Anatomy And Histology Flashcards
What is the order of the sublayers in the meninges from brain to skull
Pia, arachnoid and dura
What part of the brain is the most rostral
Frontal lobe (rostral means closer to the nose and eyes)
What part of the brain is most caudal
Occipital lobe (caudal means the back of the head)
What orientation is dorsal on the brain and in the spine
Dorsal is the top of the brain (ventral is the bottom)
Dorsal is the back of your spine (the bit closest to your back) ventral is the front
What is a sulcus and what is a gyrus
A sulcus is a dip in the folds of the brain and a gyrus is a peak in the folds of the brain
Where is the parietal lobe of the brain and what is it responsible for
The parietal is at the dorsal (top) of the brain directly behind the frontal lobe and is responsible for motor control, balance and other physical controls
What 3 things make up the hind brain
Medulla
Cerebellum
Pons
How many ventricles are there in the brain and what do they allow to happen
- Left and right lateral ventricles, third and fourth ventricles
They allow cerebrospinal fluid to enter the brain itself
What are the 3 stages of neurulation in embryos
- Formation of the neural plate
- Formation of the neural folds and neural groove
- Closing of neural folds to form the neural tube
What does the neural tube become later in the development of the brain
Caudal section of the brain and the rostral section of the spinal cord
What type of cells eventually give rise to the peripheral nervous system
Neural crest cells
What does the lumen of the neural tube eventually form
The ventricles in the brain
What proteins are produced by the dorsal and ventral regions of the brain in its development
Dorsal = bone morphogenic protein
Ventral = sonic the hedgehog protein
How are nerve cells pruned after there formation
Competition for nerve growth factor and other brain derived neurotropic factors that are released from postsynaptic neurone (without enough of these molecules the cells die)
Give 3 features of inotropic receptors
- Usually made of 3/5 subunits
- Allows ions to directly move into the cell
- Very rapid response due to immediate depolarisation
Give 3 features of metabotropic receptors
- Indirectly associated with ions (secondary messenger model)
- Usually made up of 7 transmembrane domains
- Can be excitatory or inhibitory
What are the 4 primary classes of neurotransmitter
- Non-essential amino acids
- Amines
- Purines
- Neuropeptides
What is the most common excitatory neurotransmitter in the brain
Glutamate
It can have inotropic or metabotropic receptors
What is the most common neurotransmitter in the spinal cord and brain stem
Glycine and this usually triggers inotropic receptors
What are the 2 main types of acetylcholine receptors
Nicotine
Muscarinic
What 4 main roles does dopamine have and what are the names of their pathways
- Mesolimbic pathway = rewards
- Mesocortical pathway = executive functions (things you choose to do)
- Nigrostriatal pathway = movement
- Tuberoinfundibular pathway = secretion of milk post birth of child
What can electrophysiology be used for
Testing the effectiveness of drugs on nerve speed
What does a patch clamp allow us to measure
The activity of a single ion channel protein
What do extracellular EEGs do
They measure synaptic potentials of neurons from small areas in the cerebral cortex
