Anatomy and Physiology of the Vascular Supply to the Brain

Publisher Summary This chapter describes the anatomy and physiology of the vascular supply to the brain. The brain is divided into two major areas: (1) the large cerebral convexities connected by the white matter pathways known as the corpus callosum and (2) the brain stem, which has the form of a narrow stalk expanding upward from below and links the brain above with the spinal cord below. The blood supply to the surface of the cerebrum is composed of some 12–15 individual branches, which are usually grouped into an upper or anterior division and a lower or posterior division. The upper division supplies the entire insula, most of the frontal lobe, and almost the entire convex surface of the anterior half of the parietal lobe. The lower division branches at the posterior end of the sylvian fissure supplying almost all of the temporal lobe, the posterior half of the parietal lobe, and the adjacent lateral occipital region. The stem of the middle cerebral artery gives off the dozen or so small lenticulostriate arteries that penetrate deep into the brain to supply the caudate nucleus, anterior limb, genu, and posterior limb of the internal capsule, putamen, external capsule, and claustrum.