First Chapter thingy!! Flashcards
(38 cards)
Bacteriorhodopsin
A light-sensitive protein which is used to precisely control neuronal activity by light pulses
Cognitive Psychology
The study of mental activity as an information processing problem
ischemia
inadequate blood supply especially in the brain
Most common form of stroke
Occlusion of the normal passage of blood by a foreign substance
Atherosclerosis
Fatty tissue may accumulate in the arteries leading to a stroke.
Infarct
A a small localised area of dead tissue
Aneurysm
A bulge in a blood vessel
Degenerative disorders
are associated with genetic aberrations and environmental agents
Edema
swelling in the brain
TBI
Traumatic Brain Injury
DAI
Diffuse axonal injury which disrupts the axonal cytoskeleton and transport
Epilepsy
Excessive and abnormally patterened activity in the brain. Seizures can be confirmed by EEG when large oscillations can be seen.
Double dissociations
offer the strongest neuropsychological evidence that a patient or patient group has a selective deficit in a certain cognitive function.
Limitations of lesion approach
- There is considerable variability
- Lesions may alter the function of connected regions
Agonist Drugs
Drugs have a similar structure to a neurotransmitter and mimic its actions
Knockout Genetic Procedures
Specific genes can be manipulated so they are no longer expressed
Hippocampi in PTSD
They have smalled Hippocampi that typical individuals.
But PTSD did not cause atrophy
A smaller hippocampi was a risk factor for developing PTSD
DBS
Deep Brain Stimulation, where electrodes are implanted into brain regions for an extended period of time to modulate neuronal activity.
The electrodes deliver continuous electrical stimulation.
Optogenectics
A biological techinique to control the activity of neurons with light to potentially manipulate behaviour.
Used in mice to reduce anxiety through light sensitive neurons in the amygdala.
Noninvasive Stimulation Methods
Electrical or magnetic fields created on the scalp create changes in the brain
TMS
Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation
It sends an electrical current through the brain into specific regions which inhibit or enhance brain activity.
CAT
Computerised Tomography
An extension of X-Rays in which a computer constructs a 3d pic form many 2d pics
MRI
Magnetic Resonance Imaging where it exploits the magnetic properties of atoms. It creates a powerful magnetic field
DTI
Diffusion Tensor Imaging where an MRI scanner studies the anatomical structure of the axon tracts that forms the brain’s white matter
It measures the motion of water in axons and reveal the major white matter tracts