ARTERIAL SUPPLY OF THE CEREBRAL CORTEX IN CATTLE (Bos primigenius f. dom.)

Abstract

Studies of the vascularization of the cerebrum in cattle were performed on 60 cerebral hemispheres received from a meat-processing plant in Bydgoszcz, Poland. The sex of the cattle was not determined. It was found that the middle cerebral artery is the strongest vessel supplying blood to the cerebrum. The artery is divided into ten permanent branches. Two olfactory arteries supply the region of the cerebrum located on the border between the old and the new cortex. The other eight are divided into three branches heading towards the frontal lobe of the brain, two branches heading towards parietal lobe, and three temporal branches heading towards the temporal lobe, that supply the region of the new cortex. The frontal, parietal and temporal branches descended independently from the main trunk of the middle cerebral artery or formed a common trunk. Common trunks for the respective groups of branches have been described as the rostral, dorsal and caudal middle cerebral arteries. The present research show that the division of the middle cerebral artery into the same branches or their groups observed in cattle, like in the other mammalian species investigated thus far, is a result of genetic limitations.