Exam 1 Flashcards
What is a primary response area?
only that specific response/stimulus will activate that brain region
What is a secondary/tertiary area?
mainly responsive to one type of stimulus but susceptible to other stimuli
How can brain activity be measured?
EEG, electrode arrays, fMRI, patch clamp, dye with microscope, tetrods
What is a tetrod?
A way to measure brain activity; can use 2-4 arrays to get single cell resolution/spiking cand measure synaptic communication
What are the two differing views on fundamental organization in the brain?
Cajal and Kuffler believed that neurons communicate through chemicals passing through synapses. Golgi and Eccles believed that communication occurred through physical connection and electrical current.
What is a Golgi stain? and where was the first imaged taken?
Golgi stain is used to stain 1% of cells but you get complete staining allowing for a closer look at details of cells. In the dentate gyrus of the temporal lobe
How did the fundamental organization controversy get answered?
Eccles used electrical recordings to determine that an action potential at one neuron caused an inverse in the other indicating a chemical response. Another method developed at the time was electron microscope
What is the Neuron Doctrine?
The neuron is the fundamental anatomical, physiological, genetic, and biochemical unit of the nervous system
What are the four types of neurons?
- unipolar (one axon in one direction with dendrites branching off axon)
- bipolar (one axon in one direction and dendrites in the other)
- pseudo-unipolar (axon with dendrites and a soma that branches off the axon)
- multipolar cells-
a. motor neuron of SC (dendrites on soma and axon in one direction)
b. pyramidal cells of HC (multiple dendrite branch points)
c. purkinje cell of cerebellum (tree of dendrites)
What are the 3 modes of firing in cortical pyramidal cells?
- regular
- burst
- cerebellar Purkinje cell
What are the 3 modes of firing in thalamic relay cell?
- Transfer mode
- burst
- medial habenular cell
What are place cells?
neurons in the hippocampus that fire when an animal visits specific region of an environment
What are affect or afferent signals?
internal and external environment send through sensory ganglia and nerves to the central nervous system
What are effect or efferent signals?
signals sent from the central nervous system through the peripheral (autonomic or somatic) nervous system to effector organs such as skeletal muscles and smooth muscles
How does the brain form from an embryo
Begins as tube from an invagination from skin that expands overtime forming the telencephalon, diencephalon, mesencephalon, and rhombicencephalon
What are the seven parts of the nervous system?
SC, medulla/pons, cerebellum, midbrain, diencephalon, cerebrum
What is parasagital?
either way from the midline
What is topography?
Representative image of amount of connectivity with the brain a certain region of the body has
What is Broca’s area?
Area at the border of the frontal lobe with temporal lobe where a stroke will cause motor problems (i.e. can’t form words)
What is Wernicke’s area?
Area bordering parietal, temporal, and occipital lobe where a lesion can cause problems with language appreciation and generation
What are the 4 parts of the SC?
- cervical
- thoracic
- lumbar
- sacral
Why is gray matter gray?
because there is no myelin
What are cortical lesions?
Lesions that cause deficits on the opposite side for sensory and motor
What are cerebellum lesions?
Lesions that cause deficits on the same side because output to the thalamus crosses the midline and cortex signals cross sides again
What are the 3 functions of the brain stem?
- receive sensory info from head and moves head
- transmit info from cord to higher levels and back
- regulate levels of arousal
How could mike the chicken survive without a head?
Mike survived because he still had the brain stem which allowed for basic functions such as breathing to occur and the brain stem contain their own sensory nuclei
What happens at the pyramids of medulla?
The dorsal column and cortical spinal tract cross
What do glial cells do at synapses?
involved in maintaining synapse
Explain Otto Loewi’s demonstration of chemical transmission
Using frog hearts in two separate connected bins of fluid, Loewi stimulated the vagus nerve of heart 1 with an electrical stimulator and measured conductance of the second heart. This experiment showed the first demonstration of chemical synapse
What are the results of Loewi’s experiment?
Stimulation of heart 1 save a slower heartbeat but the fluid from the first heart on the second heart had a delayed but similar result
Are there electrical synapses in the CNS?
yes there are some although more in invertebrates then mammals
How many different transmitters would you need to build a nervous system?
At least 2 different transmitters- one that is excitatory and one that is inhibitory OR 1 neurotransmitter with different synapses
What are the 6 classes of neurotransmitters?
- acetylcholine (seen in Loewi’s experiment)
- biogenic amines (DA, 5-HT, NE, E, and histamine)
- Amino acids (glutamate, GABA and glycine)
- neuropeptides (protein like)
- purine (ATP and adenosine)
- gases (NO, CO)
Do neurotransmitters vary in size?
yes; Ach is a small molecule. Carnosin is a small peptide, insulin is a large peptide
What are the 5 criteria for determining if a compound is an endogenous transmitter for a specific synapse?
- synthesized in the neuron
- present in the presynaptic terminal and released in amounts sufficient to produce an action potential
- exogenous administration mimics action of the endogenously released transmitter exactly
- mechanism exists for terminating the action (Ach is unique)
- when specific antagonists are administered they produce the same actions on the exogenously administered compound as on the neurally released transmitter
Of the three synapses, sympathetic, parasympathetic and motor, which synapses directly on target organ?
motor and it uses Ach
Of the three synapses, sympathetic, parasympathetic and motor, which postganglionic synapse uses norepinephrin?
sympathetic which uses Ach for pre to postganglionic but norepinephrine for transmission to target (heart, blood vessels and sweat glands (exception))
What is the difference between sensory and autonomic ganglia?
sensory has no synapses or interruptions seen in autonomic
What type of neurons are sensory neurons?
they are pseudounipolar as in they project to both periphery and spinal cord
What are the 5 steps in the natural history of neurotransmitters?
- synthesis
- storage
- release
- postsynaptic action
- inactivation
How is acetylcholine made?
choline and acetyl undergo a reaction with the choline acetyltransferase enzyme
Which synapses use acetylcholine?
transmitter between:
1. postganglionic parasympathetic and effector organ
2. preganglionic and postganglionic parasympathetic neurons
3. motor neurons and skeletal muscle
4. preganglionic and postganglionic sympathetic neurons
5. certain neurons in the CNS
Which receptors do only endogenous acetylcholine act on?
nicotinic (ionotropic-excite) and muscarinic (metabotropic-excite and inhibit)
How is cholinergic transmission terminated?
rapid catabolism of Ach via enzyme acetylcholinesterase which is found in high concentrations in the synapse
How do the inhibitors, sarin, parathion, and tacrine, differ in binding to AChE enzyme?
how tightly they bind
Model of cholinergic synapse
- ACh is made from choline and acetyl-CoA by choline acetyltransferase
- ACh enters vesicle by vesicular ACh transporter
- released into synapse where it is broken down by AChE
- choline is transported back into the axon terminal to make more ACh
What is a catecol?
a benzene ring with two adjacent hydroxyl groups
What are the three types of catecholamines?
dopamine, epinephrine, norepinephrine
How are all the catecholamines made?
L-tyrosine is made into L-Dopa by TH
L-Dopa is made into dopamine by L-Aromatic AA decarboxylase
dopamine is made into norepinephrine by DOPA beta hydroxylase
epinephrine is made into epinephrine by phenylethanolamine n-methyltransferase
What does DOPA stand for?
dihydroxyphenylalanine
What is the rate limiting step for catecholamine synthesis?
TH (tyrosine hydroxylase)
Where did Carlsson determine that dopamine functions as a neurotransmitter in its own right?
straitum- substantia nigra in the nigrostriatal tract
What disease is caused by decreases in nigral neuronal cell bodies?
PD due to depletion of dopamine in the substantia nigra and striatum
Carlsson used reserpine to deplete catecholamines but what did he use to restore?
L-DOPA
Dopaminergic pathways in the CNS
made in substantia nigra and ventral tegmental area and spreads into the mesocortical pathway, nigrostriatal pathway, tuberoinfundibular pathway and mesolimbic pathway
Why do some neurons express dopamine, norepinephrine, or epinephrine?
neuron specific expression of the genes required to make the 3 biosynthetic enzymes