Chapter 1 part 2

Question 1

How can gut bacteria affect our overall health?

Answer 1

The amount of gut bacteria can have a huge impact of levels of depression and asthma severity

Question 2

What effects can stimulating the vagus nerve have on overall health?

Answer 2

stimulating the vagus nerve can treat epilepsy and treatment-resistant depression

Question 3

How many nuclei does the hypothalamus have?

Answer 3

22 nuclei

- they are linked to the autonomic and neuoendocrine systems

Question 4

In reference to the thalamus, what does each sense have?

Answer 4

Each sense has its own thalamic nucleus (example, LGN) EXCEPT for olfaction, which goes directly to the cortex

Question 5

Name the thalamic nuclei for each of the senses?

Answer 5

Visual thalamic nucleus = LGN, auditory thalamic nucleus = MGN, somatosensory thalamic nucleus = VPL, gustation thalamic nucleus = VPM, olfaction = medial dorsal

Question 6

Why is the thalamus important in consciousness?

Answer 6

Because it integrates sensory input and cortical input

Question 7

What system does the olfactory ability belong to?

Answer 7

The limbic system, because smell is highly integrated with learning and memory

Question 8

What is the basal ganglia important for?

Answer 8

Voluntary control of movement (i.e. engagement in goal-directed movement)

Question 9

What can we observe with problems in the basal ganglia?

Answer 9

In the substantia nigra, deterioration can lead to parkinson’s disease (loss of movement, paradoxical movement)
In the striatum, deterioration can lead to huntington’s disease (release of movement)

Question 10

What is paradoxical movement?

Answer 10

It is a preserved motor pattern after the loss of other motor patterns (example: being able to ride a bike but not being able to walk)

Question 11

Why might deterioration in the substantia nigra lead to loss of motor movements, as seen in parkinson’s disease?

Answer 11

Because the substantia nigra is a major producer in dopamine

Question 12

What does the neocortex represent?

Answer 12

The 4 lobes of the brain

Question 13

What does somatopic mean?

Answer 13

It is a body representation in the brain (i.e. the homunculus)

Question 14

What does a hierarchical organization imply?

Answer 14

That complex functions are built upon simpler ones

Question 15

In what two ways can we consider the projection routes of axons?

Answer 15

1. from sensory receptors to the cortex

2. from the cortex to spinal and motor neurons

Question 16

Which lobes project onto which other lobes?

Answer 16

Frontal > temporal > Parietal > Occipital

Question 17

What is the hierarchical organization of the sensory cortices?

Answer 17

The primary cortex projects on to the secondary sensory cortex (which receives indirect sensory input) and then travels to the tertiary sensory cortex which is involved in integration

Question 18

What did Penfield and Jasper do to create functional maps?

Answer 18

They stimulated a specific area of the cortex while the patient was awake to describe what it was that he was feeling

Question 19

What is an example of our experience shaping our cortical representation?

Answer 19

Phantom limb syndrome - the representation of the limb is still present in the cortex

Question 20

What does a difference in a neuron’s circuitry suggest?

Answer 20

Different circuitry suggests different computations

Question 21

What is phrenology?

Answer 21

The pseudoscience which tried to link high order functions with the size and shape of a person’s head