ABSTRACT
The central nervous system consists of the brain and spinal cord. The Broca's and Carl Wernicke's areas are important brain regions also supplied by the middle cerebral artery. A stroke lesion would lead to contralateral weakness at the relevant site. The chapter provides a good basic grounding in neuroanatomy and the clinical manifestations of the numerous stroke syndromes. Occipital stroke patients with the intriguing but rare Anton-Babinski syndrome are found to be objectively blind but deny visual loss and confabulate in order to support their stance. The exact ensuing clinical syndrome depends on the location of the spinal cord lesion and results from destruction at segmental level on a par with the interruption of the ascending and descending tracts, whether sensory or motor. A hemilesion is a somewhat interesting entity, historically known as Brown-Sequard syndrome, manifesting with ipsilateral loss of proprioception and upper motor neuron signs associated with contralateral loss of pain and temperature.
