2.1 - Understanding The Human Brain Flashcards
Approaches To Understanding The Brain
What is the role of the human brain?
the human brain sends and receives messages through the nervous system via neural pathways.
- information is electrochemically exchanged.
- OUTER LAYER - cerebral cortex
What is the brain vs heart debate?
historical debate on whether the brain or the heart is responsible for all mental processes (thoughts, feelings, behaviours).
What is the mind-body problem?
the mind-body problem involves the question of whether our mind or body are separate entities or whether they are together as one.
What is phrenology?
the study of the shape and size of the human skull to determine personality and mental functioning.
What are the first brain experiments?
ablation - removed small bits of tissue around cortex: resulting in loss of movement.
electrical stimulation of the brain - worked on treatments for epilepsy, found that different parts of the brain control opposite sides of the body.
split-brain experiments - cuts main band of brain tissue (corpus callosum) connecting the two hemispheres. found that doing so either partically or completely reduced the incidence and severity of epileptic seizures.
What are the types of neuroimagery?
(CT and PET ONLY)
structural -
CT scan : contrasts the blood vessels in the brain through an injection, and uses x-rays to get images of the brain, to identify brain abnormalities.
- MRI -
functional -
PET scan : records brain activity through the use of radioactive tracer injected into the bloodstream.
- FMRI -
Define and distinguish between MRI and FMRI:
MRI - generates computer images of individuals brain, completed through harmless magnetic fields, and used to diagnose structural abnormalities in the brain. STRUCTURAL
(compared to…)
FMRI - based off of the standard MRI, it measures the subtle changes in an individuals blood-oxygen levels in the functioning brain. FUNCTIONAL
What are the nervous systems?
(CNS) Central Nervous System - receives, processes and responds to sensory input to and from the peripheral NS.
> inc. the brain and the spinal cord.
(PNS) Peripheral Nervous System - all nerves outside the central NS. responsible for transmitting info to and from CNS.
> inc. somatic NS and autonomic NS.
What are the types of peripheral nervous system? (PNS)
somatic - responsible for voluntary movements that occurred through the types of neurons: sensory (afferent) neurons and motor (efferent) neurons.
autonomic - initiates involuntary/unconscious responses.
O.M.G : organs, muscles (visceral), glands)
What is a neuron?
type of cell in your body that transmits information, sending signals to different parts of your body. e.g brain, spinal cord, other nerves.
Parts of a neuron:
dendrites - detect and receive information from the brain.
soma - activates neural messages to be sent along the axon.
axon - transmits information from soma to other neurons.
myelin - protects axon from electrical activity of nearby axons and speeds up neural transmission.
axon terminal - allows transmission of messages between neurons.
What is the neural transmission?
The axon terminals of the presynaptic neurons hold the neurotransmitters as they send a message by releasing presynaptic neurons out of the axon terminal, then travelling across the synaptic gap, followed by the receptor sites of the post-synaptic neuron receiving the message, before the neurotransmitters go into the dendrites connecting to the post-synaptic neuron.
What is S.A.M.E?
Sensory (afferent) - carry sensory information from the PNS to the CNS.
Motor (efferent) - carry messages away from the CNS to the organs, muscles, and glands which allows body movement.
What is the hindbrain?
controls or influences various motor functions and vital, automatic responses such as breathing, heart rate, sleep and arousal.
What is the midbrain?
a collection of structures involved with movement, processing of visual, auditory and tactile sensory information, sleep and arousal.
What is the forebrain?
largest and most prominent part of brain. it regulates complex cognitive processes such as thinking, learning, memory and perception as well as various aspects of emotion and personality.
What are the four lobes of the brain?
Frontal - responsible for complex mental abilities and controls voluntary movements. eg. reasoning, planning, problem solving and symbolic thinking. INCLUDES PREMOTOR CORTEX, PRIMARY MOTOR CORTEX, BROCAS AREA.
Parietal - receives and processes information from the body. eg. touch, temperature (feeling), bodys position.
INCLUDES PRIMARY SOMATOSENSORY CORTEX.
Occipital - responsible for processing visual information from the environment. INCLUDES PRIMARY VISUAL CORTEX.
Temporal - INCLUDES PRIMARY AUDITORY CORTEX. : receives and processes information from both ears to process frequency and amplitude of sound.
What is neuroplasticity?
the ability of the brain to change in response to experience or environmental stimulation.
inc. developmental plasticity and adaptive plasticity.
What are the types of brain injury?
sudden onset - single point in time, eg. hit to the head.
insidious onset - over a long period of time eg. repeated drug or alcohol use.
What is brain trauma?
refers to damage done to the brain caused by an external force. eg. falling, hitting head, car accidents.
Biopsychosocial interplay :
biological - eg. limited motor control
psychological - changes involving emotion, personality. eg. aggression, depression.
social - eg. reduced employment, broken relationships, social isolation.
How does contemporary research contribute to understanding of neurological disorders?
research can be bettered through replication of studies, and plays an important role in understanding.
Parkinsons disease
progressive disease of nervous system characterised by motor symptoms. eg. tremor (body shaking), postural instabilty. as well as non motor symptoms. eg. fatigue, mental health problems, anosmia (loss of smell).
CTE
progressive and fatal brain disease which is associated with repeated head injuries and concussions. it is a neurodegenerative disorder through traumatic brain injuries.
