Chapters 17-18

Question 1

What is the endocrine gland that’s considered the “master gland” and secretes hormones that regulate many of our bodily functions?

Answer 1

Pituitary gland

Question 2

List the 6 things secreted by the anterior pituitary

Answer 2

1) ACTH
2) PRL (prolactin)
3) GH (growth hormone)
4) TSH
5) LH (luteinizing hormone)
6) FSH

Question 3

List the 2 things secreted by the posterior pituitary

Answer 3

1) Oxytocin
2) Vasopressin

Question 4

1) Where is the hypothalamus? What does it form?
2) What does it contain?

Answer 4

1) Underneath the thalamus; forms the walls and floor of the inferior portion of the third ventricle
2) Dozens of nuclei

Question 5

1) What surface of the brain is the hypothalamus on?
2) Where is it in relation to the optic chiasm?

Answer 5

1) Ventral surface
2) Posterior to the optic chiasm

Question 6

What part of the hypothalamus is the master clock of circadian rhythms?

Answer 6

Suprachiasmatic nucleus

Question 7

What 2 things link the neural and endocrine systems?

Answer 7

Hypothalamus and pituitary

Question 8

The hypothalamus the central regulator of what? How does it interact?

Answer 8

1) Homeostasis
2) Exerting influence over 4 other body systems:
-1-homeostatic mechanisms (that control hunger, thirst, sexual desire and sleep-wake cycles)
-2-endocrine control via the pituitary (controls release of hormones from the pituitary)
-3-autonomic control
-4-limbic mechanisms

Question 9

List and describe the 4 systems the hypothalamus controls to maintain homeostasis

Answer 9

1) Homeostatic mechanisms: that control hunger, thirst, sexual desire and sleep-wake cycles
2) Endocrine control via the pituitary: controls release of hormones from the pituitary
3) Autonomic control
4) Limbic mechanisms

Question 10

What two places does the hypothalamus receive inputs from?

Answer 10

The amygdala and regions of the limbic cortex

Question 11

The limbic-hypothalamic interconnections play an important role in what?
Give an example

Answer 11

Emotional influences on autonomic pathways
-ex/ why your palms get sweaty and your stomach churns when you are anxious.

Question 12

The regulator of circadian rhythms receives inputs from where? What do these contain?

Answer 12

Retinal ganglion cells containing photopigment melanopsin that contain information about day and night cycles.

Question 13

What can the photopigment melanopsin communicate to the suprachiasmatic nucleus

Answer 13

Information about day and night cycles.

Question 14

Lesions in the part of the hypothalamus that controls appetite can cause what?

Answer 14

Weight loss/obesity

Question 15

1) What core survival function is partially regulated in the hypothalamus?
2) What can lesions in this part of the hypothalamus do?

Answer 15

1) Thirst
2) Decrease water intake

Question 16

1) Oxytocin is produced in the hypothalamus and then released from the ____ pituitary
2) What does it do?

Answer 16

1) posterior
2) Increase nurturing behaviors

Question 17

1) The limbic system contains a variety of structures from the ______________ to the _______________.
2) Where are most limbic system structures? Are the visible from the lateral view?

Answer 17

1) forebrain to the brainstem.
2) Most are hidden in the medial hemispheres and not visible from the lateral view.

Question 18

The limbic cortex forms what? What two things does it surround?

Answer 18

A ring–like limbic lobe surrounding the corpus collosum and upper brainstem

Question 19

1) What do the limbic cortices share?
2) Give an example

Answer 19

1) Certain surface immunological markers
2) Ex/HSV has a propensity for the limbic cortex and can cause severe encephalitis involving predominantly the limbic cortex

Question 20

1) Structures of the limbic system regulate what 5 processes?
2) The limbic system contains what?

Answer 20

1) Emotions, olfaction, memory, drives and homeostasis.
2) Cortical and subcortical structures located mainly in the medial and central hemispheres

Question 21

What are the 4 main categories of limbic system functions?

Answer 21

1) Homeostatic functions including autonomic and neuroendocrine control
2) Olfaction
3) Memory
4) Emotions and drives
HOME

Question 22

What is the hippocampus’s:
1) Shape?
2) Location?
3) Function?

Answer 22

C-shaped structure buried in the medial temporal lobe important in memory functions

Question 23

1) What is the amygdala?
2) Where is it?
3) What does it function in?

Answer 23

1) Complex of nuclei in the anteromedial temporal lobe
2) Tip of the hippocampus
3) Emotional, autonomic, and neuroendocrine circuits of the limbic system

Question 24

Smell contributes to the detection of what two things?

Answer 24

1) Odors in the world
2) Taste (retro nasal smell)

Question 25

Describe the path of olfactory receptor neurons (3 steps)

Answer 25

Send axons through the cribriform plate to the olfactory bulbs to the olfactory nerves > olfactory tract > olfactory cortex

Question 26

Some fibers of the olfactory tract go where? Why?
Give an example of this function

Answer 26

Amygdala; some odors illicit old memories
**peppermint=> aids in memory and concentration

Question 27

What are the two jobs of the hippocampus?

Answer 27

1) Memory
2) Creates context for past/future events

Question 28

What are the 2 main regions in the brain that are critical for memory formations? What does each contain?

Answer 28

1) Medial temporal lobe memory area: contains the hippocampus
2) Forebrain: contains nuclei of the thalamus and hypothalamus.
-There are numerous pathways that connect the 2.

Question 29

Today, patients with refractory temporal lobe epilepsy can be cured with what? Why?

Answer 29

Unilateral medial temporal lobe resection; to preserve memory by preserving one side

Question 30

What are the two types of memory?

Answer 30

Declarative and nondeclarative
****

Question 31

1) Define declarative memory
2) Define nondeclarative memory
***

Answer 31

1) Explicit memory; involves conscious recall of facts or experiences.
2) Implicit memory which involves nonconscious learning of habits, skills or other acquired behaviors.

Question 32

John Doe could not recall new facts but, could learn things subconsciously. Therefore, he had lost his _________________ memory, but his _________________ memory stayed intact

Answer 32

declarative; nondeclarative
***

Question 33

List the jobs of the pituitary hormones

Answer 33

Oxytocin: uterine contractions, milk letdown
PRL: milk production
FSH, LH: gonads
ACTH: adrenal cortex
TSH: thyroid (to make T3 and T4)
ADH (vasopressin): kidney water retention
GH: long bone growth

Question 34

What does the posterior pituitary contain?

Answer 34

Axons whose cell bodies are located in the hypothalamus

Question 35

1) What can the hypothalamus detect?
2) What can lesions there cause because of this?
3) What does the posterior hypothalamus do?

Answer 35

1) Increased body temperature
2) Hyperthermia
3) Conserves heat.

Question 36

What are the 3 types of memory loss?

Answer 36

1) Anatomical abnormalities visible on imaging
2) No anatomical abnormalities visible on imaging
3) Normal forms of memory loss

Question 37

Cerebral contusion caused by head trauma can result in what? What does it usually involve?

Answer 37

Permanent memory loss; usually involves the medial temporal lobes.

Question 38

What is memory loss like in concussion?

Answer 38

Usually reversible memory loss except for a few hours around the injury

Question 39

Can infarcts/ischemia cause memory loss? When?

Answer 39

They can, especially when bilateral medial temporal lobes are affected.

Question 40

1) What cause of memory loss could be due to a cardiac arrest?
2) Is memory loss permanent? What structure is involved?

Answer 40

1) Global cerebral anoxia
2) Memory loss is usually permanent; the hippocampus is very vulnerable to anoxic injury

Question 41

Seizures can cause what?

Answer 41

Memory loss

Question 42

List 4 causes of memory loss

Answer 42

1) Concussion
2) Infarcts/ischemia
3) Global cerebral anoxia
4) Seizures

Question 43

1) What is the amygdala? Where is it?
2) What two things does it play a big role in?

Answer 43

1) A group of nuclei in the anteromedial temporal lobe at the tip of the hippocampus
2) In emotions and drives.

Question 44

1) The amygdala has direct and indirect connections to what 3 areas?
2) Where else does it have connections to? What is each related to?

Answer 44

1) Diverse cortical areas, the forebrain, and thalamus.
2) -Olfaction and the hypothalamus: related to appetite states.
-Hypothalamus and brainstem: involved in autonomic control and the control of breathing.

Question 45

What is an active participant in all 4 limbic functions?

Answer 45

Amygdala

Question 46

What is the amygdala important in?

Answer 46

Attaching emotions to stimuli perceived by the association cortex.

Question 47

1) What emotional states is the amygdala involved in?
2) What 2 structures have reciprocal interactions with the amygdala?
3) What do all 3 structures do together?

Answer 47

1) Fear, anxiety, aggression, pleasure, and rage
2) Amygdala, hypothalamus and brainstem
3) Mediate changes in heart rate, peristalsis, gastric secretions, piloerections, and sweating

Question 48

What two things cause anxiety?

Answer 48

1) Excessive activity in the amygdala
2) Failure of control by the frontal cortex

Question 49

What NTs can be markedly imbalanced in bipolar depression/ mania?

Answer 49

Serotonin, norepinephrine, and dopamine

Question 50

1) What structures being abnormal can cause schizophrenia?
2) What NT is can cause it, and what can improve symptoms?

Answer 50

1) Limbic system, frontal lobes, and thalamus.
2) An abnormality in dopamine, therefore symptoms can improve with antidopaminergic agents