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PS101 > Chapter 3 > Flashcards

Chapter 3 Flashcards

1
Q

what are the two main approaches to studying the brain?

A

1.) Studying what happens when part of the brain isn’t working normally (normal vs messed up) → case studies, lesioning, electrical stimulation, magnetically deactivating

2.) Use fancy equipment to study not brain function and structure → CT scans, MRI, fMRI, PET scans, EEG, ERP, DTI

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2
Q

why are case studies used to study the brain?

A

when a stroke or injury damages part of the brain, we have a chance to see the impact on the mind

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3
Q

what is leisoning?

A
  • surgical deconstruction of brain tissues performed on animals
  • purposely doing surgery and destroying the brain to see what changes
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4
Q

what is electrical stimulation?

A
  • parts of the brain and neurons can be stimulated electrically, chemically or magnetically
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5
Q

what is magnetically deactivating (TMS)?

A

a procedure in which an electromagnetic pulse is delivered to a specific region of the brain to temporarily deactivate that region (learn what these regions of the brain do)

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6
Q

what is computed tomography (CT)

A

when a computer constructs a 3D x-ray image from a series of 2D images

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7
Q

what is magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)?

A
  • brain structure is mapped out using magnetic fields, produces a very clear picture
  • different areas of the brain are made of slightly different molecule compositions (different densities) which have different magnetic properties
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8
Q

what is functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI)?

A
  • relies on the fact that oxygen is sent to regions of the brain that are active
  • fMRI scanner can measure differences in brain oxygen over a time while a person is completing a task (functional map is overlaid on structural map to get an overall map of how much each brain region is working on a given task)
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9
Q

what is positron emission tomography (PET scan)?

A
  • allows us to see what part of the brain is active by tracing where a radioactive form of glucose goes while a brain performs a specific task
    -prior to performing a task, the patient is injected with a substance and attaches a tracer to the glucose so it can be visualized
  • colours represent the most and least active parts of the brain
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10
Q

what is electroencephalogram (EEG)?

A
  • a recording of the electrical waves sweeping across the brain’s surface
  • useful for studying seizures (location) and sleep (stages, dreams)
  • it is not spatially specific and cannot detect what part is active during a task
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11
Q

what is event related potential (ERP)?

A
  • measuring the electroactivity in the brain and how it changes when presented with a stimulus
  • requires many trials averaged over many EEG signals to remove the random fluctuations in the EEG signals
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12
Q

what is diffusion tensor imaging (DTI)?

A

a structural neuroimaging technique that allows researchers to measure white matter pathways in the brain

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13
Q

what are the two main categories of cells in the nervous system?

A

glial cells (white matter) and neurons (grey matter)

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14
Q

what are the 4 classes of glial cells?

A

astrocytes, oligodendrocytes, microglia, schwann cells

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15
Q

what are astrocytes?

A
  • largest glia, star shaped, many functions
  • protect CNS from pathogens
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16
Q

what are oligodendrocytes?

A
  • myelinate axons in CNS
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17
Q

what are microglia?

A
  • respond to injuries or disease
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18
Q

what are schwann cells?

A
  • myelinate axons in PNS
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19
Q

what are the 5 components of a neuron?

A

dendrites, cell body, axon, myelin sheath, terminal buttons

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20
Q

what are dendrites?

A
  • branching extensions that receive inputs from other neurons (where info is picked up from other neurons)
  • very important in communication
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21
Q

what are cell bodies?

A
  • contains the metabolic machinery that maintains the neurons (structures that keep neurons healthy and produce neurotransmitters)
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22
Q

what are axons?

A
  • asingle process that extends from the cell body and represents the outburst side of the neuron
  • carries the neurons messages from the cell body to the terminal buttons
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23
Q

what are myelin sheath?

A
  • a type of glial cell that covers segments of the of the axon to insulate and speed neural processes
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24
Q

what are terminal buttons?

A
  • stores neurotransmitters and release them (brain chemicals) into synaptic gap space
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25
Q

what is the central nervous system?

A
  • brain and spinal cord
  • makes decisions for the body
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26
Q

what is the role of the spinal cord in the CNS?

A
  • most nerves enter/leave through spinal cord
  • spinal reflexes do not involve the brain (body reacts before your brain is even aware)
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27
Q

what is the role of the brain in the CNS?

A
  • number of brain structures control voluntary and involuntary behaviors
  • two hemispheres: left and right with numerous structures in and beneath each one
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28
Q

what are the two divisions of the nervous system?

A

central nervous system (CNS) and peripheral nervous system (PNS)

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29
Q

what is the peripheral nervous system (PNS)?

A
  • all neural pathways outside of the brain and spinal cord
  • connect CNS with muscles, glands and sensory receptors
  • sends and receives information to and from the rest of the body
30
Q

what are the two subsystems of the PNS?

A

somatic and autonomic nervous systems

31
Q

what are the components of the autonomic nervous system?

A

sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous system

32
Q

what is the sympathetic nervous system?

A

arouses fight or flight, sympathizes with the situation

33
Q

what is the parasympathetic nervous system?

A

calms (rest and digest), conserves resource, slow down body processes

34
Q

what are the 3 main regions of the brain?

A

hindbrain, midbrain, forebrain

35
Q

what is the main role of the hindbrain?

A

survival functions (breathing, reflexes)

36
Q

what is the role of the midbrain?

A

sensation and action (picking up and relaying stuff to higher brain and body)

37
Q

what is the role of the forebrain?

A

memory, thought and action (“higher brain functions”)

38
Q

what are the components of the midbrain?

A

medulla, pons, cerebellum, reticular formation

39
Q

what are the components of the midbrain?

A

substania nigra

40
Q

what are the components of the forebrain?

A

thalamus, hypothalamus, pituitary gland, amygdala, hippcampus, basal ganglia, cerebral cortex

41
Q

what is the role of the medulla?

A

autonomic survival functions like breathing, blood circulation, reflexes

42
Q

what is role of pons?

A
  • sleep and wakefulness
  • coordinates automatic and unconscious movements like swallowing, posture, facial expressions, eye movements, sound localization
43
Q

what is the role of the cerebellum?

A
  • balance, coordination, and timing of movements (damage = jerky, uncoordinated movements)
  • attention and emotion (damage = impulsivity, personality changes)
44
Q

what is the role of reticular formation?

A
  • a network of neurons that extend through the whole brain
  • enables alertness and filters incoming sensory information (damage = coma)
45
Q

what is the role of the substantia nigra?

A
  • the nucleus from which dopamine neurons send their axons to the forebrain
  • involved in movement control by receiving input from sensory neurons and motor areas and then sending to higher brain areas (damage = Parksinsons)
46
Q

what is the role of the thalamus?

A
  • the sensory switchboard
  • all sensory messages (hear, vision, taste, touch) except smell are routed through the thalamus on their way to the cortex
  • sends messages from the cortex to the medulla and cerebellum
47
Q

what is the role of the hypthalamus?

A
  • involved in drives and motivated behaviours like activity, thrust, hunger, sleep, sex (homeostasis)
48
Q

what is the role of the pituitary gland?

A
  • the ‘master’ gland of the endocrine system
  • produces hormones that regulate other glands (thyroid, adrenal, reproductive)
49
Q

what is the role of the amygdala?

A
  • helps process emotions (fear and aggression)
  • mediates memory formation for emotional events by telling hippocampus to remember the event as an important memory
50
Q

what is the role of the hippcampus?

A
  • processes continuous, episodic memories (what you ate for dinner, bday)
  • important for the formation of new memories (without it, you can’t form new memories but you can remember old ones)
51
Q

what is the role of the basal ganglia?

A
  • functions in both voluntary movement and responses to reward stimuli
  • helps control and coordinate movement (damage = tourettes)
52
Q

what is the cerebral cortex?

A
  • the outermost layer of the brain
  • made up of mostly cell bodies (gray matter)
  • has many folds to fit into the skull, allowing for more cortical structure and decrease axonal distance
  • deep grooves define the 4 lobes found in each hemisphere
53
Q

what are the 4 lobes?

A

occipital, parietal, temporal, frontal

54
Q

what is the occipital lobe?

A
  • processes visual information
  • contains the primary visual cortex
55
Q

what is the parietal lobe?

A
  • processes body sensations and involved in spatial processing (“where”)
  • contains the somatosensory cortex
56
Q

what is the temporal lobe?

A
  • processes auditory information and visual object perception (“what”)
  • contains primary auditory cortex and Wernicke’s area
57
Q

what is the frontal lobe?

A
  • speech and skeletal motor functions
  • contains the primary motor cortex, Broca’s area and the prefrontal cortex
58
Q

what is the primary motor cortex?

A
  • controls movement on opposite side of body
  • laid out in a pattern represented by a motor homunculus
  • the amount of cortical space devoted to each motor area is proportional to the sensitivity of the motor function (hands and mouth = more cortical space)
59
Q

what is the somatosensory cortex?

A
  • receives sensory information from opposite side of the body
  • laid out in a pattern represented by a sensory homunculus
  • the amount of cortical space devoted to each sensory input is proportional to the sensitivity of the sensory function (fingers, mouth = more cortical space)
60
Q

what is the role of glutamate?

A

-used by most neurons in the CNS and PNS anytime you see, smell, hear, taste or move your body
- most widely distributed excitatory neurotransmitter

61
Q

what is GABA?

A
  • most common inhibitory neurotransmitter
  • ised by approximately 30% of neurons in the brain
62
Q

what is the role of Acetylcholine (ACh)?

A

involved in memory and muscle activity

63
Q

what is the role of norepinephrine?

A

important for mood stability and arousal (depression)

64
Q

what is the role of serotonin?

A

influences mood, eating, sleep, and sexual behaviour (OCD)

65
Q

what is hemisphere lateralization?

A

the fact that each hemisphere of the brain performs somewhat different functions

66
Q

what are the right and left hemispheres responsible for?

A
  • Left Hemisphere: language, mathematical, logical abilities, positive emotions
  • Right Hemisphere: spatial relations, music, facial processing, negative emotions

Left visual field is processed in right hemisphere
Right visual field is processed in left hemisphere

67
Q

what is resting potential in neural communication?

A
  • if an axon is not sending or receiving g any signals, then it is negatively charged (-70mV)
  • the inside of the neuron has more negative charged than the outside
68
Q

what are the 2 main reasons for the negative charge when a neuron is in resting state?

A

1.) concentration gradient - the tendency for molecules is to distribute themselves evenly in their environment and move from [high] to [low]
2.) electrostatic pressure - ions will attract or repel each other depending on their electric charge

69
Q

what are 3 main players in neural communciation?

A
  • organic ions (A-) are stuck inside the cell
  • potassium ions (K+) flow relatively freely, concentration gradient wants to push them out of the cell (high to low) but electrostatic pressure wants to keep it inside the cell (+ and - attract)
  • sodium ions (Na+) are concentrated outside of the cell and electrostatic pressure and concentration gradient want it to go in, but Na+ doors don’t open well so it is stuck outside
70
Q

what are the steps to action potential?

A
  • first, the membrane must depolarized, or made less negative (10 or 20mV)
  • if threshold is reached (depolarization reaches a certain level), then Na+ channels open
  • cell’s electric charge becomes significantly more positive (+40mV)
  • voltage gated sodium channels close until cell returns to resting state
  • potassium channels also open, but with more of a lag
  • concentration gradient and electrostatic pressure work harder to force K+ ions outside of the cell
  • the cell becomes hyper-polarized (more negative -80mV)
    Cell closes and returns to resting
71
Q

what is the all-or-none principle?

A

once a neuron’s electrical charge reaches threshold and an action potential is triggered, the action potential will always occur with the same strength

PS101 (7 decks)

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