Lesson text is an educational draft awaiting anatomical review.
Lessons
A curriculum of relationships for neurosurgical residents. Each lesson moves from a reference view to a question you can explain.
01Reading the evidence · 4 relationships, about 8 minutes
What the anatomy image can establish
Use one region to distinguish a surface landmark, an atlas boundary, a reconstruction and a measured functional observation.
02Reading the evidence · 4 relationships, about 8 minutes
Reading a sparse or incomplete tractogram
Distinguish visibility, reconstruction and quantitative support through practical display comparisons.
03Regional anatomy · 10 relationships, about 20 minutes
Central region & descending motor pathways
Orient the central region, follow the descending corridor and distinguish cortical, capsular and cerebellar contributions to movement.
04Regional anatomy · 7 relationships, about 16 minutes
Internal capsule and thalamic radiations
Read the internal capsule through its grey-matter neighbours, compare its limbs and genu, and keep reconstructed pathways separate from individual localisation.
05Regional anatomy · 5 relationships, about 12 minutes
Frontal aslant tract & speech planning
Compare lateral and medial frontal anatomy, then use task-specific observations to reason about speech impairment.
06Regional anatomy · 7 relationships, about 16 minutes
Corpus callosum & the interhemispheric corridor
Read the corpus callosum as a relationship set, then use its segmental topography to frame medial frontal, deep white matter and visual transfer questions.
07Regional anatomy · 5 relationships, about 12 minutes
Optic radiation & the temporal stem
Follow the geniculocalcarine relationship, compare temporal-stem neighbours and reason about a contralateral visual-field deficit.
08Regional anatomy · 6 relationships, about 14 minutes
Ventral stream & the temporal stem
Orient the uncinate fasciculus, compare neighbouring ventral pathways and read the temporal stem as a corridor linking anterior temporal, insular and mesial temporal anatomy.
09Regional anatomy · 5 relationships, about 12 minutes
Insula, central core & interoception
Orient the buried insular surface and its deep neighbours before considering a proposed interoceptive framework.
10Regional anatomy · 7 relationships, about 16 minutes
Brainstem & cranial nerve corridors
Read the brainstem through long tracts, cerebellar peduncles and cranial nerve exits while keeping surface relationships separate from operative instructions.
11Network lectures · 6 relationships, about 18 minutes
Attention networks · orienting, reorienting & neglect
Follow dorsal and ventral frontoparietal systems, compare their white matter, and build a network account of a spatial deficit.
12Network lectures · 7 relationships, about 22 minutes
Language networks · dorsal, ventral & frontal pathways
Move beyond two cortical centres: compare speech-sound mapping, meaning, visual input and phrase planning across cortical and white-matter relationships.
13Network lectures · 6 relationships, about 18 minutes
Default mode network · hubs, subsystems & connections
Orient medial and lateral default-network territories, compare cingulum and medial-temporal relationships, and interpret internal cognition without a “resting brain” shortcut.
14Network lectures · 6 relationships, about 18 minutes
Salience network · insula, cingulate & switching
Connect frontoinsular and cingulate anatomy to salience and control, while separating overlapping network definitions and their clinical questions.