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MCAT Behavioral Sciences > Chapter 1.4 > Flashcards

Chapter 1.4 Flashcards

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MCAT flashcards
1
Q

What is the biggest part of the brain by weight and volume

A

-the forebrain is the biggest part of the brain by weight and volume

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2
Q

What is the hypothalamus divided into? What three sections

A

-lateral, ventromedial and the anterior sections

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3
Q

What are the functions of the hypothalamus

A
  • emotional experiences
  • endocrine functions
  • autonomic nervous system
  • homeostatic functions
  • > metabolism
  • > temperature
  • > water balance
  • autonomic nervous system
  • > hunger, thirst and sexual behaviour
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4
Q

What is the lateral hypothalamus involved in

A
  • it is involved in hunger/thirsty

- >when you are hungry/thirsty, this part of the brain is activated

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5
Q

What is the ventromedial hypothalamus involved in

A
  • it is involved in satiety

- >so when to signal the end of eating

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6
Q

What is the anterior hypothalamus involved in

A

-it is involved in the controlling of sexual behaviour

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7
Q

Where does the posterior pituitary get its axonal projections from? Which hormones does it release

A
  • it gets axon projections from the hypothalamus

- >it releases ADH and oxytocin

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8
Q

What is the pineal gland involved in

A
  • involved in several biological rhythms
  • > specifically it secretes a hormone called melatonin
  • > melatonin regulates the circadian rhythm
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9
Q

What is the basal ganglia involved in? Where does it receive info from and where does it relay this info to?

A
  • the basal ganglia is involved in movement
  • > specifically smooth movements and posture
  • it receives information from the cortex
  • > relays this information on to the spinal cord/brain via the extrapyramidal system
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10
Q

What is the role of the extrapyramidal system? Does it function through motor neurons?

A
  • it is involved in the body position
  • > carries information to the central nervous system
  • > does not work through motor neurons
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11
Q

What is a disease associated with the degeneration of the Basal Ganglia

A
  • a disease associated with the degeneration of the basal ganglia is the Parkinson’s disdease
  • > it is characterized by jerky movements or uncontrolled resting tremors
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12
Q

What is the limbic system most associated with? What three parts are its main components

A
  • it is most associated with emotion and memory
  • its three most important structures are:
  • > amygdala
  • > septal nuclei
  • > hippocampus
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13
Q

What is the role of the septal nuclei? Is there an association between the septal nuclei and addiction?

A
  • the septal nuclei is involved in pleasure
  • > it is the primary pleasure center in the brain
  • there is an association between the septal nuclei and addiction
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14
Q

What is the amygdala involved in? What happens when the amygdala is lesioned

A
  • it is involved in defense like behaviours
  • > like fear and rage
  • when the amygdala is lesioned
  • > the individual becomes more docile
  • > displays less aggression and fear reactions are greatly reduced
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15
Q

What is the hippocampus involved in? How does it communicate with other parts of the limbic system

A
  • the hippocampus is involved in learning and memory
  • > it plays a big role in consolidation to form long term memories
  • > also redistributes remote memories to the cerebral cortex
  • it communicates with other components through the fornix
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16
Q

Distinguish anterograde amnesia from retrograde amnesia

A

Anterograde amnesia

  • > not being able to establish new long term memories
  • > memory before the brain injury remains intact

Retrograde amnesia
->not being able to remember events that occurred before the brain injury

17
Q

What are bumps of the cerebral cortex referred to as? What are the folds referred to as

A
  • bumps are referred to as gyri

- folds are referred to as sulci

18
Q

What are the three imporant parts of the frontal lobe

A
  • prefrontal cortex
  • primary motor cortex
  • Broca’s area
19
Q

What is the prefrontal cortex involved in? What is it associated with? Is it involved in attention and alertness? If so, then which structure does it communicate with to induce alertness?

A
  • it is involved in executive function
  • > supervises and directs other brain regions
  • associated with perception, memory, emotion, impulse control and long term planning
  • it is involved in alertness and attention by communicating with the reticular formation in the brain stem
20
Q

Contrast association areas and projection areas. Give examples of an association area and a projection area

A

Association area

  • > an area that integrates signal from different brain regions
  • > eg; prefrontal cortex

Projection area

  • > more rudimentary function
  • > simple perceptual/motor tasks
  • > eg; visual cortex or the motor cortex
21
Q

What is the primary motor cortex involved in? Where is its location

A
  • located on the precentral gyrus
  • > just in front of the central sulcus(just think of the word pre->it has to come before the sulcus)
  • it initiates voluntary motor movements
  • > sends neural impulses down the spinal cord to the muscles
22
Q

What is the organization of the primary motor cortex referred to as

A
  • it is referred to as a motor homunculus

- >finer motor control parts of the body take up larger portions of the motor homunculus

23
Q

What is the Broca’s area involved in? Is it found in one hemisphere or both?

A
  • it is involved in speech production
  • it is usually only found in the dominant hemisphere
  • for most people this is the left hemisphere
  • > whether you are right handed or left handed
24
Q

Where is the somatosensory cortex?

A
  • it is in the parietal lobe
  • > specifically the postcentral gyrus
  • > just behind the central sulcus
25
Q

What is the somatosensory cortex function?

A
  • it is involved for all incoming sensory signals
  • > such as touch, temperature and pressure

-represented by the SOMATOSENSORY HOMUNCULUS

26
Q

What is the central region of the parietal lobe involved in

A
  • it is involved in spatial processing and manipulation
  • > eg; orienting objects in three dimensional space
  • > or spatial manipulation of objects
27
Q

What is the occipital cortex involved in? What else is it involved in?

A
  • it is involved in vision

- it is also referred to as the striate cortex

28
Q

How does the temporal lobe relate to speech and hearing

A
  • for speech
  • > it contains the Wernicke’s area
  • > Wernicke is involved in speech comprehension
  • for hearing
  • > it contains the auditory cortex
  • > auditory cortex is primary site of sound processing
29
Q

Is the temporal lobe involved in emotion, memory and language

A
  • yes
  • > it is involved in emotion, memory and language

the temporal lobe contains the hippocampus
->so it can evoke memories for past events

30
Q

How do you distinguish between the dominant and non-dominant hemispheres

A
  • dominant hemisphere is more likely to be stimulated during language reception and production
  • note dominant hemispheres does not have to do with which hand you are dominant with
31
Q

Where is the dominant hemisphere usually located in? What functions are involved in the dominant hemisphere?
Note->go over the chart on page 27

A
  • the dominant hemisphere is usually located in the left hemisphere
  • it is involved in language, math and logic
  • language production(Broca’s area) and language comprehension(Wernicke’s) area is largely driven by the dominant hemisphere
32
Q

Where is the non-dominant hemisphere usually located in? What functions are involved in the non-dominant hemisphere?

A

-it is usually located in the right hemisphere
-it is involved in intuition, emotion, music and spatial processing
>note it is not involved in movement and it is the only one involved in spatial processing

MCAT Behavioral Sciences (24 decks)

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