Brain Function

Question 1

What are the cerebral cortex layers? What are some of their characteristics?

Answer 1

• IV: termination of most incoming specific sensory signals
• V and VI: origin of most output signals, fibers to thalamus from VI
• I,II,III: intra cortical association functions

Question 2

What happens when thalamic connections are cut?

Answer 2

-functions of the corresponding cortical areas become almost entirely lost

Question 3

What are the primary cortical areas? What are functions of these cortical areas?

Answer 3

• primary motor areas: direct connections with specific muscles
• primary sensory areas: detetc specific sensations
• secondary motor areas: provide patterns of motor activity
• secondary sensory areas: analyze meanings of specific sensory signals

Question 4

What lies along the central sulcus?

Answer 4

• voluntary motor
• somatosensory
• sensory II hearing

Question 5

What are association areas?

Answer 5

-receive and analyze signals simultaneously from multiple motor and sensory cortices

Question 6

What are the association areas?

Answer 6

• prefrontal association area
• Broca’s area
• Wernicke’s area
• limbic association area
• parietalis-occipitotemporal association

Question 7

What are subareas of the parieto-occipitotemporal association area?

Answer 7

• area for analysis of spatial coordinates
• Wernicke’s area
• angular gurus area
• area for naming objects

Question 8

What is the prefrontal association area?

Answer 8

• receives pre analyzed sensory information (spatial coordinates) necessary for planning effective movements
• output passes through caudate portion of basal ganglia
• carries out thought processes in the mind

Question 9

What is Broca’s area responsible for?

Answer 9

• provides circuitry for word formation
• works closely with Wernicke’s area
• almost always dominant on left side of brain

Question 10

What is the limbic association area responsible for?

Answer 10

-concerned with behavior, emotions, and motivation

Question 11

What is Wernicke’s area responsible for?

Answer 11

• language comprehension
• area where somatic, visual, and auditory association areas all meet one another in the posterior part of the superior temporal lobe
• located predominantly on the left side

Question 12

What area plays the greatest single role of any part of the cerebral cortex for intelligence?

Answer 12

-Wernicke’s area

Question 13

How does Wernicke’s area function?

Answer 13

-activation of Wernicke’s area may be able to call forth complicated memory patterns involving more than one sensory modality

Question 14

What associations are not bilaterally symmetrical?

Answer 14

• Wernicke’s area
• Broca’s area
• hand control -> typically dominant in left hemisphere

Question 15

Where is the facial recognition area?

Answer 15

• occipital portion of facial recognition area is next to the visual cortex
• temporal portion closely associated with the limbic system

Question 16

What is prospagnosia?

Answer 16

-damage to the facial recognition area resulting in an inability to recognize faces

Question 17

What does a prefrontal lobotomy result in?

Answer 17

• loss of ability to solve complex problems
• inability to string together sequential tasks to reach complex goals
• inability to do several parallel tasks at the same time
• decrease level of aggressiveness (ambition)
• inappropriate social responses
• inability to carry through long trains of through
• loss of purpose while performing usual motor pattern functions

Question 18

What are you able to do through working memory?

Answer 18

-prognostication
-planning for the future
-delay in response to incoming sensory signals
-ability to consider
consequences of motor actions
-ability to solve complicated math, legal, and philosophical problems
-control of activities in accord with moral law

Question 19

What is the corpus callosum?

Answer 19

• major commissure between the two hemispheres
• transfers info from Wernicke’s area to no dominant motor cortex
• transfer of somatic and visual info from right hemisphere to Wernicke’s area
• cutting of corpus callosum results in two entirely separate conscious portions of the brain

Question 20

What is declarative memory?

Answer 20

-refers to memory of various details of an integrated thought
-includes:
+memory of surroundings
+memory to time relationships
+memory of causes of experiences
+memory of meaning of experience
+memory of deductions as a result of experience

Question 21

What is reflexive/skill memory?

Answer 21

-associated with motor activities

Question 22

What is short term memory?

Answer 22

• lasts only as long as person thinks of number of facts (seconds)
• exemplified by memory of a telephone number

Question 23

What is intermediate long term memory?

Answer 23

• lasts many minutes or weeks

- may become long term memory if memory traces are activated enough

Question 24

How does memory facilitation occur physiologically?

Answer 24

• stimulation of facilitator presynaptic terminal at the same time that sensory terminal is stimulated cases serotonin release at facilitator synapse
• serotonin receptors in sensory terminal membrane activate adenyl cyclase (cAMP)
• cAMP activates part of a K+ channel
• K+ channel is blocked for minutes to weeks
• lack of K+ conductance causes greatly prolonged AP in synapse terminal
• prolonged AP causes prolonged activation of Ca+2 channels, prolonging transmitter release

Question 25

What is a memory trace?

Answer 25

• aka engram
• presumed encoding in neural tissue that provides a physical basis for the persistence of memory, postulated biochemical change in neural tissue that represents a memory

Question 26

How does long term memory structures differ from other types of memory?

Answer 26

• increase in vesicle release sites for secretion of transmitter substance
• increase in number of transmitter vesicles released
• increase in number of presynaptic terminals
• changes in structures of the dendritic spines

Question 27

What are the three types of cortical neurons?

Answer 27

• granular: short axons, interneurons, excitatory and inhibitory
• fusiform: smaller output neurons
• pyramidal: large output neurons