Neurocranium Resistance Structures

Neurocranium resistance structures
 Calvaria has a structural homogeneity until the cranial base.

- It is heterogenically composed by the alternation of compact and spongy bone
layers, made by apertures, cavities, canals, sutures which all of them are
increasing the resistance and elasticity of the skull.
- Other structures that contribute to that are the epicranial aponeurosis (galea
aponeurotica) and dura mater with its falx cerebri, tentorium cerebelli and falx
cerebelli [2].
 The architecture of the nerocranium is strictly linked to the organs it contains.
 Neurocranium bones are mostly flattened and strongly curved.
 The brain exerts a great expansion pressure on the skull during its development,
which gives it (the brain) an important role in the ossification process (the design of
the skull).
Resistance arches
- On the calvaria there are 3 arches:
 medio-sagittal arch- passes through crista galli, the frontal crest, the sagittal
suture, the occipital protuberance and through the occipital crest.
 2 latero-sagittal arches (right and left) – starts from the zygomatic bone,
follows the temporal line of the frontal, the interior temporal line of the
parietal and ends at the mastoid resistance node using the zygomatic arch.
 Base of the skull => contains 3 openings along the medio-sagittal arch:
 Foramen magnum
 Pituitary fossa
 2 ½ of the cribriform plate.
C.S. - Resistance arches of the vault/calvaria are consolidated by sutures. Most of those
sutures are serrated. Thus, the greater sphenoid wing and the temporal squama with their
borders, lower the damage to the internal compact layer, hindering the lateral shifting of
the frontal and parietal bones.
Resistance beams = transverse, functional resistance structures of cranial base:

- Frontal beam/ fronto-ethmoidal beam, uneven and sagittal, situated between
frontal pillar and the sphenoidal body, along the crista galli, in a sagittal
direction; it unites at the frontal node between the 2 supraorbital notches.
- Spheno-frontal/ Spheno-zygomatic beams (right and left), each of them with a
principal and accessory part, obliquely laterally and anterior oriented, situated
between the sphenoidal body and zygomatic pillar along the lesser sphenoidal
wing and spheno-frontal suture.
- Temporal beams (right and left), obliquely, posterior and laterally situated
between the sphenoidal body and the mastoid resistance node; the 2 petrosal
portions of the temporal bone spread the pressure towards the anterior and
posterior sutural arches (see pictures).
- Occipital beam starts from the sphenoid body in two parallel lines, which follow
the borders of the occipital basilar process. Next to the foramen magnum, each
arm is divided into three:
 a medial branch which turns around the foramen magnum to form a
resistance circle with the opposite side;
 a middle branch for the condyle pillar;
 and a lateral branch for the resistance mastoid node.
 C.S.: these branches form a great resistance circle what surrounds the
foramen magnum.
C.S.: Fractures appear between the resistance functional structures. The fracture lines at
the level of the calvaria, situated between the resistance arches, affect the internal compact
layer first.
Resistance nodes
- Resistance nodes mark the intersection of arches and beams of the cranial base
as well as those of the functional resistance structures of the visceral and neural
cranium.
- Resistance nodes: the frontal, occipital and two paired knots: zygomatic and
mastoid (right and left).
- The frontal node is situated at the glabella and nasal part of the frontal, at the
meeting of mediosagittal arch (which starts here) anterior transversal arch
(which is crossing it), fronto-ethmoidal beam (which lies between the frontal
pillar and the sphenoidal body).
- The occipital node - corresponds to the occipital protuberance and represents
the end of the medio-sagittal arch and the occipital beam, crossed by the
posterior transverse arch.
- The zygomatic node - corresponds to the zygomatic bones. The anterior
transverse arch lays between the two zygomatic pillars, the anterior sutural arch
sends its extremities towards them and the latero-sagittal arches start and end at
them.
- The mastoid node - consists of the mastoid part of temporal bone. Temporal
beams, lateral branches of the occipital beams and extremities of posterior
sutural arches are all coming to the mastoid pillar and also latero-sagittal arches
are passing through them. The posterior transverse arch is lying between the two
mastoid pillars.
Central resistance structure of the skull

- It is represented by a functional complex made by the sphenoidal body, the
basilar process of the occipital and the resistance circle around the foramen
magnum.

Neurocranium Resistance Structures

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Neurocranium resistance structures

 Calvaria has a structural homogeneity until the cranial base.

Resistance beams = transverse, functional resistance structures of cranial base:

Central resistance structure of the skull

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