Chapter 3: Neuroscience

Question 1

Define neuroscience

Answer 1

The study of the brain and nervous system

Question 2

What are 4 ways that scientists study the nervous system?

Answer 2

Autopsy, studying patients w brain damage, animal studies (lesioning), EEGs

Question 3

What is lesioning and EEG?

Answer 3

Lesioning - destroying certain brain parts to see how behaviour changes

EEGs - electroencephalograms - recording brain activity from scalp surface

Question 4

Imaging:

MRI
CAT/CT
DTI

Answer 4

MRI - magnetic resonance imaging

CAT/CT - computed tomographic (X rays)

DTI - diffuser tensor imaging (white matter)

Question 5

Imaging:

fMRI
PET
TMS

Answer 5

fMRI - functional MRI - blood O2

PET - positron emission tomography (radioactive chemicals like glucose in bloodstream)

TMS - transcranial magnetic stimulation (electromagnetic pulses)

Question 6

Nervous system:

CNS
PNS
Neurons

Answer 6

Central nervous system (brain and spinal cord)
Peripheral nervous system (other nerves)
Neurons (carry info around)

Question 7

Afferent vs efferent vs interneurons

Answer 7

Afferent (sensory)
Efferent (motor)
Interneurons (spinal cord relay)

Question 8

Somatic vs autonomic nervous system

Answer 8

Somatic - sensory and motor delivery

Autonomic -fight or flight on/off

Question 9

Sympathetic vs parasympathetic?

Answer 9

Sympathetic - fight or flight on

Parasympathetic - fight or flight off

Question 10

What does the hindbrain do? What structures does it contain?

Answer 10

Survival functions (breathing/moving/sleep),
Contains medulla, pons, cerebellum and reticular formation

Question 11

What does the midbrain do? What piece does it contain?

Answer 11

Movement and fluidity, substantia nigra

Question 12

What does the forebrain do?

Answer 12

A little of everything, has lots of parts. Complex thought/emotion, sensory, motor functions, etc.

Question 13

Reticular formation

Answer 13

sleep/mood/energy/sex

Question 14

Pons

Answer 14

Bridges medulla and other brain areas, involuntary stuff (sleep, breathing, swallowing, eyes, face)

Question 15

Medulla

Answer 15

Heartbeat, breathing, coughing, sneezing

Question 16

Cerebellum

Answer 16

Movement and muscle memory

Question 17

Thalamus

Answer 17

Sensory relay station except smell

Question 18

Hypothalamus

Answer 18

Motivation, survival drives and hormones

Question 19

Pituitary gland

Answer 19

Hormones

Question 20

Limbic system function and parts?

Answer 20

Motivation, emotion, learning, memory

Includes amygdala, hypothalamus, thalamus, many others

Question 21

Amygdala function

Answer 21

Fear processing

Question 22

Hippocampus

Answer 22

Learning and memory (helps process and store new information)

Question 23

Basal ganglia and nucleus accumbens

Answer 23

Cognitive flexibility, voluntary movement

Nucleus - motivation and reward learning

Question 24

Cerebral cortex (how many cells?)

Answer 24

Complex functions (consciousness, language, thought,)

30,000 billion nerve cells

Question 25

What are the areas of the cerebral cortex? What do they do? (3 cortexes)

Answer 25

Sensory cortex (touch)
Motor cortex (muscles)
Association cortex (complex functions, thinking, planning, sensory processing)

Question 26

What are the lobes/parts of the cerebral cortex? What do they do? (5)

Answer 26

Frontal lobe - thinking
Prefrontal cortex - memory, mood, planning
Parietal lobe - sensory
Occipital lobe (back) - vision
Temporal lobe (sides) - audio + complex visual (ie faces)

Question 27

Define parallel processing

Answer 27

Basically multitasking

Question 28

Where are Broca’s and Wernicke’s areas located and what do they do?

Answer 28

Broca’s - frontal lobe, speech production

Wernicke’s - temporal lobe - speech comprehension

Question 29

What are the 5 neuron parts? What do they do?

Answer 29

Dendrites - receive info

Cell body - passes info to axon if enough received

Axon - length where message travels

Myelin sheath - protects cell and speeds impulses

Terminal buttons - connectors and neurotransmitters

Question 30

What are glial cells, astrocytes, oligodendroglia and microglia?

Answer 30

Glia - support neurons
Astro - blood/brain barrier, communications, brain healing
Oli - makes myelin
Microglia - cleanup and prevent infection

Question 31

What are nodes of ranvier?

Answer 31

Bare axon bits that relay action potentials

Question 32

What are neurotransmitters contained in?

Answer 32

Synaptic vesicles

Question 33

Postsynaptic potentials? Excitatory vs inhibitory?

Answer 33

Stuff that happens when neurotransmitters bind to receptors

Excitatory - ⬆️ likelihood of action potential

Inhibitory - ⬇️ likelihood of action potential

Question 34

Glutamate, GABA, acetylcholine functions?

Answer 34

Glutamate - learning, movement, emotions, thinking

GABA - learning, anxiety

Acetylcholine - learning, attention, movement

Question 35

Dopamine, serotonin, norepinephrine functions?

Answer 35

Dopamine - movement, reward chemical

Serotonin - mood, sleep, memory

Norepinephrine - attention, arousal

Question 36

Neuroplasticity?

Answer 36

Brain ability to make new connections + reorganize w injury or experience

Question 37

Traumatic vs acquired brain injuries?

Answer 37

Traumatic - concussions, spinal cord injuries,

Acquired - infections, toxins, diseases, strokes

Question 38

What are some treatments for brain injuries? (5)

Answer 38

Early care, medications, cooling, neuron loss prevention, behavioural therapies

Question 39

What is the corpus callosum?

Answer 39

Bunch of axons connecting the sides of the brain

Question 40

What is phylogeny?

Answer 40

Development of species over time.

Question 41

Homologous vs analogous traits? Convergent evolution?

Answer 41

Homo - traits evolved from common ancestor
Analogous - evolved dependently in different species
Convergent evolution - similar characteristics in creatures with no common ancestor