Brain Damage & Neuroplasticity Flashcards
1
Q
What is a 3-per-second spike-and-wave discharge?
A
the characteristic EEG pattern of the absence seizure
2
Q
What is an absence seizure?
A
a type of generalised seizure whose primary behaviour symptom is a disruption of consciousness associated with a cessation of ongoing behaviour, a vacant look, and sometimes fluttering eyelids
3
Q
What is Alzhiemer’s disease?
A
the most common form of dementia in the elderly. It’s three defining characteristics are: neurofibrillary tangles, amyloid plaques, and neuron loss
4
Q
What is an aneurysm?
A
a pathological balloonlike dilation that forms in the wall of an artery at a point where the elasticity of the artery wall is defective
5
Q
What is anteriosclerosis?
A
the thickening and hardening of the walls of the arteries, occurring typically in old age.
6
Q
What is anterograde degeneration?
A
the degeneration of the distal segment of a cut axon
7
Q
What is apoptosis?
A
cell death that is actively induced by genetic programs; programmed cell death
8
Q
What is ataxia?
A
a loss of motor coordination
9
Q
What are benign tumours?
A
tumours that are surgically removable with little risk of further growth in the body
10
Q
What is beta-amyloid?
A
a protein that is present in normal brains in small amounts. Beta amyloid is a major constituent of the amyloid plaques of Alzheimer’s disease
11
Q
What is a cerebral hemorrhage?
A
bleeding in the brain
12
Q
What is a cerebral ischemia?
A
an interruption of the blood supply to an area of the brain
13
Q
What is chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE)?
A
the dementia and cerebral scarring observed in boxers, rugby players, American football players, and other individuals who have experienced repeated concussive, or even subconcussive, blows to the head
14
Q
What is collateral sprouting?
A
the growth of axon branches from mature neurons, usually to postsynaptic sites abandoned by adjacent axons that have degenerated
15
Q
What are complex partial seizures?
A
seizures that are characterised by various complex psychological phenomena and are thought to originate in the temporal lobes
16
Q
What is concussion?
A
disturbance of consciousness following a blow to the head with no evidence of contusion or other structural damage
17
Q
What does congenital mean?
A
present at birth
18
Q
What are contrecoup injuries?
A
contusions that occur on the side of the brain opposite to the side of a blow
19
Q
What are contusions?
A
closed-head injuries that involve damage to the cerebral circulatory system, which produces internal haemorrhaging
20
Q
What are convulsions?
A
motor seizures
21
Q
What is deep-brain stimulation?
A
a treatment in which low intensity electrical stimulation is continually applied to an area of the brain through an implanted electrode
22
Q
What is dementia?
A
general intellectual deterioration
23
Q
What is a distal segment?
A
the segment of a cut axon between the cut and the axon terminals
24
Q
What is down syndrome?
A
a disorder associated with the presence of an extra chromosome 21, resulting in disfigurement and intellectual impairment
25
What is an embolism?
the blockage of blood flow in a smaller blood vessel by a plug that was formed in a larger blood vessel and carried by the bloodstream into a smaller one
26
What are encapsulated tumours?
tumours that grow within their own membrane
27
What is encephalitis?
the inflammation associated with brain infection
28
What are enriched environments?
laboratory environments designed to promote cognitive and physical activity by providing opportunities for a greater variety of sensory and motor experiences than available in conventional laboratory environments; commonly used to study the effects of experience of the development of rats and mice
29
What is epidemiology?
the study of the factors that influence the distribution of a disease in the general population
30
What is epilepsy?
a neurological disorder characterised by spontaneously recurring seizures
31
What are epileptic auras?
psychological changes that preced the onset of a seizure
32
What is epileptogenesis?
development of epilepsy
33
What is a focal seizure?
a seizure that does not involve the entire brain
34
What is general paresis?
the mental illness and dementia resulting from a syphilitic infection
35
What are generalised seizures?
seizures involving the entire brain
36
What are gliomas?
brain tumours that develop from glial cells
37
What is glutamate?
the most prevalent excitatory neurotransmitter in the CNS
38
What is a hematoma?
a localised collection of clotted blood in an organ or tissue; a bruise
39
What is huntingtin?
dominant gene that is mutated in cases of Huntington's disease
40
What is huntingtin protein?
protein whose synthesis is controlled by the huntingtin gene and is thus abnormal in individuals with Huntington's disease
41
What is Huntington's diesae?
a progressive terminal disorder of motor and intellectual function that is produced in adulthood by a dominant gene
42
What is hypoxia?
shortage of oxygen supply to tissue - for example, to the brain
43
What are infiltrating tumours?
tumours that grow diffusely through surrounding tissue
44
What is the kindling phenomenon?
the progressive development and intensification of convulsions elicited by a series of periodic low-intensity brain stimulations - most commonly by daily electrical stimulations to the amygdala
45
What is L-DOPA?
the chemical precursor of dopamine, which is used in the treatment of Parkinson's disease
46
What are lewy bodies?
clumps of proteins that can be found in the surviving dopaminergic neurons of the substantia nigra of Parkinson's patients
47
What are malignant tumours?
tumours that are difficult to remove or destroy, and continue to grow after attempts to remove or destroy them
48
What are meningiomas?
tumours that grow between the meninges
49
What is meningitis?
inflammation of the meninges, usually caused by bacterial infection
50
What are metastatic tumours?
tumours that originate in one origin and spread to another
51
What are microbleeds?
small dot-like lesions found in the brains of some Alzheimer's patients that appear to be the result of microhemorrhages
52
What is MPTP?
a neurotoxin that produces a disorder in primates that is similar to Parkinson's disease
53
What is multiple sclerosis?
a progressive disease that attacks the myelin of axons in the CNS
54
What is neural regeneration?
the regrowth of damaged neurons
55
What is nigrostriatal pathway?
the pathway along which axons from neurons in the substantia nigra project into the striatum
56
What are NMDA (N-methyl-D-aspartate) receptors?
glutamate receptors that play key roles in the development of stroke-induced brain damage and long-term potentiation at glutaminergic synapses
57
What are oligodendroglia?
glial cells that myelinate CNS axons; also known as oligodendrocytes
58
What is Parkinson's disease?
a movement disorder that is associated with degeneration of dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra
59
What is the penumbra?
the dysfunctional area of brain tissue around an infarct. The tissue in the penumbra may recover of die in the days following a stroke
60
What is phantom limb?
the vivid perception that an amputated limb still exists
61
What is a proximal segment?
the segment of a cut axon between the cut and the cell body
62
What is retrograde degeneration?
degeneration of the proximal segment of a cut axon
63
What are Schwann cells?
the glial cells that compose the myelin sheaths of PNS axons and promote the regeneration of PNS axons
64
What are simple partial seizures?
focal seizures in which the symptoms are primarily sensory or motor or both
65
What is the striatum?
a structure of the basal ganglia that is the terminal of the dopaminergic nigrostriatal pathway
66
What are strokes?
sudden-onset cerebrovascular disorders that cause brain damage
67
What is the substantia nigra?
the midbrain nucleus whose neuron project via the nigrostriatal pathway to the striatum of the basal ganglia; it is part of the mesotelencephalic dopamine system
68
What is the subtalamic nucleus?
a nucleus that lies just below the thalamus and is connected to the basal ganglia; deep brain stimulation applied to this site has been used to treat Parkinson's disease
69
What is tardive dyskinesia (TD)?
a motor disorder that results from chronic use of certain antipsychotic drugs
70
What is thrombosis?
the blockage of blood flow by a plug (a thrombus) at the site of its formation
71
What is a tonic-clonic seizure?
a type of generalised seizure whose primary behavioural symptoms are loss of consciousness, loss of equillibrium, and a tonic-clonic convulsion - a convulsion involving both tonus and clonus
72
What is toxic psychosis?
a chronic psychiatric disorder produced by exposure to a neurotoxin
73
What does transgenic mean?
containing the genes of another species, which have been implanted there for research purposes
74
What is transneuronal degeneration?
degeneration of a neuron caused by damage to another neuron to which is linked by a synapse
75
What is a tumour (neoplasm)?
a mass of cells that grows independently of the rest of the body
76
What percentage of tumours found in the human brain are meningiomas?
20%
77
True or False:
| All meningiomas are encapsulated tumours
True
| This means they are almost always benign
78
True or False:
| Most brain tumours are encapsulated tumours
False
| Most brain tumours are infiltrating and hence malignant
79
What percentage of brain tumours do not originate from the brain?
10%
80
What are the common symptoms of stroke?
Amnesia, aphasia, paralysis and coma
81
What is the area of dead or dying tissue caused by a stroke called?
An infarct
82
What is the primary goal of treatment following stroke?
To save the penumbra
83
What are the two major types of strokes?
Cerebral hemorrhage
| Cerebral ischemia
84
What are common causes of cerebral hemorrhage?
Bursting an aneurysm
85
What are the three main causes of cerebral ischemia?
Thrombosis, Embolism and Arterioschlerosis
86
What are the two main properties of cerebral ischemia?
It takes a while to develop (a couple of days for cell death to occur)
Brain damage does not occur equally to all parts of the brain (hippocampal neurons are particularly susceptible)
87
What is the major factor in the development of contusions?
The hardness of the skull
88
The accumulation of what can lead to toxic psychosis?
Mercury and lead
89
What does clonus mean?
Tremors
90
What does tonus mean?
Rigidity
91
What causes epilepsy?
Any source of brain damage (viruses, neurotoxins, tumors, head injury etc.) and/or genetic predisposition
92
What are the two major categories of focal seizures?
Simple partial seizures
| Complex partial seizures
93
What parts of the brain are degenerated in Parkinson's patients?
Severe degeneration of the substantia nigra
94
What are the common symptoms of advanced multiple sclerosis?
Visual disturbances, muscular weakness, numbness, tremor and ataxia
95
Which parts of the brain are effected the most by neurofibrillary tangles, amyloid plaques and neuron loss in Alzheimer's patients?
Medial temporal lobe structures (entorhinal cortex, amygdala and hippocampus)
Inferior temporal cortex
Posterior parietal cortex
Prefrontal cortex
96
What is the pathogenic spread hypothesis?
A hypothesis that proposes that many common neurodegnerative diseases result from the presence of misfolded proteins that initiate a chain reaction wherein they cause other proteins to misfold
97
A _______ is a mass of cells the grows independently of the rest of the body
Tumor
98
Brain tumors that develop from glial cells are called _______
Gliomas
99
______ are sudden-onset cerebrovascular disorders that cause brain damage
Strokes
100
________ is a disruption of the blood supply to an area of the brain
Cerebral ischemia
101
________ is the brain's most prevalent excitatiry neurotransmitter
Glutamate
102
The dysfunction area surrounding the infract is called ______
Penumbra
103
When there is no evidence of a contusion or other structural damage but there is disturbance of consciousness, the diagnosis is _______
Concussion
104
_________ is usually defined as general intellectual deterioration
Dementia
105
Patients whose seizures are repeatedly generated by their own chronic brain dysfunction are diagnosed as _______
Epileptic
106
Shortage of oxygen supply to a tissue is called ______
Hypoxia
107
________, or loss of motor coordination, is a common symptom of multiple sclerosis
Ataxia
108
What are the interesting features of kindling?
The neuroplastic changes underlying kindling are permanent
| Kindling is produced by distributed, as opposed to massed, stimulations
109
Why does anterograde degeneration occur quickly?
Anterograde degeneration occurs quickly following axonomy because the cut separates the distal segment of the axon from the cell body, which is the metabolic center of the neuron
110
```
After the axon of a standard multipolar neuron is cut, the cell body sometimes degenerates. This is called __________ degeneration.
Select one:
a. anterograde
b. proximal
c. retrograde
d. transneuronal
e. distal
```
c. retrograde
111
```
Both thrombuses and emboluses are
Select one:
a. infarcts.
b. causes of arteriosclerosis.
c. tumors.
d. plugs that block blood flow.
e. hematomas.
```
d. plugs that block blood flow.
112
```
Healthy axons sometimes respond to the degeneration of adjacent axons by developing __________ that grow to the synaptic sites that have been abandoned by the degenerating axons.
Select one:
a. collateral sprouts
b. dendritic spines
c. Schwann cells
d. phagocytes
e. nodes of Ranvier
```
a. collateral sprouts
113
Huntington's disease is associated with
Select one:
a. increased fidgetiness.
b. jerky, writhing movements of entire limbs.
c. severe dementia.
d. all of the above
e. both A and B
d. all of the above
114
In partial seizures,
Select one:
a. there is no epileptic focus.
b. the epileptic discharges do not spread throughout the brain.
c. there is no aura.
d. the seizures are always simple.
e. there is no epileptic spiking in the EEG.
b. the epileptic discharges do not spread throughout the brain.
115
```
Phantom limbs are experienced by
Select one:
a. patients during surgery.
b. patients during brain surgery.
c. amputees.
d. schizophrenics during recovery.
e. opium addicts.
```
c. amputees.
116
```
The most common cause of dementia is
Select one:
a. Alzheimer's disease.
b. Huntington's disease.
c. epilepsy.
d. allergic encephalomyelitis.
e. Parkinson's disease.
```
a. Alzheimer's disease.
117
```
The process by which neurons passively die as the result of injury is
Select one:
a. general paresis.
b. necrosis.
c. dementia pugilistic.
d. fasciculation.
e. apoptosis.
```
b. necrosis.
118
```
Tremor at rest, muscular rigidity, slowness of movement, and a masklike face are symptoms of
Select one:
a. epilepsy.
b. Parkinson's disease.
c. multiple sclerosis.
d. Huntington's disease.
e. Down syndrome.
```
b. Parkinson's disease.
119
```
When there is a disturbance of consciousness following a blow to the head and there is no evidence of physical damage, the diagnosis is
Select one:
a. contusion.
b. laceration.
c. concussion.
d. hematoma.
e. aneurysm.
```
c. concussion.
