Functional Neuroanatomy Flashcards
Disconnection Syndrome
Damage to the white matter pathways when functional brain regions are deprived of inputs and outputs through white matter damage.
Gray matter vs White matter
Gray = cell bodies of neurons
White = mostly myelinated axons
Unimodal cortex vs Polymodal cortex
Unimodal = processes information pertaining to a specific sensory modality; primary role in perception
Polymodal =processes information received from disparate modalities through afferent connections; primary role in higher order conceptual processes
Frontal lobe cortical divisions (3)
Orbitofrontal/ventromedial region
Dorsolateral region
Dorsomedial region
Orbitofrontal/ventromedial region
emotional regulation, reward monitoring, and personality
Orbitofrontal damage may cause disinhibition
ventromedial damage may cause disordered reward/punishment processing, problems making perceptual or learning experiences with reward value and emotional significance
Dorsolateral region
broad range of cognitive-executive functions
Damage produces dysexecutive syndromes, impairments in working memory and poor attentional control of behavior
Dorsomedial region
intentional and behavioral activation
Damage produces impairments in initiated behavior (in extreme cases may cause akinetic mutism - in which person is alert and awake but cannot move or speak)
Temporal lobe cortical areas (2)
Ventral temporal area
Posterior temporal area
Ventral temporal area
object recognition and discrimination
bilateral damage can produce object or face agnosia
Posterior temporal area
contains primary auditory areas and Wernicke’s area in the language-dominant hemisphere, important for language comprehension, and prosodic comprehension in the homologous non-dominant hemisphere
Parietal lobe cortical divisions (3)
Superior parietal lobe
Temporoparietal junction
Inferior parietal lobule
Superior parietal lobe
important for sensory-motor integration, body schema, and spatial processing
Temporoparietal junction
phonological and sound-based processing; language comprehension (left) and music comprehension (right)
Inferior parietal lobule
complex spatial attention, integration of tactile sensation, and self-awareness
Occipital lobe cortical divisions (2)
Ventral visual pathway
Dorsal visual pathway
Ventral visual pathway
connects occipital and temporal lobe
important for object and face recognition, item-based memory, and complex visual discrimination
Dorsal visual pathway
connects occipital and parietal lobe via superior temporal sulcus
important for spatial vision and visuomotor integration
Concept of functional system (processors and connectors)
An interconnected group of cortical and subcortical structures that each contributes to important components of complex behavior or skill. Complex behavior, such as memory or language, can be impaired by damage to the processors themselves or by damage to their connecting fibers
damage to processer = loss of function
damage to connector = disconnection syndrome, loses full ability to coordinate or communicate
Neuroanatomy of Vision (pathway)
Retinal ganglion cells in each eye > optic nerve > optic chiasm > optic tract > lateral geniculate nucleus (LGN) of the thalamus > primary visual cortex (Brodmann 17)
From LGN, pathway called “geniculostriate”
Note. A small portion of fibers bypass the LGN and terminate in the pretectal area and superior colliculus (forming the “extrageniculate” visual pathway)
“Dorsal” and “Ventral” pathways
Dorsal = (“Where”) projects to parieto-occiptal association cortex; processes spatial information. Lesions cause impairments in spatial perception, attention, and visuomotor processing
Ventral = (“What”) projects to occipito-temporal association cortex; processes structural and feature-based information. Lesions cause impairments in perceptual disturbances, poor recognition of objects/faces (agnosias)