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The cranium, or top part of the human skull, is really a large, solid, relatively shockproof brain case manufactured from eight chapters of bone that meld after birth into a single unit, and these connections are called sutures. The structure itself is named the cranial vault. A cranium without facial bones is named the calvarium. At about eight millimeters, or one-quarter inch thick, the cranium is solid enough to avoid mental performance from shifting in every but the most forceful impacts. In all, a human skull contains 22 skull bones which form the vault, and also other, smaller cavities for the eyes, internal ear, nose and mouth. Enhance this 14 facial bones, which determine the size, shape and configuration of the face, and the human skull is really a complex meld of form following function, in which evolution has reduced how big is the mandible, or jaw bone, the supraorbital process (the eyebrow area), the zygomatic area and the thickness of the nasal bone. Or even, we might look like early hominids. The skull also contains several areas like processes (which hold muscles and ligaments), foramina (openings for nerves and bloodstream) and sinuses, or empty spaces that make the skull light enough the human spine can support it. Fissures, or lines, are simply areas where two bones have joined. Anatomical types of skulls vary from a simple model – bisected at the axial plane showing the calvarium with a removable mandible, or lower jaw to eight-part models showing mental performance and detailed representations of the processes, foramina, sutures and fissures. The neurovascular skull, an adult-sized model, is another tripartite model (calvarium, skull, mandible) with the seven cervical vertebrae attached. Attached to a stand, the inside and outside of the model depict the arteries (in red, on the left) and the 12 cranial nerves (in yellow, on the right), including their branches. A transparent, tripartite skull is an excellent teaching tool, showing the internal workings of the skull while they could be seen on a CT scan, for instance. The fetal skull clearly demonstrates the various plates that later join to form the cranial vault and facial bones, allowing physicians and surgeons to demonstrate the cephalohematomas which sometimes occur at birth and may cause brain damage if they cannot dissipate or are removed via surgical procedures. The superior teaching model, however, is really a didactic skull. Using 19 different colors to tell apart the various skull and facial bones, this anatomical model displays all seven cervical vertebrae (C1, C2 and C7 in color) as well as shows the rhombencephalon, or hindbrain, back, nerves likely to the cervical spine, all the vertebral arteries (like the rear) and their confluence in the basilar artery, in addition to all fissures, foramina, processes and sutures. Stand-mounted and manufactured from unbreakable plastic, this model is vital teaching equipment in medical schools, hospitals, neurosurgeons offices and clinics treating brain and skull injuries and defects. Also available are pathological skull models which demonstrate conditions like microcephaly (an abnormally small skull), hydrocephaly (excess spinal fluid that puts pressure on the brain), cleft jaws or palates, and tempromandibular joint syndrome, a dysfunctional, often stress-related alignment of the jaw bone that may cause extreme ear, jaw, tooth and constant headaches.