(1) Formation of the neural plate,

(2) Folding of the plate to form the neural tube.

(3) Bulging and bending of the tube to form a curved

configuration of five brain vesicles attached to a straight
tubular spinal cord.
The neural plate, from which the nervous
system develops, is formed by a thickening of
the ectoderm during the third week of
gestation in humans.

Through a process called neural induction,

Growth of the neural plate is accelerated along its
lateral edges,

causing the edges to curve toward each other,

eventually fuse, and form an open neural tube
with both cranial and caudal openings called
neuropores.

Closure of both neuropores is normally complete

by the fourth week.
Preferential growth at three nodes along the cranial
portion of the sealed neural tube causes intermittent
bulging of tissue, formation of three brain vesicles

Prosencephalon

Mesencephalon and

Rhombencephalon
Subsequent growth and division of the three vesicles
leads to the formation of five major brain regions:

(1) Telencephalon,

(2) Diencephalon

(regions 1 and 2 are collectively called the forebrain),

(3) Mesencephalon (midbrain),

(4) Metencephalon (pons and the overlying cerebellum),

(5) Myelencephalon (medulla).

The spinal cord retains its original
configuration as a relatively uniform tubular
structure with the generation of slight
enlargements at cervical and lumbar
levels.
The closed lumen of the neural tube is altered
in shape as a result of enlargement of the three
brain vesicles, particularly the telencephalon.

As the cerebral hemispheres of the

telencephalon increase in size, two lateral
expansions of the lumen form the first and
second (lateral ) ventricles, connected to each
other and to the third ventricle by a thin, Y-
shaped midline channel called the foramen of
Monro.
Tissue surrounding the lateral ventricles develops
into:

(1) primary motor and sensory cortex, which provides

conscious motor control and sensory perception;

(2) limbic structures, which establish mood and

emotion; and

(3) basal ganglia, which contain relay nuclei for motor

pathways.
Two structures develop from the diencephalon and
surround the third ventricle:

The Thalamus, which contains sensory relay

nuclei,and

The Hypothalamus,
which provides neurohormones controlling
reproductive and other behaviors
.A narrow cerebral aqueduct extends rostrally from the
third ventricle through brain stem structures (midbrain,
pons, and medulla), areas that contain ascending,
descending, and reflex pathways for motor and sensory
circuits, as well as nuclei controlling vegetative
functions.

The fourth ventricle emerges from the cerebral aqueduct

and is flattened between the caudal portion of the brain
stem and the overlying cerebellum, an area involved in
fine motor control.
The peripheral nervous system arises from neural crest
cells located along the lateral edges of the neural plate .

These cells bud off and become separated from the

neural tube as it forms.

Some groups of neural crest cells migrate to form a

linear array of dorsal root ganglia located adjacent to the
lateral borders of the spinal cord. These cells function as
sensory neurons.
 Other groups of neural crest cells migrate to equivalent
positions along the medulla and pons, where they form
sensory ganglia associated with the cranial nerves, and
still other groups form motor ganglia associated with
both sympathetic and parasympathetic components of
the autonomic nervous system.
At the spinal level of the sensory axis, somatosensory
cell bodies reside in dorsal root ganglia, and their fibers
exit through spinal nerves to innervate skin and skeletal
muscles of the body.

Through projections of the cranial nerves, sensory cell

bodies residing in cranial nerve ganglia innervate
analogous structures in the head and neck region plus
organs of the special senses of vision, taste, hearing,
balance, and smell. The only areas not innervated by
sensory fibers are bone and nervous tissue itself.
After entering appropriate regions of the spinal cord
or brain stem, proximal sensory fibers are classified
as sensory tracts,

Many sensory tracts cross the midbrain of the neural

axis and project to the contralateral cerebral
hemisphere.
The output or motor axis of the nervous system
has two major divisions:

One is involved in conscious control of skeletal muscle

contraction and involves the corticospinal tract;

The other operates subconsciously either through

basic motor reflexes of skeletal muscle orchestrated by
subcortical motor areas such as the cerebellum,
basal ganglia, and brain stem nuclei, or through
autonomic nervous system control of smooth muscle.