cortical arrangement

Question 1

What is the cerebral cortex? What does it contain? What are gyri and sulci? What do fissures separate?

Answer 1

Cerebral cortex covers the entire brain. It contains grey matter. Gyri stick out and sulci go in. fissures separate hemispheres and lobes.

Question 2

What is the microscopic organisation of the brain?

Answer 2

It is seprated in cortical columns and layers (the most superificial is the molecular layer and the others are pyramidal or granular)

Question 3

What are brodmann’s maps? Number of primary motor cortex and primary somatosensory cortices?

Answer 3

brodmann’s maps has numbers regarding the cells architecture in different parts of the brain - cell type & function (cytoarchitecture). Primary cortex - 4. primary somatosensory cortices - 1,2,3

Question 4

what are the lobes of the brain?

Answer 4

Frontal, parietal, occipital, temporal

Question 5

Where is the frontal lobe located? What does it contain? What is its functions?

Answer 5

Frontal lobe located in front of the central sulcus. It contains the primary motor cortex. Functions in motor function and cognitive functions (behaviour, attention, memory, planning)

Question 6

Where is the parietal lobe located? What are its functions?

Answer 6

Parietal lobe located behind the central sulcus. Contains somatosensory cortex. Function in sensation, proprioception, spatial awareness.

Question 7

Where is occipital lobe and functions?

Answer 7

Occipital lobe at the back and contains visual cortex to detect and understand visual stimuli

Question 8

Temporal lobe functions?

Answer 8

Processing of autidory information, emotions and memory

Question 9

What does the limbic lobe include and what is it concerned with?

Answer 9

Hippocampus, amygdala, cingulate gyrus, mamillary bodies. Concerned with memory, emotions, decision-making, learning, motivation, reward.

Question 10

What is the insular cortex concerned with and where does it lie?

Answer 10

Lies within the lateral fissure. Concerned with interoception, visceral sensations, auditory control, autonomic control.

Question 11

What is grey matter and what is white matter?

Answer 11

Grey matter contains cell bodies and glial cells. White matter contains neuronal axons (myelinated - thus white) and connects spinal cord to brain and other parts of body

Question 12

What do white matter tracts do?

Answer 12

bring information out from spinal cord to extremities and from extremities to brain, and connect different areas of the brain

Question 13

What are association fibres? What connects the frontal & occipital lobes? What connects the frontal and temporal lobes? What connects temporal and occipital lobes. What connects anterior frontal and temporal lobes?

Answer 13

Association fibres connect areas within the same hemisphere. Short and long fibres. Frontal & occipital lobes connected by superior longitudinal fasciculus. Frontal and temporal lobes connected by arcuate fasciculus. Temporal and occipital by inferior longitudinal fasciculus. Anterior frontal and temporal lobes by uncinate fasciculus.

Question 14

What are commissural fibres? What is an example?

Answer 14

Commissural fibres connect homologous structures in opposite hemispheres eg. Anterior commisure

Question 15

What are projection fibres? How do they move and what do they do?

Answer 15

Projection fibres connect cerebral cortex with lower structures like brainstem. Afferent fibres bring info towards cortex and efferent away. Efferent fibres are projection fibres that are taken to lower brain structures, radiate as the corona radiata and converge as they go from larger to smaller area. The go through the internal capsule between the thalamus and basal ganglia.

Question 16

Differences between primary cortices and secondary/association cortices?

Answer 16

Primary have predictable function, somatotopic representation, and L/R symmetry. Secondary have less predictable function, lack somatotopic representation and symmetry is absent/weak.

Question 17

What are the different motor areas in the frontal lobe and their functions?

Answer 17

Primary motor cortex for voluntary fine discrete movements. Supplementary area plans complex movements (internally cued) eg speech. Pre-motor area plans externally cued movements like picking up an object.

Question 18

What are the different sensory areas in the parietal lobe and their functions?

Answer 18

Primary somatosensory - for sensation, pain, fine touch, proprioception, vibration, temperature. Association somatosensory cortex gives meaning to the sensation eg. Recognising what object is in the hand.

Question 19

What are the different auditory areas in temporal lobe and their functions?

Answer 19

Primary auditory cortex - processes the auditory stimuli. Auditory association - gives meaning to the auditory stimulus heard

Question 20

What are the different visual areas in occipital lobe and their functions?

Answer 20

Primary visual cortex - detects visual stimulus. Visual association - gives meaning to the visual stimulus (interpretation)

Question 21

Where is the prefrontal cortex and its role?

Answer 21

For behaviour, attention, personality expression.

Question 22

Where is broca’s area and its role?

Answer 22

production of speech. frontal cortex (usually L hemisphere)

Question 23

Where is wernicke’s area and its role?

Answer 23

interpretation/understanding of speech. back of temporal lobe (usually L hemisphere)

Question 24

What do frontal lobe lesions usually cause?

Answer 24

Changes in personality and social behaviour

Question 25

What do parietal lobe lesions usually cause?

Answer 25

Contralateral neglect - lack of self-awareness on opposite side and extra-personal space.

Question 26

What do temporal lobe lesions cause?

Answer 26

Agnosia - inability to recognise things. Can cause anterograde amnesia too.

Question 27

Broca’s area lesion?

Answer 27

Expressive aphasia - poor production of speech

Question 28

Wernicke’s area lesion?

Answer 28

Receptive aphasia - poor interpretation of speech

Question 29

Primary visual cortex lesion?

Answer 29

Loss of vision in that visual field

Question 30

Visual association lesion?

Answer 30

Prosopagnosia - cant recognise faces. Cant interpret visual stimuli

Question 31

What does a PET scan show/do ?

Answer 31

Show which part of brain associated with specific function. Glucose uptake in different parts

Question 32

What does fMRI do/show?

Answer 32

Shows which part of brain associated with specific functions. Oxygen uptake in brain

Question 33

What does magnetoencephalography MEG measure?

Answer 33

Magnetic signals produced by the brain

Question 34

What does electroencephalography EEG measure?

Answer 34

electrical signals produced by brain

Question 35

What happens during an electroencephalography test? What are somatosensory evoked potentials?

Answer 35

Small sensors attached to scalp to pick up electrical signals produced by the brain. Somatosensory evoked potentials are sequential potentials along the somatosensory pathway

Question 36

What is TMS (transcranial magnetic stimulation), what does it do? What are its uses?

Answer 36

Uses electromagnetic induction to stimualte neurones and see where in pathway there is problem - if neuronal circuit is intact

Question 37

What is tDCS (transcranial direct current stimulation)?

Answer 37

Low direct current over scalp to increase/decrease firing rates

Question 38

What is DTI - diffusion tensor imaging based on?

Answer 38

Diffusion of water molecules

Question 39

What is DTI with tactography?

Answer 39

3D reconstruction to assess neural tracts