CNS Terms Flashcards
Definition of
frontal lobe (position)
front/top (in front of central sulcus)
Definition of
Bottom-up selective action
Rapid, automatic notice of most salient stimuli; “vetoes” top-down (volitional) control
Definition of
Unimodal association cortex
Association cortex with 1 input source
Definition of
anterolateral system
fibers from spinal cord to thalamus & brainstem, for pain & temperature
Definition of
spinothalamic tract
fibers from spinal cord to thalamus
Definition of
brainstem
midbrain, pons, medulla
Definition of
gyri
ridges on cortical surface - increase surface area for cell bodies
Definition of
Thalamus LGN (abbreviation, def)
Thalamus Lateral Geniculate Nucleus; where optic nerves synapse in the brain
Definition of
Reticular formation
loose network of neurons in brain stem, for Level of Consciousness
Definition of
diencephalon
hypothalamus & thalamus (& subthalamus)
Definition of
forebrain
diencephalon
Definition of
Left-side spatial neglect
Inability to process objects in left half of visual field; results from lesion in right-side of parietal association areas
Definition of
occipital lobe (position)
back, above cerebellum
Definition of
Apraxia
Clumsiness; results from lesion in motor association cortex
Definition of
sulci
grooves on cortical surface - increase surface area for cell bodies; separate cortical lobes
Definition of
Wernicke’s aphasia
Non-sensical speech, made-up words, lack of comprehension (fluency, syntax, grammar, word-structure intact); results from lesion in Wernicke’s area
Definition of
Tactile agnosia
Inability to make sense of stimuli; results from lesion in sensory association cortex
Definition of
sclera
outer layer of eyeball, continuous with cornea
Definition of
Conduction aphasia
Difficulty repeating words back (language production & comprehension individually intact); results from lesion in arcuate fasciculus
Definition of
Dorsal signal stream (vision)
spatial vision region
Definition of
Lateral corticospinal tract
controls limbs; opposite side (crosses midline)
Definition of
Ventral signal stream (vision)
visual recognition region
Definition of
Content of Consciousness
What the brain is aware of (perception, emotion, meaning, memories, etc.)
Definition of
grey matter (& location)
neuronal cell bodies in CNS (cortical surface, deep in cortex & middle & edge of spinal cord)
Definition of
Anterior corticospinal tract
controls core; same side
Definition of
Reticular formation
Loose neural network in brain stem, part of level of consciousness
Definition of
Optic chiasm
Location where fibers from the left half of the right eyeball’s visual field & the right half of the left eyeball’s visual field cross
Definition of
Proprioception
Recognition of where certain body parts are relative to other body parts
Definition of
temporal lobe (position)
bottom/front (below central sulcus, frontal lobe, parietal lobe)
Definition of
parietal lobe (position)
top/middle-back (behind central sulcus)
Definition of
ARAS (ascending reticular activating system)
Activates reticular formation (in brain stem) to modulate level of consciousness
Definition of
Top-down selective action
Volitional (decided) control of what to focus on and what to ignore
Definition of
Vermis
Strip of anterior cerebellar lobe, up front/center
Definition of
Level of Consciousness
level of arousal (asleep/awake scale)
Definition of
retina
inner, sensory layer of eyeball
Definition of
aqueous humor
water-like fluid in anterior & posterior chambers of eyeball (between iris & cornea, and between iris and lens)
Definition of
Arcuate fasciculus
Links Broca’s and Wernicke’s areas for language processing
Definition of
choroid layer (& location)
middle layer of eyeball; uveal tract: blood vessels, etc. (between sclera & retina)
Definition of
State of Consciousness
Responsiveness to stimuli (scale of “presence”)
Definition of
Broca’s aphasia
Non-fluent speech and poor syntax/grammar; results from lesion in Broca’s area
Definition of
Dark current
constant Glu release by rod/cone cells in the dark causes OFF ganglion cells to continually fire APs, which stop (ON ganglion cells start) when light hits
Definition of
Peduncles
Connect cerebellum to brain stem
Definition of
Agnosia
Inability to recognize; results from lesion in temporal association areas (also in primary sensory cortex)
Definition of
Heteromodal association cortex
Association cortex with multiple input sources
Definition of
telencephalon
cerebral hemispheres & deep structures (thalamus, basal ganglia, limbic system)
Definition of
Astereognosis
Inability to identify objects in hand; results from lesion in sensory association cortex
Definition of
vitreous humour
jelly-like fluid in vitreous body of eyeball (behind lens, in front of retina)
Definition of
Selective action
Method of concentrating on certain stimuli while ignoring competing stimuli
Definition of
fovea
site of particularly good visual acuity; cell layers pushed off to the side so that light hits cones (low sensitivity) directly; focal point
