Chapter 2 Flashcards
Neuroplasticity
The nervous system’s potential for physical or chemical change that enhances it’s adaptability to environmental change and it;s ability to compensate for injury.
Phenotypic Plasticity
An individual’s capacity to develop into more than one phenotype.
Somatic Nervous System
Part of the peripheral nervous system that includes all the spinal and cranial nerves carrying sensory information to the CNS and also transmits outgoing motor instructions.
Autonomic Nervous System
Balances the body’s internal organs to rest and digest (parasympathetic nerves) or fight and flight (sympathetic nerves).
Afferent
Sensory information coming into CNS
Efferent
Information leaving the CNS
Meninges
Three layers of protective tissue that encase the spinal cord and the brain. These three layers are the dura mater, arachnoid, and pia mater.
Dura Mater
“Hard Mother”
Fibrous tissue that encloses the brain and spinal cord.
Arachnoid
“Spiders web”
Very thin sheet of tissue that follows the contours of the brain.
Pia Mater
“Soft Mother”
Tough membrane that clings to brain’s surface.
Anterior
Located at the front of the animal or from of the head
Caudal
Located near or towards the back/tail of the animal
Coronal
Cut vertically from the crown of the head down
Dorsal
Located above/towards the sky.
A viewing orientation from above.
Frontal
On the front
Inferior
Located below
Lateral
Towards the side
Medial
Towards the middle.
In reference to brain sections it’s a side view of the brain.
Posterior
Located near the tail of the animal.
Rostral
Towards the beak
Sagittal
Cut lengthways from front to back of the skull dividing the brain into symmetrical halves.
Superior
Located above.
Ventral
Below. Pointing to the ground or belly of an animal.
Cerebrospinal Fluid
Clear solution of sodium chloride and other salts.
Fills ventricles inside the brain and circulates around the brain and spinal cord.
Beneath the arachnoid later.
Cerebral Cortex
Thin heavily folded film of nerve tissue composed of neurons that is the outer layer of the forebrain.
Also called the neocortex.
Temporal Lobe
Responsible for hearing, language, and musical abilities.
Located on the side of the brain.
Frontal Lobe
Executive functions; decision making.
Located at the front of the brain.
Parietal Lobe
Directs movements towards a goal or to perform a task.
Located on the top of the brain behind the frontal lobe.
Occipital Lobe
Where visual processing begins.
Located at the back of the brain.
Gyri
Small protrusions or bumps formed by folding the cerebral cortex.
Sulci
A groove in brain matter usually a groove found in the neocortex or the cerebellum
Grey Matter
Areas of the nervous system composed predominantly of cell bodies capillary blood vessels.
Collect and modify information or to support this activity.
White Matter
Fat sheathed neural axons that form the connections between brain cells.
Ventricle
One of four cavities in the brain that contains cerebrospinal fluid that cushions the brain.
May help maintain brain metabolism.
Corpus Callosum
Band of white matter that connects the two cerebral hemispheres.
Providing a route for direct communication between them.
Glial Cells
Aide and modulate neurons activities.
Brainstem
Central structure of the brain.
Responsible for most unconscious behaviour.
What are the three divided regions of the brainstem?
Hindbrain, midbrain, diencephalon
Hindbrain
Controls most voluntary and involuntary movements.
Contains pons, medulla, reticular formation, and, cerebellum.
Reticular Formation
Associated with sleep wake behaviour and behavioural arousal.
What are the four primary functions of cerebrospinal fluid?
Buoyancy, protections, chemical stability, prevention of ischemia.
Coup
Damage on the brain at the site of impact.
Countercoup
Damage on the brain at the opposite site of impact.
What are the two major classes of stroke?
Ischemic stroke and hemorrhagic stroke.
What makes up the six layers of the neocortex?
Information integration - Layers 1-3
Sensory input - Layer 4
Output information - Layer 5-6
Medulla
Regulates breathing and cardiovascular system.
Pons
Receives input from cerebellum and transmits it to the rest of the body.
Midbrain
Central part of the brain that contains neural circuits for hearing, seeing, and orienting movements.
Tectum
Roof (area above ventricle) of the midbrain.
Visual and auditory processing and orienting movement.
Tegmentum
Floor (area below the ventricle) of the midbrain.
Movement and pain perception.
Superior Colliculus
Receives input from the optic nerve.
Inferior Colliculus
Receives input from auditory pathways
Substancia Nigra
Initiating movements
Diencephalon
Integrates sensory and motor information on it’s way to the cerebral cortex
Composed of the thalamus and hypothalamus
Hypothalamus
Associated with eating, drinking, temperature regulation and sexual behaviour.
Thalamus
Information from all sensory systems is integrated and projected into appropriate region of the neocortex.
Forebrain
Advanced cognitive functions such as thinking, planning, and language.
Contains limbic system, basal ganglia and the neocortex.
Neocortex
Outer layer of the forebrain
Composed of six layers of grey matter
Unique to mammals
Creates our “reality”
Basal Ganglia
Controls voluntary movement
In the forebrain connected to the thalamus and the midbrain.
Limbic System
Regulates emotions and behaviours that create and require memory
What are the three principal structures of the basal ganglia?
Caudate nucleus, putamen, and globus pallidus
What are the principal limbic structures?
Amygdala, hippocampus, and limbic (cingulate) cortex
Law of Bell and Magendie
The general principal that sensory fibres are located dorsally and motor fibres are located ventrally.
Enables neurologists to infer where spinal cord damage has happened.
Sympathetic System
Part of the autonomic nervous system that mediates involuntary fight or flight responses.
Parasympathetic System
Part of the autonomic nervous system that acts in opposition to the sympathetic system.
“Rest and digest”
