Exam 1 Flashcards
ch 1, 2, 3, 5
What is the localizationist view?
specific cognitive functions have a specific location in the brain
What is the aggregate view?
cognitive processes are distributed throughout the brain.
What is phrenology?
the pseduoscientific view that there were 35 areas that would differ in size on the skull and could predict personality (anatomical phrenology)
What supported the localization view?
Phineas Gage (frontal lobe), broca’s area, wernicke’s area, HM: Hippocampus, damage causing face blindness, Brodmann (cytoarchitectonics)
Cognitition
the process of knowing
Neuroscience
the study of the nervous system
Cognitive neuroscience
the study of how the brain enables the mind
What is dualism?
Mind and body as separate, Descartes, Mind (pineal gland) is immortal and the body is mortal
Empiricism
All knowledge comes from sensory experiences, the mind is a blank slate, Hobbes, Locke, Hume, Mull
Localization (mass action) vs equipotentiality (anti-localization)
Localization: specific processes are localized within circumscribed brain regions (destroyed parts of pigeon and rat brains and saw localization)
Aggregate Field View: cognitive processes are controlled by the entire brain, removed localized portions of cortex and noted their effects on bird behaviors (Jean Pierre Florens)
What is cyctoarchitectonics?
the study of the cellular composition of structures in the body. Brodmann used tissue stains to visualize the different cells in different areas and identified 52 distinct regions- consistent with localizationist view.
Neuron Doctrine
the nervous system is made up of individual cells. The basic functional unit of the brain is the single nerve cell, the neuron.
How did the neuron doctrine arise?
Golgi believed the whole brain was a syncytium, but Cajal found that neurons were discrete entities (unitary). Cajal used Golgi staining and saw they were connected together
What is the neuron doctrines competing theory?
Reticular theory (everything is continuous)
What did Fritz and Hitzig do?
o Electrical stimulation in a dog to produce movement
o Observed that the stimulation produced characteristic movements in the dog which led to neuroanatomists to analyze the cerebral cortex and its cellular organization more closely
oDiscovered the motor cortex
Rostral
Front of the brain, closest to the eyes
Dorsal
(think dorsal fin)
Top of the brain, closest to the hair
Caudal
back of the brain, closest to the cerebellum
What are ventricles for?
Ventricles contain cerebrospinal fluid, allows the brain to float, helps regulate pressure, shock absorption, and damage to the ventricle system is dangerous
Ventral
bottom of the brain, closest to the ear
Why is the cortex folded?
its a larger surface area in a smaller space so it can bring neurons closer to reduce axonal distance and connection times.
Sulci lobes
Lobes of the cortex: infoldings of the cortical sheet (crevices)
Gyri
crowns of the folded tissue that are visible on the surface
central sulcus
divides the frontal lobe from the parietal lobe
Sylvian (lateral) fissure
separates the temporal lobe from the frontal and parietal lobes
What distinguishes the occipital lobe from the parietal and temporal lobes?
the parieto-occipital notch
Where is the insula located?
Between the temporal and frontal lobes
Where are the four functional areas located?
Frontal lobe: front
Occipital lobe: back
Parietal lobe: top
Temporal lobe: bottom
functions of the frontal lobe
Motor cortex, complex cognitive processes, imagination, decision making, cognitive control, reasoning, problem solving
occipital lobe functions
contains primary visual cortex at back of the head, vision
Parietal lobe functions
primary somatosensory cortex, perception of spatial movement, touch
Temporal lobe functions
primary auditory cortex, wernicke’s area, face and object recognition, hearing
Cell body (soma)
contains the nucleus and other parts of the cell needed to sustain life
Dendrites
branching extensions of the neuron that receive inputs from other neurons (take information in)
axon
single process that extends from the cellbody and sends information out of the neuron or down the length of the axon
Axon terminal
Found at the end of the axon where synapses and other neurons are found, neurotransmitters are stored
Myelin Sheath
Layers of a fatty substance as insulation for axon, allows action potential to move quickly
Receptor site/receptor
can be specialized to certain molecules/neurotransmitters on the postsynaptic neuron, protein membrane site where neurotransmitters may bind
Synapse
the space between the terminal buttons of one axon and the dendrites of the next one so chemical or electric signals are passed from one cell to the next
Nodes of Ranvier
Gaps between myelin sheath, allow for saltatory conduction ( rapid electrical ion diffusion)
Schwann cells
glial cell, create myelin in peripheral nervous system, found close to axons and peripheral nerves
Neurotransmitter
signaling molecule, Chemical signal released by pre-synaptic neuron and picked up by post-synaptic neuron
Action potential
Rapid depolarization and repolarization of a small region of the membrane caused by the opening and closing of ion channels
o Glial cells
provide structural support and electrical insulation to neurons and modulating neuronal activity
Form myelin sheath
Transmits ions, keeps out bacteria and large hydrophilic molecules
Lets in oxygen, CO2, hormones, and respond to and release neurotransmitters