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Neuropsychology > Exam 1 > Flashcards

Exam 1 Flashcards

1
Q

What are the two kinds of cells found in the nervous system and what is their difference?

A

Neurons and Glial

Neurons are the most common and main type of cell and they receive and transmit information

Glial cells insulate and protect the brain

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2
Q

How many neurons does a human brain have?

A

100 billion

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3
Q

Do Glial cells communicate too?

A

Very recent research suggests so, but little is known yet.

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4
Q

Who is responsible for discovering the synapse and how did they do it?

A

Ramon y Cajal - he worked it out by creating a staining technique.

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5
Q

What is the substance that separates the neurons cell body from the outside?

A

plasma membrane or phospholipid bilayer (made of two layers of glycerol or fatty acids)

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6
Q

What are the main parts of a cell body and what are their main function?

A

Plasma membrane (which protects the cell body and allows certain chemicals in such as through protein channels)

Nucleus - DNA house

Mitochondria - provide energy and metabolism. require fuel and oxygen to work

Ribosomes - sites at which the cell synthesizes new protein molecules

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7
Q

Where can you find ribosomes?

A

Some float freely while some are attached to the endoplasmic reticulum, a network of tubes that ships proteins to different locations in the cell

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8
Q

Why are proteins important to a cell?

A

They provide building materials and facilitate chemical reactions?

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9
Q

What neurotransmitter is released at the neuromuscular junction?

A

ACH - acetacholine

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10
Q

What are the other names for motor and sensory neurons?

A

Motor or efferent

Sensory or afferent

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11
Q

What unique relationship does the brain have to motor neurons that it does not have with sensory neurons?

A

Motor neurons have the ability to act without the brain. Consider for example reflexes. It’s a protective measure.

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12
Q

What are the sensory receptors for your eyes?

A

Rods and cones

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13
Q

What are the sensory receptors for audition?

A

Hair cells in your ears

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14
Q

What are the two main fibres in your body that process pain?

A

A Delta fibers - responsible for first pain

C Fibers - responsible for second pain (like the next day pain feels different from the initial pain)

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15
Q

What are the nodes of myelin made up of?

A

Glial cells

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16
Q

Who is responsible for giving the synapse its name?

A

Sir Charles Sherrington

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17
Q

What are the 4 types of Glial cells?

A

Astrocytes (hold neurons in a network together)

Microglia (NS immune system)

Oligodendrocytes and Schwann cells (serve as MS)

Radial glia

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18
Q

Which cells are used to create the Blood Brain Barrier

A

Astroglia or Astrocytes

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19
Q

What are the two mechanisms by which a substance can pass the blood brain barrier?

A

If the substance is fat soluble or an uncharged molecule

chemical pumps

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20
Q

What disease results in the shrinking of the blood brain barrier?

A

Alzheimer’s

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21
Q

How much of our body’s oxygen does our body use?

A

20%

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22
Q

What does thiamine do to our neurons and what can a lack of it do?

A

We need thiamine in order to use glucose and it’s deficiency can lead to death of neurons.

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23
Q

What is the dorsal root ganglion?

A

A ganglia that is designed to transmit sensory information afferently from the PNS to CNS.

24
Q

What type of cell is key in creating the BBB and why?

A

Astrocytes/Astroglia exist much more closely together in brain vessels than in other vessels. In this way it is very difficult to be able to restrict what gets in and out more effectively.

25
Q

If you need to introduce more of a substance which cannot pass the BBB, what is the solution?

A

Don’t give the patient the substance, give them the ingredients to make more and the body will.

26
Q

What is selective permeability

A

The ability for neuron channels to be exactly the right size to not let certain substances in or out.

27
Q

What main forces push sodium into the cell?

A
  1. The inside of the cell is negatively charged and the sodium outside is positive - opposites attract!
  2. There is a concentration gradient - the sodium is crowded outside so it wants to get inside.

3.

28
Q

What causes the electrical gradient?

A

The chloride (Cl-) cells - they balance the negative potassium and positive sodium by having around the same amount both in and out of the cell.

29
Q

What are voltage gated channels?

A

Channels which only open when the voltage of the neuron changes (sodium pump example in motor neuron from John)

30
Q

Why common bodily element can cause a stroke when there is too much of it?

A

Sodium

31
Q

What is saltatory conduction?

A

The process by which the sodium enters the cell and moves along the MS to regenerate at the nodes of ranvier rather than every single channel along the axon. This also saves energy because we don’t have to open every channel.

32
Q

Why do we have reflexes?

A

To prevent further damage in urgent situations? The reflexes work without the brain, cutting down important response time. The information is then sent to the CNS after the reflex happens.

33
Q

What discovery did Sherrington contribute to our knowledge about neurons?

A

He figured out that the synapses must exist because the speed at which a reflex moved was slower than that of an axon’s typical conduction velocity.

34
Q

What are the two types of summation as it regards to action potentials?

A

Temporal - repeated stimulation over time causes an action potential

Spatial - synaptic inputs from separate locations combine their effects on a neuron

35
Q

What ion causes exocytosis of the vesicles in the synaptic terminal where NT is released?

A

Calcium

36
Q

What are the three modes of removing excess NT in the synapse?

A

reputake
difussion/degradation

37
Q

What are the six major categories of NT?

A

Amino acids

Monoamines

Acetylcholine

Neuropeptides

Purines

Gases

38
Q

What is an ionitropic effect?

A

Fast on/off effects

39
Q

What are autoreceptors?

A

They provide negative feedback to let the presynaptic neurons know that the message was recieved.

40
Q

Sensory information comes through the _____ of your spine and motor action comes out the _____ of your spine.

A
  1. dorsal side
  2. ventral surface
41
Q

What is so special about the pons and why it’s named after a bridge?

A

It’s called the bridge because this is the point in your brain where information begins to cross to the other side of the spinal cord. This is the beginning of the opposing hemispheres.

41
Q

How many pairs of cranial nerves are there?

A

12

42
Q

Which sense does not pass through the thalamus and why?

A

Olfaction, because it is already so close to the brain, it can just go straight through.

43
Q

Who found that as the brain engages in problem solving challenges, its activity also changes?

A

Angelo Mosso

44
Q

What are the two types of potential for a neuron?

A

Action: transmits a signal over a long distance

Graded: transmits a more local signal based on the stimulus

45
Q

Which three brain scans rely on neuronal electric activity?

A

EEG

ERP

MEG

46
Q

What is EEG used to diagnose?

A

Abnormal brain signals

47
Q

What are the two types of seizures?

A

partial - limited to a few regions of the brains?

general - spread over the entire brain

48
Q

What does a MEG test allow you to do?

A

Map where the activity is coming from in your brain.

49
Q

What are single cell brain imaging techniques?

A

EEG
ERP
MEG

50
Q

what are examples of brain stimulation imaging?

A

TMS

51
Q

What are examples of dynamic brain imaging?

A

PET

52
Q

How does a PET scan work?

A

by introducing a radioactive tracer into the circulatory system. When the radioactive substance begins to decay it gives off energy via positrons. These are then destroyed, creating energy and activity which can be recorded.

53
Q
A
54
Q
A

Neuropsychology (1 decks)

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