Exam #2

Question 1

Describe limb amputation experiments that provide evidence for motor cortex platicity?

Answer 1

Somatosensory cortex undergoes remapping process in which areas near the dead are taken over so that stimuli will be felt in this re-purpused area. Experiments include the Owl Monkey they mapped the cortex, lesion spinal cord, and mapped spinal chord months afterwords showing the re-purposing.

Question 2

How do A-fiberand C-fiber differ? What type of pain does each confer tp the central brain?

Answer 2

.A-fibers are mylenated and have sharp pains at a fast response.
C-fibers are unmylenated and have dull pains at a later response.

Question 3

What is the the SOD1 transgenic mouse model? How might treating these mice with EAAt2- gene therapy alleviate ALS?

Answer 3

.SOD1 transgenic mouse: Knockout for ALS.

Jamie has the idea to overexpress EAAT2 in these SOD1 mice.

Question 4

What neurons.brain regions die in patients with Parkinsons and Huntingtons disease? Note: this would likely be a matching question.

Answer 4

Huntington diseas-Basal Ganglia, have CAG reapets, Everyone has some just have the CAG overexpessed. We know forsure when somone has Huntingtons through testing. Caudate has degenerated.

Parkinsons-Mid Brain structure made up of 5 nuclei
Substantia Nigra(One of BG Nuclei): Apoptosis of dopamine producing cells w/in SN

Question 5

What are the roles of the motor cortex,primary motor cortex, cerebellum, and basal gangalia. Note: Just know the general roles of these movement-regulating structures.

Answer 5

.Basal Ganglia-Degenerates in Huntington’s and PD
Multiple loops that control the execution
of movement.
Cerebellum-Modifies timing of motor movements.
Involved in fine tuning of movements and motor learning
Pre-motor cortex- mirror neurons,
Primary motor-are secondary modulators in motor control but are actual neurons that carry function. higher order functioning

Question 6

Functions: Primary motor cortex vs. Premotor cortex

Answer 6

Primary motor cortex- Controls execution of movement.

Premotor cortex- Controls planning and modification of movement. Receives inputs from numerous cortical areas including the parietal (sensory) lobe.

Question 7

19. What is Hebbian plasticity and how can it be studied with electrophysiology.

Answer 7

Hebbian “neurons that wire together fire together”

Electrophysiological recordings and selective ablation show distinct signaling properties.

Question 8

EATT2 Gene and ALS

Answer 8

EAAT2(Excitatory Amino Acid Transporter):
Major Glutamate Transporter(“responsible for 90% of total glutamate uptake”)
“Dysfunction of EAAT2 and accumulation of excessive extracellular glutamate has been implicated in the development of several neurodegenerative diseases including Alzheimer’s disease, Huntington’s disease, and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.”
EATT2 Gene therapy could repair dysfunctional gene expression and arrest or reverse neurodegeneration

Question 9

The Cerebellum and Basal Ganglia are critical modifiers of movement

Answer 9

Basal Ganglia-Degenerates in Huntington’s and PD
Multiple loops that control the execution
of movement.
Cerebellum-Modifies timing of motor movements.
Involved in fine tuning of movements and motor learning

Question 10

In Parkinson disease what type of neurons are lacked

Answer 10

Lacks Dopamine neurons

Question 11

Genes involved in Parkinsons disease and what happens.

Answer 11

alpha-synuclein and parkin.Parkinson’s Disease: Multiple genes involved. Degeneration of dopamine neurons

Question 12

Cause of huntington

Answer 12

polyglutamine repeats in the Huntington gene.Polyglutamine disorders also cause spinocerrebellar ataxia

Question 13

Master regulator genes and how do they differ from other genes?

Answer 13

courtship behavior, that genes cable of educing courtship behavior. if you take the male version of the fruitless gene and stick it in the female fly and the female fly courts like the male fly that that suggest that this is the gene conferring courtship behavior.

educing eye gene and you over express genes in the legs and get eyes in the legs that confers is gene

Question 14

Social Behavior

in psycotic beahavior

Answer 14

functional imaging studies
differed mentromedial prefontal and orbital frontex in human evolution there was this huge enlargement of the frontal cortic, have unigue capability to be in large social groups. group of a primate is doie to enlargement of the prefrontal cortex.

Reduced activity in the amaygdala- emotion

Question 15

why would you study a worm instead of an elephant?
in autisim why us ebrain tissue?
Sea snails and why?

Answer 15

simpler nervous systems, transparent, shorter lifespan,

cant manipulate live tissue, but have actual model

have really big neurons, almost without using a microscope.

Question 16

limb amputation experiments

Answer 16

cut off whisker of the rat region from each wisker of the brain that, map out, see how one of the
Remove the limb get rewiring of the motor cortex and so the area that isn’t providing any input ngets taken over by an area that is.

Question 17

Describe evidence from volves siuggesting oxytocin regulates social and maternal behavior

Answer 17

.Oxytocin also regulates maternal behavior in voles
Praire voles pair bond, montane voles do not
The neuropeptides oxytocin and vasopressin are differentially expressed between vole types
Injection of these into the montane vole can instill ‘Prairie vole-like behavior’

Question 18

Describe the indirect and direct pathways that regulate emotional responses.

Answer 18

.1) Indirect (conscious) pathway: routes through cortex.

2) Direct (unconscious/reflexive) pathway: is processed by Amygdala and hypothalamus

Question 19

what us the primary reward pathway in the brain? how does this differ from the movement pathway? What complications might this pose for disease treatment?

Answer 19

.Positive responses: Amygdala->brain stem-> Dopamine activation
There are two dopamine pathways: nigro-striatal: movement. Mesolimic:reward

Question 20

What is the primary reward pathway in the brain? how does this differ from the movement pathway? what might this pose for disease treatment?

Answer 20

.There are two dopamine pathways: nigro-striatal: movement. Mesolimic:reward

Question 21

what are the brain regions involved in language? How can stroke selectively cause an inability to read, understand spoken language or speak

Answer 21

.Brocas speach

Wernickes language

Question 22

what are some neural indication of anti social beahvior?

Answer 22

.Reduced activity of
Amygdala
PFC Regions
DLPFC, VMPFC, Orbital PFC

Question 23

what are some evolutionary adaptations that allow for increased human language capabilities?

Answer 23

.Enlarged neo-cortex

Question 24

what are the functions of sex peptide signaling in fly reproductive behavior? what are consequensesof removing this gene?

Answer 24

.Deletion results in complete disruption of courting behavior and gay(ish) flies
All male conga lines?
Females w/ fruitless gene insertion exhibit male courting behavior w/ other females
Male flies do not court females
Males form ‘chains’ with other males

Question 25

where does neurogensis occure in the adult mammalian brain? what evidence do we have for it? hint 3-h thymidine, BRDU, NeuN

Answer 25

.

Question 26

What is the Hebbian Plasticity and how can it be studied with electrophysiology?

Answer 26

.”Neurons that fire together wire together.”

Question 27

What is GFP and how can it be applied to study brain structure and function.

Answer 27

if mutate GFP get different colors. Comes from jelly fish Green florescent protein. use it as a marker

Question 28

Emotion can involve conscious and unconscious neural circuitry

Answer 28

1) Indirect (conscious) pathway routes through cortex.

2) Direct (unconscious/reflexive) pathway is processed by Amygdala and hypothalamus

Question 29

Why is the fly an excellent system for studying axon guidance? What is Robo? Slit? The midline?

Answer 29

Flies = easier genetic manipulation…
Robo is the receptor for Slit
Slit is a protein that acts as a repulsive axon guidance cue. Netrin is an attractive cue.
Midline is the axis that divides the body in half (L and R)

Question 30

gene therapy

Answer 30

Compares virus in gene therapy to Trojan horse

Question 31

Know which disorders Disc1 and CNTNAP2 have been implicated in.
CNTNAP2 has been associated with autism spectrum disorder
Disc1 gene (schizophrenia) is also linked to autism and bipolar disorder.

Answer 31

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