it is used by the MEDLINE/PubMed
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Elsevier, the world's largest publisher of medical and scientific literature, forms part of the Reed Elsevier group. Based in Amsterdam, the company has substantial operations in the UK, USA and elsewhere.
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The mesothelium is a membrane that forms the lining of several body cavities: the pleura (thoracal cavity), peritoneum (abdominal cavity) and pericardium (heart sac). Mesothelial tissue also surrounds the male internal reproductive organs (the tunica vaginalis testis) and covers
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The central nervous system (CNS) represents the largest part of the nervous system, including the brain and the spinal cord. Together with the peripheral nervous system, it has a fundamental role in the control of behavior.
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The dura mater (from the Latin "hard mother"), or pachymeninx, is the tough and inflexible outermost of the three layers of the meninges surrounding the brain and spinal cord. (The other two meningeal layers are the pia mater and the arachnoid mater.
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The arachnoid mater is one of the three meninges, the membranes that cover the brain and spinal cord. It is interposed between the two other meninges, the more superficial dura mater and the deeper pia mater, and is separated from the pia mater by the subarachnoid space.
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The pia mater (Latin: "tender mother", itself a translation from Arabic) is the delicate innermost layer of the meninges - the membranes surrounding the brain and spinal cord.
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The central nervous system (CNS) represents the largest part of the nervous system, including the brain and the spinal cord. Together with the peripheral nervous system, it has a fundamental role in the control of behavior.
..... Click the link for more information.
The pia mater (Latin: "tender mother", itself a translation from Arabic) is the delicate innermost layer of the meninges - the membranes surrounding the brain and spinal cord.
..... Click the link for more information.
In animals, the brain or encephalon (Greek for "in the skull"), is the control center of the central nervous system, responsible for behavior. The brain is located in the head, protected by the skull and close to the primary sensory apparatus of vision, hearing,
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spinal chord is a thin, tubular bundle of nerves that is an extension of the central nervous system from the brain and is enclosed in and protected by the bony vertebral column.
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In animals, the brain or encephalon (Greek for "in the skull"), is the control center of the central nervous system, responsible for behavior. The brain is located in the head, protected by the skull and close to the primary sensory apparatus of vision, hearing,
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gyrus (pl. gyri) is a ridge on the cerebral cortex. It is generally surrounded by one or more sulci.

Notable gyri

  • Fornicate gyrus
  • Superior frontal gyrus
  • Middle frontal gyrus
  • Inferior frontal gyrus
  • Superior temporal gyrus

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A sulcus (pronounced with a hard c) (pl. sulci) is a depression or fissure in the surface of an organ, especially the brain.

Examples of sulci

In the brain

See Sulcus (neuroanatomy)

Elsewhere

  • sulcus arteriæ vertebralis

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capillary is used to describe any very narrow tube or channel through which a fluid can pass. See capillary action for details.


Capillaries are the smallest of a body's blood vessels, measuring 5-10 μm, which connect arterioles and venules, and are
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The arachnoid mater is one of the three meninges, the membranes that cover the brain and spinal cord. It is interposed between the two other meninges, the more superficial dura mater and the deeper pia mater, and is separated from the pia mater by the subarachnoid space.
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spider web, spiderweb, spider's web or cobweb (from the obsolete word "coppe", meaning "spider" [1]) is a device built by a spider out of proteinaceous spider silk extruded from its spinnerets.
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The central nervous system (CNS) represents the largest part of the nervous system, including the brain and the spinal cord. Together with the peripheral nervous system, it has a fundamental role in the control of behavior.
..... Click the link for more information.
The arachnoid mater is one of the three meninges, the membranes that cover the brain and spinal cord. It is interposed between the two other meninges, the more superficial dura mater and the deeper pia mater, and is separated from the pia mater by the subarachnoid space.
..... Click the link for more information.
The arachnoid mater is one of the three meninges, the membranes that cover the brain and spinal cord. It is interposed between the two other meninges, the more superficial dura mater and the deeper pia mater, and is separated from the pia mater by the subarachnoid space.
..... Click the link for more information.
The pia mater (Latin: "tender mother", itself a translation from Arabic) is the delicate innermost layer of the meninges - the membranes surrounding the brain and spinal cord.
..... Click the link for more information.


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