Rajani Singh

By Rajani Singh

Cerebellum is the largest part of the hindbrain and weighs about 150 g. It is enshrined in posterior cranial fossa behind the pons and medulla oblongata and separated from these structures by cavity of fourth ventricle. It is connected to brainstem by three fibre tracts known as cerebellar peduncles. Cerebellum controls the same side of body. It precisely coordinates skilled voluntary movements by controlling strength, duration and force of contraction, so that they are smooth, balanced and accurate. It is also responsible for maintaining equilibrium, muscle tone and posture of the body. This is achieved through the use of somatic sensory information in modulating the motor output from the cerebrum and brainstem. Sherrington regarded cerebellum as the head ganglion of the proprioceptive system. Dysfunction of cerebellum along with degenerative diseases of cerebellum such as spinocerebellar ataxia, multiple sclerosis, malignant tumours, etc. may culminate into disequilibrium, hypotonia, difficulty in talking, sleeping, maintaining muscular coordination and dyssynergia which at times may be life threatening. Hence, knowledge of anatomy of cerebellum is imperative for neuroanatomists and neurosurgeons.

Part of the book: Neurodegenerative Diseases

By Rajani Singh

Present study uncovers the secrets of internal morphology of femoral nerve branches namely, cutaneous trunk, subcutaneous trunks, saphenous, medial cutaneous and intermedius cutaneous nerves innervating the skin of anteromedial thigh at fascicular level. Therefore, the aim of the study is to track, correlate, interpret and identify the pathways of fascicles through histological slides. The femoral nerve and its branching points were calibrated in distances from inguinal ligament. These trunks and nerves of a cadaver were processed for histological slides staining with haematoxylin and eosin. The fascicles in the histological slides were identified, tracked, correlated and interpreted from cranial most slide to the last terminal slides of these nerves and trunks. The correlation of the pathways of fascicles revealed that these fascicles are continuous, consistent and traceable interrupted by split, fusion and multiplexing. Femoral nerve branches/fascicles/nerve fibres if damaged, impair the sensation of corresponding area of skin of anteromedial thigh creating helm of neurological complications. Hence the injured fascicles can be repaired with the help of identification and correlation of fascicular pathways carried out in this study with least invasion. The findings of present study will be of paramount importance for intraoperative stimulation to diagnose and identify the fascicle for microneurosurgical repair/graft/regenerate/neurotisation in the cutaneous branches of femoral nerve at fascicular level.

Part of the book: Pathology