location of lesions and the symptoms that are related

Question

I would like to know more about the location of the lesion and the type of symptom it can cause. Also, if there is a lesion in a specific area, what are its comparing symptoms that go with it, like brainstem can cause "this, this, this and this" LOL Ya know what I mean...  thanks Pamela

COBOB · Accepted Answer

OK, I'll take a shot at this.  

There are some general rules:  The Frontal part of the cerebrum is emotional, empathic, and "feeling". There is also a specific area between the frontal lobes and the parietal (side) lobes know as Broca's area that is necessary for language. The parietal lobes have a lot to due with the motor cortex and motion.  The occipital lobe (back of the brain above the cerebellum)  contains the visual cortex.  The Optic Nerve runs from the retina to the optic  cortex, so lesions anywhere along that path can cause ON.  All of these areas are considered "supratentorial."   The "infratentorial" brain is the the Brainstem, cerebellum and the deep structure like the thalamus and  hypothalamus.  This is the part of the brain that 10 of the 12 cranial nerves connect to.   So Trigeminal Neuralgia (TN) is associated with damage to the trigeminal nerves between the insertion at the pons and the three branches in each side of the face.  The thalamus, hypothalamus, and cerebrum control functions like autonomic regulation of hormone levels, body temperature, breathing, balance, proprioception (position awareness), etc.  Everything in and out of the brain EXCEPT the Optic Nerve and the Olfactory Nerve pass through the brainstem (pons). 

Some people have refereed to the supratentorial brain as the "thinking brain" and the infratentorial as the "animal brain."  It really isn't that easy since even signals from the motor cortex must pass to the muscle vis the brainstem. Functional MRI and MRS (Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy) have demonstrated that there is a significant communication and dependency between the left and right hemispheres on the cerebrum and structures in the deep infratentorial brain bridge those messages.   Depending where a brainstem lesion is, it can generate false or erroneous signals outbound to the body or inbound to the cerebrum.   This is why some doctors get a bit more interested when we have infratentorial lesions.

OK.  There is more on the web and there has been a ton more neuroanatomical brain mapping (neuropsychiatry & neuropsychology) since I worked on MRIs.  Heck, 12 years ago, functional and Gated MRI acquisition was brand new.  If you want something more than this, you'll have to look on the web.  There should be a few words in here to help you with a Google search.

Bob

COBOB · Answer

You ask, I try.  May not be 100% correct, but pretty close.

Bob

drsdonthelp · Answer

Wow Bob just the answer I was looking for and Jen thank you also !

jensequitur · Answer

That's part of what I meant - lightheadedness and speech problems can come from several different sources.  There's just a few symptoms that can be directly correlated to lesions, and most of those are in the spine.

drsdonthelp · Answer

Thanks for responding. I'm actually not looking at a lesion or its placement or anything like that,, I was just curious about how lesions in specific areas can have your symptoms prove they are coming from that lesion, I know that with some lesions they can have the speech, swallowing , and I think lightheadedness to correlate together.