Basic Brain Anatomy and Localisation of Function Flashcards

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1
Q

NERVOUS SYSTEM STRUCTURE

A

CENTRAL NERVOUS SYSTEM (CNS)
- spinal cord
- brain (brain stem; cerebral hemispheres (cortex/sub-cortical structures/white-matter tracts)
PERIPHERAL NERVOUS SYSTEM (PNS)
- somatic nervous system
- autonomic nervous system (sympathetic/parasympathetic nervous systems)

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2
Q

NSS DEVELOPMENT

A
  • begins developing at 2 weeks
  • starts as small cell group that slowly thickens
  • differentiates into forebrain/midbrain/hindbrain
  • folds over itself
  • forebrain -> cortex; midbrain -> thalamus close to brainstem at centre; hindbrain -> cerebellum
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3
Q

FUNCTIONAL CEREBRAL CORTEX AREAS

A
  • visual area (sight/image recognition/perception)
  • association area (STM/equilibrium/emotion)
  • motor function area (initiation of voluntary muscles; eye movement/orientation)
  • Broca’s area (speech muscles)
  • auditory area (hearing)
  • emotional area (pain/hunger/fight VS flight)
  • sensory association area
  • olfactory area (smelling)
  • sensory area (muscle/skin sensation)
  • somatosensory association area (weight/texture/temp evaluation ie. object recognition)
  • Wernicke’s area (written/spoken language comprehension)
  • higher mental functions (concentration/planning/judgement/emotional expression/creativity/inhibition)
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4
Q

FUNCTIONAL CEREBELLUM AREAS

A
  • motor function (movement coordination; balance/equilibrium; posture)
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5
Q

RIGHT CEREBRAL HEMISPHERE

A

CORPUS CALLOSUM
- white matter tracts (numerous axons) connecting the 2 hemispheres
BRAIN STEM

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6
Q

CORTEX/SULCI/GYRI

A
CORTEX 
- outer brain grey matter; white matter (long elongated nerve cells-axons) underneath
- made of bodies of nerve cells-neurons
GYRI
- plateau on cortical surface 
SULCI
- fold/ditch in cortical surface
- major sulci often referred to as fissures
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7
Q

CORTICAL GREY/WHITE MATTER

A
  • body/soma of neuron w/dendrites = grey matter

- axon (covered in protective myelin) of neuron = white matter; bright via hue of myelin

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8
Q

CORPUS CALLOSUM

A
  • white matter tracts (numerous axons) connecting the hemispheres
  • intercallosal transfer = electrical impulses that travel from neurons in one hemisphere to neurons in the other via corpus callosum
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9
Q

MAJOR SULCI/FISSURES

A

SYLVIAN/LATERAL FISSURE
PARIETO-OCCIPITAL SULCUS
CENTRAL SULCUS/FISSURE OF ROLANDO

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10
Q

THE LOBES

A

FRONTAL
PARIETAL
OCCIPITAL
TEMPORAL

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11
Q

MAJOR GYRI

A
SUPERIOR FRONTAL/TEMPORAL
MIDDLE FRONTAL/TEMPORAL
INFERIOR FRONTAL/TEMPORAL
PRECENTRAL 
POSTCENTRAL
SUPRAMARGINAL
ANGULAR
LATERAL OCCIPITAL
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12
Q

CYTOARCHITECTURE

A

BRODMANN (1868-1918)
- cortical regions vary in the detailed cellular structure (neuron types)/arrangement (layers/density)
- used as criterion; cortex divided into areas; many turned out to serve specific functions (ie. primary visual/auditory cortices/primary motor cortex):
PARIETAL CORTEX
STRIATE CORTEX
MOTOR CORTEX

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13
Q

COORDINATES/ORIENTATIONS

A
ANTERIOR (ROSTRAL)
SUPERIOR (DORSAL)
POSTERIOR (CAUDAL)
INFERIOR (VENTRAL)
LATERAL (L/R)
MEDIAL SUPERIOR/INFERIOR
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14
Q

SLICES

A
AXIAL
- from the top
CORONAL
- from the back
SAGITTAL 
- from the side
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15
Q

ARE FUNCTIONS LOCALISED?

A
  • early thinkers like phrenology movement; thought function = highly localised
  • 19th century animal exps showed that basic physiological regulation functions (breathing/circulation) = localised in brain stem; balance control = cerebellum
  • BUT couldn’t localise cog functions; concluded that different brain parts may be equally involved regarding these functions
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16
Q

BASIC PROCESSES

A
  • physiological/metabolic processes controlled via neuron groups in brainstem/thalamus/hypothalamus
  • include: respiration/digestion/glucose metabolism/arousal/body temp regulation/blood pressure/swallowing/coughing/sneezing/vomiting/circadian rhythms
17
Q

CONTROL OF BASIC PHYSIOLOGY

A
  • specific neuron groups include:
    RETICULAR FORMATION
  • complex cell network in brainstem core involved in arousal/sleep control
    SUPRACHIASMATIC NUCLEUS (HYPOTHALAMUS)
  • controls circadian (24h) biological rhythms
    VENTROMEDIAL NUCLEUS (HYPOTHALAMUS)
  • controls conversion of blood glucose to body fat
18
Q

RAS (RETICULAR ACTIVATING SYSTEM)

A
  • determines level of alertness
19
Q

PERCEPTION HIERARCHICAL ORGANISATION

A
  • primary visual/auditory/sensory-motor areas = cortical areas where sensory info arrives (via relay nuclei in brainstem; mostly thalamus) ->
  • secondary sensory areas = more sophisticated processing ->
  • association areas = info from dif modalities/types is integrated
  • thalamic nuclei = relays for sensory info
20
Q

VISUAL PERCEPTION HIERARCHICAL ORGANISATION

A
  • visual processing segregated into:
    WHAT PATH
  • specialised in analysis of stimulus features (colour/shape)
    WHERE PATH
  • specialised in rapid detection of stimulus location/motion
21
Q

MOTOR CONTROL HIERARCHICAL ORGANISATION

A
  • control of movement
  • primary motor cortex = exerts direct movement control
  • premotor/supplementary motor = involved in movement planning/motor beh integration w/others
  • basal ganglia (sub-cortical)/cerebellum/substantia nigra (brainstem/cell groups) = involved in fine-grained coordination/movement timing
22
Q

MOTOR AREAS (BRODMANN 4/6/8)

A
AREA 5/7
- posterior parietal cortex 
AREA 4
- M1/primary area
AREA 6
- SMA/PMC
AREA 8 
- secondary areas/SMA
23
Q

BASAL GANGLIA & CEREBELLUM

A
BASAL GANGLIA 
- caudate nucleus (striatum)
- putamen (striatum)
- globus pallidus
- subthalamic nucleus
- substantia nigra
CEREBELLUM
- cerebrum
- spinal cord
- deep cerebellar nuclei
24
Q

CORTICAL HOMUNCULUS

A

MOTOR CORTEX
- swallowing/tongue/jaw/lips/face/eye/brow/neck
- fingers/thumb/hand/wrist/elbow/arm/shoulder
- trunk/hip/knee/ankle/toes
SOMATOSENSORY CORTEX
- tongue/jaw/teeth/gums/lips/face/nose/eye/head
- thumb/fingers/hand/arm/shoulder/neck
- trunk/hip/knee/leg/foot/toes/genitals

25
Q

FUNCTIONAL LOCALISATION CHALLENGES

A
  • dlPFC (dorso-lateral prefrontal cortex) = brain region; expanded ^ than any in primate evolution course
  • BUT patients w/dlPFC lesions rarely show selective/specific deficits; clearly important
  • earlier examples say function localisation = quite straightforward; question of time before specialisation of all areas revealed… WRONG!
26
Q

LATERAL FRONTAL CORTEX

A
  • seems home of “internally driven action” which comes in various forms (ie. movement/speaking/WM)
  • does so in close cooperation w/rest of brain (ie. superior parietal lobes)
27
Q

BROCA’S AREA

A

POLDRACK (2006)

  • active in 10% brain imaging studies not involving linguistic tasks
  • evidence that essential for speech production, SO:
    1. BA not specialised in specific function but active in various tasks
    2. only smaller region in BA specialised in speech production (exact location may vary individually) BUT other parts aren’t language specialised
28
Q

BA FMRI

A

FEDORENCO et al (2012)

  • BA contains language area surrounded by areas involved in wide task variety
  • BA = specific function/general combo
29
Q

GENERAL PRINCIPLES

A
  • basic physiological process control = old brainstem structures
  • a potential reason little “brain-space” dedicated to vital functions = they’re hard-wired/not subject to plasticity (ie. learning)
  • high cog functions supported by cortical/sub-cortical structures
  • cortical representations show hierarchical organisation w/increasingly abstract stimulus representation levels (via primary -> secondary sensory areas -> sensory/motor cortice association areas)
  • primary sensory/motor regions occupy small cortex area compared to secondary/association areas probs as ^ complex/flexible (task/goal relevant) processing = performed via secondary/association areas
30
Q

IS THERE EVEN LOCALISATION OF FUNCTION?

A
  • some processes show clear/specific localisation; some regions clearly specialised (ie. primary sensory/motor areas)/^ essential for processes than others (ie. V1 = seeing)
  • high cog (ie. attention/language/reasoning) localised to degree BUT more distributed/variable (since consisting of multiple more elementary processes)
  • challenge of identifying elementary constituent processes; imaging techniques/analyses = coarse (ie. Broca’s area)
  • big multiple demand (gen purpose) brain regions exist
31
Q

MULTIPLE DEMAND BRAIN REGIONS

A
  • fornix
  • anterior commissure/thalamic radiations
  • uncinate
  • cingulum dorsal/ventral
  • SFI/II/III
  • cortico-spinal/pontine tracts
  • fronto-striatal projections
  • arcuate long/posterior segment
  • optic radiations
  • frontal aslant tract
  • frontal-marginal/orbito-polar tract
  • inferior/superior frontal-occipital/longitudinal fasciculus