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Human Physiology 1 > Central Nervous System > Flashcards

Central Nervous System Flashcards

1
Q

Structures and functions of the brain stem

A

Structures: midbrain, pons, medulla oblongata

The brain stem controls the flow of messages between the brain and the rest of the body, and it also controls basic body functions such as breathing, swallowing, heart rate, blood pressure, consciousness.

  • Other functions involves regulating muscle reflexes for posture and balance, integratng snesory information by the reticular formation, and regulating sleep.
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2
Q

How are the capillary walls of the brain different from the rest of the body?

What is the blood-brain barrier? Function?

A

The blood brain barrier is formed by endothelial cells that are connected by tight junctions and bordered by astrocytes (glial cells). Tight junctions are watersealed spaces that do not allow larger water solubles solutes to move across freely. As a result, the BBB protects the CNS from chemical fluctuations in the blood and minimizes exposure to potentially harmful substances in the blod

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3
Q

Embryonic Development of the CNS

The fluid filled cavity of the neural tube is called _____. This structure expands during development and forms the primary brain vesicles.

What are the three primary brain vesicles?

A

neurocoel

Prosencephalon

Mesencephalon

Rhombencephalon

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4
Q

What are the structures of the secondary brain vesicles?

What brain structures do each of these vesicles expand into?

A

Telencephalon (cerebrum) and diencephalon are formed from the prosencephalon dividing.

Mescencephalon (Midbrain)

Metencephalon and myelencephalon are formed from rhombencephalon dividing.

Metencephalon (cerebellum & pons)

Myelencephalon (medulla oblongata)

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5
Q

Match up: Embryonic Development of CNS

  1. Myelencephalon a. Cerebrum
  2. Metencephalon b. Thalamus + hypothalmus
  3. Mesencephalon c. Cerebellum, pons
  4. Diencephalon d. Medulla oblongata
  5. Rhombencephalon e. Hindbrain
  6. Telecephalon f. Midbrain
  7. Prosencephalon g. Forebrain
A
  1. d
  2. c
  3. f
  4. b
  5. e
  6. a
  7. g
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6
Q

Along with the primary motor cortex, this part of the brain is involved in voluntary movement, specifically programs complex sequences of movement. For example, movements requiring the use of both hands and feet.

A

Supplementary motor area

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7
Q

Orienting limbs toward target (purposeful movement in a spatial context) For example, eating with utensil

A

premotor cortex

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8
Q

Integration of somatosensory and visual input; important for complex movements

A

posterioer parietal cortex

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9
Q

Basal ganglia and list the structures and location

A

The basal ganglia are a group of structures found deep within the cerebral hemispheres. The structures are: caudate, putamen, globus pallidus in the cerebrum

and the substania nigra in the midbrain

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10
Q

Which brain structure plays a key role in the activities below:

  1. Coordinate slow sustained movements
  2. Suppressing useless patterns of movements
A

Basal ganglia

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11
Q

Location of Wernicke’s area and function

A

located in the temporal lobe on the left side of the brain. It proceses both spoken and written languages.

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12
Q

Location and function of Broca’s area

A

Located on the frontal lobe on the left side of the brain. It helps us form speech and works closely with the motor area of the brain that supply the muscles to talk.

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13
Q

Location and function of the limbic association cortex.

What’s are the structure of the limbic system

A

Mostly located on inner and bottom surface of temporal lobe. This area is associated with motivation, emotion, memory…

hypothalamus, thalamus, amygdala, hippocampus, fornix, and cingulate gyrus

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14
Q

Anatomical location and function of the somatosensory cortex

A

Located in the anterior portion of each parietal lobe, posterior to the central sulcus. It is a site for initial cortical processing and perception of sensation and proprioception input.

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15
Q

Anatomical location and function of the prefrontal association cortex

A

Located in the front portion of the frontal lobe and anterior to the premotor cortex.

Roles include planning for voluntary activities, decision making, weighing consequences of future actions and choosing between different options for various social or physical situations.

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16
Q

Form the insulative myelin sheaths around axons in the CNS

A

Ogliodendrocytes

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17
Q

Microglia

A

Immune cells of the CNS

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18
Q

Ependymal cell

A

Produces cerebrospinal fluid

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19
Q

Serve as a main “glue” of the CNS

Form neural scar tissues and induce formation of blood-brain barrier

A

Astrocytes

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20
Q

Choroid plexus

A

The choroid plexus is a plexus of cells that produces the cerebrospinal fluid in the ventricles of the brain. Thechoroid plexus consists of modified ependymal cells.

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21
Q

Hypothalamus

A

is a small region of the brain located at the base of the brain near the pituitary gland. It plays a crucial role in many important functions: regulating body temperature, thrist behaviour, urine output, and food intake behaviour, sleep & circadian rhythms

It links the nervous system to the endocrine system

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22
Q

Which brain regions are involved in see

A
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23
Q

List 3 anatomical changes to the CNS associated with aging

A
  1. Decreased brain size and weight –> primarily the cerebral cortex
  2. Decreased in number of neurons
  3. Decreased in blood flow –> deposits of lipid and atheroschlerotic plaques
  4. Changes in synaptic organization –> primarily decreased dendritic branches, synapses, and neurotransmitter release
  5. Inside the neuron, presences of lipofuscin pigment and neurofibrillary tangles
  6. outside the cell, presence of plaques
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24
Q

List 3 Functional changes to the CNS due to aging

A
  1. Sensory systems become less acute
  2. Motor control becomes less precise
  3. Reflexs become weak or disapper
  4. Reaction times become longer
  5. Memory consolidation becomes more difficult
  6. Neural processing become less efficient
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25
Q

Neuroglial cells

A

serve as connective tissues of the CNS. 90% of the cells w/in the CNS are glial cells which communicate via chemical signals

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26
Q

Fornix

A

Part of the limbic system, it is a C-shaped bundle of nerve fibers in the brain that acts as the major output tract of the hippocampus. It carries afferent fibers to the hippo from the thalamus, hypothalamus, basal ganglia.

Role in memory recall

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27
Q

Which lobe of the brain processes somatosensation?

A

Parietal lobe

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28
Q

What do the frontal lobe process?

A

processing of motor activity, speech, thought

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29
Q

The part of the brain that helps with selection of purposeful movement

A

basal ganglia

30
Q

The part of the brain that helps with coordinating/and maintain posture & balance

A

basal nuclei

31
Q

the region of the brain that initiate and help maintain desired movement

A

basal ganglia

32
Q

The part of the brain that coordinates and help within planning of skilled voluntary movements

A

Brain stem (midbrain, pons, medulla oblongata)

33
Q

What is the subarachnoid space

A

is the area between the arachnoid mater and pia mater where CSF flows

34
Q

Difference between endothelial cells that form the capillaries in the brain vs the rest of the body.

A

Body: Hydrophillic solutes can move through pores in the cell membrane freely

Brain: Hydrophillic solutes needs to be transported across using a carrier mediated transport because the BBB is tightly sealed by “tight junctions” which do not allow the exchange of hydrophillic solutes.

Body: Smaller plasma proteins can transcytosis across the membrane

Brain: no proteins can get through

35
Q

Brain structures that involved in coordinating complex movements that require using both hands and feet (movement sequences)

A

supplementary motor area

36
Q

When either of these brain structures are damaged, the person cannot process complex sensory information to accomplish purposeful movement in a spatial contex. For example, inability to use utensils to eat.

A

Premotor cortex and posterior parietal cortex (which are higher motor areas that commands the primary motor cortex to move in a specific way)

37
Q

Parietal-temporal-occipital association cortex

A

integration of all sensory input; important in language

38
Q

Anatomically distinct region within the primary motor cortex corresponds to muscles from distinct locations in the body is respresented by:

A

Motor homunculus

39
Q

Orienting limb toward target (bring thumb to mouth)

A

Premotor cortex

40
Q

Deficits in this area results in Broca’s aphasia…

A

An individual understands the words and knows what to say but cannot actually form the words.

41
Q

Wernicke’s area is responsible for

A

Determining the choice and sequence of words

42
Q

Wernicke’s aphasia

A

In which the individual speaks words, but hte words strung together in the sentence do not make sense and have no meaning

43
Q

Corticol pathway for translating visual information into speech.

Order the events below

  1. Information is sent to the Wernicke’s area
  2. Visual information is sent to the visual cortex
  3. Information is sent to the Broca’s area
  4. Information sent to the primary motor cortex
  5. Information sent to the angular gyrus of the parietal temporal occiptal association cortex
  6. Seeing a written word or an object
A

6

2

5

1

3

4

44
Q

The regions of the cerebellum that is involved in maintaining balance and controlling eye movements

A

Vestibulocerebellum

45
Q

The region of the cerebellum that plays a role in maintaining muscle tone and coordinating voluntary movements (eg, accurate timing of related movements involved using multiple joints) (Eg, reaching for a pencil, your shoulders, elbows and wrist joints must be synchronized to do that simple movement)

A

Spinocerebellum

46
Q

The region of the brain that is involved in error correction and also receives afferent input regarding body movements and positions

A

Cerebellum (spinocerebellum)

47
Q

the region of the cerebellum that plays a role in planning and initiating voluntary activity by providing input to the cortical motor areas. This area also stores procedural memories

A

Cerebrocerebellum

48
Q

A person with damage to this part of the brain tries to pick up a pencil, she may overshoot the pencil and then rebound excessively, repeating this to-and-fro process until success is finally acheived.

A

Cerebellum

49
Q

Where does the reticular activating system originate?

A

Located in the brain stem and thalamus. It receives all sensory synaptic information

50
Q

The brain stem is the control center for which 3 major processes

A

Respiration, Circulation, Digestion

51
Q

How many spinal nerves are there?

A

31 spinal nerves:

Cervical = 8

Thoracic = 12

Lumbar = 5

Sacral = 5

Coccyx = 1

52
Q

Why 8 cervical nerves when there is 7 cervical vertebrae?

What are dermatomes?

A

The first cervical nerve is only a motor nerve and not a sensory nerve and therefore there is no C1 dermatome

Spinal nerves is responsible for transmitting sensory information from a specific region of the body called a dermatome. Dermatomes are clinically useful in determining the location of spinal cord damage

53
Q

Cauda equina

A

The cauda equina (from Latin horse’s tail) is a bundle of spinal nerves and spinal nerve rootlets, consisting of the second through fifth lumbar nerve pairs, the first through fifth sacral nerve pairs, and the coccygeal nerve, all of which arise from the lumbar enlargement and the conus medullaris of the spinal cord.

54
Q

True or false

A nerve can contain both afferent and efferent neurons that follow the same path.

A

True

55
Q

A collection of neuronal cell bodies within the CNS is refer to as:

A

nucleus

56
Q

A collection of neuronal cell bodies outside the CNS is called:

A

Ganglion

57
Q

A bundle of neuronal axons located entirely within the CNS is called: ______

But it is called a _____ if travelling in the peripheral

A

A tract

Nerve

58
Q
A
59
Q

Dermatomes in the buttock, back of the thigh, calf, lateral feet is innervated by which spinal nerves?

A

S1-S5

60
Q

Dermatomes in the lower back, front and lateral thigh, top of the foot is innervated by which spinal nerves?

A

Lumbar 1-5

61
Q

Dermatomes on the front and back of the torso, a strip of skin from armpit, bicep, forearm to mid wirst is innervated by which spinal nerves?

A

T1-T12

62
Q

Dermatomes from the back of the head to neck, front of the neck, collarbone area, shoulders and arms is innervated by what spinal nerves?

A

C2-C6

63
Q

A single nerve is composed of groups of fascicles containing bundles of axons and is held together by connective tissues.

All axons within the nerve follow the same pathway: both afferent and efferent

A
64
Q

What are the white matter in the spinal cord?

A

The white matter of the spinal cord corresponds to either tracts that are descending or ascending

65
Q

The dorsal columns (white matter) of the spinal cord consist of ascending tracts that carries what type of information to the brain from the spinal cord?

What are the two tracts called

A

Dorsal colums:

1) Fasciculus gracilis and cueatus

(conscious muscle sense concerned with awareness of body position; crossed touch, pressure and vibration)

eg, dorsal colum-meniscul pathway (somatosensory nerve pathway)

66
Q

Define decussation

A

The action of crossing (eg, nerve fibers) especially in the form of an X:

a crossed tract of nerve fibers passing from one side of th nervous system to the other in the form of an X

67
Q

Ventral spinocerebellar

A

Ascending tracts that carries information from the spine to cerebrum regarding unconscious muscle sense

68
Q

Lateral spinothalamic

A

Are ascending cross tracts that carries information regarding pain and temperature to the thalamus

69
Q

Ventral spinothalamic

A

Are ascending paths that carries information regarding touch from the spinal cord to the somatosensory cortex. These tracts are located on the anterior surface of the spinal cord and crosses over to the other side

70
Q

Lateral corticospinal tracts

A

Are descending tracts that brings information from the brain to the skeletal muscles, and crosses over at the region of the spinal cord

71
Q

Ventral corticospinal

A

Are ascending tracts carries information from the brain to the spinal cord.

72
Q
A

Human Physiology 1 (18 decks)

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