Brain Part II Lecture Flashcards
what are multimodal association areas
they take signals and inputs from different places and integrate them; responsible for higher order cognitive functions; can interact with multiple areas
what are two examples of multimodal association areas
prefrontal cortex and the language center
what is the most complex part of the cerebral cortex
the prefrontal cortex
what is the prefrontal cortex responsible for
intellect, learning, motivation and personality ; associated with working (short term) memory and emotions
what area of the brain would a frontal lobotomy affect
the prefrontal cortex; cuts signals that would be received from amygdala as well as many other areas of the brain; would affect intellect, learning, personality the most
what does the Wernicke’s area do
understand and recognize spoken and written language
what is true of both Broca’s and Wernicke’s areas?
they are both only found in one hemisphere and usually are found in the same one unless pathology is present
T/F: wernicke’s area receives input from visual and auditory cortices
True
List the pathway of travel for seeing a written word and then speaking it out loud
1 - sensory receptors see the word (the eye)
2 - the optic nerve notifies the CNS that we have info
3 - goes to primary visual cortex in the occipital lobe
3 - then to visual association area in Wernicke’s area
4 - then to broca’s area for speech planning to tell muscles what to do
5 - then to primary motor cortex to stimulate the muscles
Wernicke’s area is where you ___ and ___ the language
compare and understand language
T/F: Wernicke’s center is taught rules, so therefore people’s centers are different (French speaker vs. English speaker)
True
What happens if someone has damage to their visual association area
they cannot compare their vision
it won’t go to the Wernicke’s association area
What is described below:
Primary motor cortex - through nerves - mouth - jaw - tongue - muscles will move
leaving the brain going to make a sound
hearing a word
spoken words - sensory (pitch rhythm and volume) - auditory cortex - wernicke’s association area - broca’s area - motor cortex
what will happen if someone’s broca’s area is damaged?
be able to create sounds, but the speech would not be coherent ; they know what they will want to say ; variety of symptoms; can range from not being able to say anything understandable to being able to say some things
broca’s aphasia is what?
damage to the broca; not necessarily gibberish but its super difficult to execute the actual speech and produce the sound ; impact can range ; but the person understands and knows what he wants to say but he just can’t execute it properly ; work to improve, but you can’t fix it
(ex. someone has so much trouble executing speech but can sing perfectly)
what is apraxia?
involves the primary motor cortex; conductor is there and have all the notes, but the people playing the strings section not all of them can function/execute it correctly; problem with the actual muscles not because lack of a plan but because we don’t have the right neurons to execute the plan ; apraxia can be well treated at a young age by the right speech therapies - they won’t be able to fix the primary motor cortex, but fix how they use what they are able to use in a better way
what is wernicke’s aphasia?
the person knows they can execute; the problem is it’s not going to make sense; throwing out words that are not making sense; usually not aware of how much they don’t understand; ex. abroad and you try to understand something in another language and you’re kind of guessing what they’re saying but you really don’t know
what is the lateralization of the hemispheres
each hemisphere has functions that it may not necessarily share with the other hemisphere or it may be that the trait is stronger in one side than the other - it can be about strength - ex. being right handed - means that writing is more developed/stronger in the left hemispheres
which hemisphere is more rational (IN GENERAL)
the left hemisphere - mathematics, rationalization, writing, speech, “the more logical person”, more past and future
which hemisphere is more creative (IN GENERAL)
thinking more about the current, immersing in the current situation, more creative, doesn’t think about past, present, future as much and more present
Basal nuclei - what are they
gray matter embedded within the white matter; basal nuclei are clusters of cell bodies; not the only function of the basal nuclei but they are responsible for onset and cessation of intentional movements; help to make a motor plan and really helpful in balancing between antagonistic muscles ex. bicep/triceps
what happens if the basal nuclei don’t work to fullest potential
tremors; Parkinson’s disease
the corpus callosum does what
connects the two hemispheres
T/F: someone will die/not be able to function without their corpus callosum
false
what is savant
all savant people are on the autistic spectrum, but not all autistic people are savant - savant are people with severe mental disabilities that demonstrate certain abilities far in excess of the average
diencephalon is composed of what
thalamus, hypothalamus and epithalamus
what is the thalamus
gidi example: sending letters: they go to post office to be sorted so the sending of letters is much more effective;
thalamus is our sensory post office: sensory inputs synapse with thalamus (composed of a bunch of nuclei) and our afferent impulses synapse in thalamus, edited, sorted and sent out to cortex
(smell is the only exception) - smell is directly connected to the cortex; but other than smell everything goes to thalamus before the sensory cortex
talk about the hypothalamus
has many important functions; has many nuclei of its own; visceral control system of the body; “CEO one level above the ANS”; link between the nervous and endocrine system; pituitary gland in the hypothalamus; main regulator of autonomic nervous system; regulates body temp; some nuclei are both neurons and glands ; thirst, sex, hunger - responsible for our drives
where is my cardiovascular center
in the medulla oblongata in lower part of the brain ; medulla will say “i need to decrease the heart rate” - are we aware? no - this never reaches the cerebral cortex
what does this example show
ex. police comes to door and your heart rate goes up - higher functions are controlling the medulla through the hypothalamus - hypothalamus will say with all due respect medulla to BP, but we need a flight or flight response
the hierarchy that exists in the brain
what is referred to as the sensory relay center of the brain
the thalamus
T/F: sensory afferent impulses converge and synapse in the thalamus
true
T/F: impulses of similar function are sorted out, edited and relayed as a group
True
T/F: all sensory inputs ascending to the cerebral cortex pass through the thalamus
False - all except smell
what are the 3 parts of the brain stem
midbrain, pons, medulla oblongata
what is in the brain stem
it is the structural framework, hosting ascending and descending neural fibers; the nuclei that are responsible for our built in automatic system
where are the substantia nigra found
they are nuclei found in the midbrain
what do the substantia nigra do
they release dopamine to the basal nuclei
what is dopamine’s effect on basal nuclei
dopamine inhibit basal nuclei by generating IPSP
