The nervous system is organized from a regional perspective and from a functional perspective.
By knowing regional anatomy together with the functions of particular brain structures, the clinician can determine the location of nervous system damage in a patient who has a particular neurological impairment and, in many cases, a psychiatric impairment.
In contrast, functional anatomy examines those parts of the nervous system that work together to accomplish a particular task, for example, visual perception. Functional systems are formed by specific neural connections within and between regions of the nervous system; connections that form complex neural circuits. A goal of functional neuroanatomy is to develop an understanding of the neural circuitry underlying behavior.
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