Highlights Chapters 17-18 Flashcards
What gland is the “master gland”?
Pituitary gland
The hypothalamus is _______________ to the optic chiasm
posterior
What is the master clock of circadian rhythms?
Suprachiasmatic nucleus (of hypothalamus)
What systems do the hypothalamus and pituitary link?
Neural and endocrine systems
List the 4 systems the hypothalamus controls to maintain homeostasis
1) Homeostatic mechanisms
2) Endocrine control
3) Autonomic control
4) Limbic mechanisms
The limbic-hypothalamic interconnections play an important role in what?
Emotional influences on autonomic pathways
What is the regulator of circadian rhythms?
The suprachiasmatic nucleus
True or false: the hypothalamus controls or partially controls both hunger and thirst
True
Lesions in the part of the hypothalamus that controls appetite can cause what?
Weight loss/obesity
Lesions in the part of the hypothalamus that controls thirst can do what?
Decrease water intake
Oxytocin, a hormone released by the hypothalamus and released by the posterior pituitary, can do what?
Increase nurturing behaviors.
What organ is involved in hyperthermia? Why?
Hypothalamus; detects increased body temperature and can dissipate heat
What does the posterior hypothalamus do?
Conserves heat
1) What system of the brain goes from the forebrain to the brainstem?
2) Where are most parts of this system?
1) The limbic system
2) Most are hidden in the medial hemispheres
The limbic cortex forms what? What two things does it surround?
A ring–like limbic lobe surrounding the corpus collosum and upper brainstem
What are the 4 main categories of limbic system functions?
1) Homeostatic functions including autonomic and neuroendocrine control
2) Olfaction
3) Memory
4) Emotions and drives
HOME
What part of the brain is important in memory functions?
Hippocampus
1) Where is the amygdala?
2) What does it function in?
1) Tip of the hippocampus.
2) Emotional, autonomic, and neuroendocrine circuits of the limbic system
Smell contributes to the detection of what two things?
Odors and taste
Some fibers of the olfactory tract go somewhere other than the olfactory cortex; where do they go?
Amygdala
What are the two jobs of the hippocampus?
1) Memory
2) Creates context [for past/future events]
What are the two critical areas for memory formation?
1) Medial temporal lobe memory area
2) Forebrain
1) What does the medial temporal lobe memory area contain?
2) What does the forebrain contain that’s related to memory?
1) Hippocampus
2) Thalamus and hypothalamus’s nuclei
Today, patients with refractory temporal lobe epilepsy can be cured with what?
Unilateral medial temporal lobe resection.
1) Define declarative memory
2) Define nondeclarative memory
1) Explicit memory; involves conscious recall of facts or experiences.
2) Implicit memory; learning of habits, skills or other acquired behaviors.
What two things come from the posterior pituitary?
Oxytocin and vasopressin
Where does ACTH come from?
Anterior pituitary
Where is the hypothalamus? What does it make up?
Under the thalamus; third ventricle ‘s inferior portion
What contains axons whose cell bodies are located in the hypothalamus?
Posterior pituitary
The hypothalamus is the central regulator of what?
Homeostasis
1) What can the hypothalamus detect?
2) What does it activate?
3) What can lesions cause because of this?
4) What does the posterior hypothalamus do?
1) Increased body temperature and
2) Mechanisms to dissipate heat,
3) Hyperthermia
4) Conserves heat.
What is memory loss like in concussion?
Usually reversible memory loss, except for a few hours around the injury
Can infarcts/ischemia cause memory loss? When?
They can, especially when bilateral medial temporal lobes are affected.
1) What cause of memory loss could be due to a cardiac arrest?
2) Is memory loss permanent? What structure is involved?
1) Global cerebral anoxia
2) Memory loss is usually permanent; the hippocampus is very vulnerable to anoxic injury
Seizures can cause what?
Memory loss
1) Where is the amygdala?
2) What two things does it play a big role in?
1) Tip of the hippocampus
2) Emotions and drives.
What structure is important in attaching emotions to stimuli?
Amygdala
1) What 3 structures being abnormal can cause schizophrenia?
2) What NT is can also cause it, and what can improve symptoms?
1) Limbic system, frontal lobes, and thalamus.
2) An abnormality in dopamine, therefore symptoms can improve with antidopaminergic agents
What two things cause anxiety?
1) Excessive activity in the amygdala
2) Failure of control by the frontal cortex
What 3 NTs can be markedly imbalanced in bipolar depression/ mania?
Serotonin, norepinephrine and dopamine
List 4 causes of memory loss
1) Concussion
2) Infarcts/ischemia
3) Global cerebral anoxia
4) Seizures
Which two areas does the hypothalamus receive inputs from?
Amygdala and regions of the limbic cortex
What receives inputs from retinal ganglion cells about whether it is day or night?
Suprachiasmatic nucleus
What two structures does the limbic system surround?
Corpus callosum and upper brainstem
What regulates emotions, affection, memory, drives, and homeostasis?
Limbic system
What C-shaped structure is buried in the medial temporal lobe and is important in memory functions?
Hippocampus
What functions in emotional, autonomic, and neuroendocrine circuits of the limbic system?
Amygdala
The medial temporal lobe memory area contains the ________, while the forebrain which contains nuclei of _________ and __________ that are critical for memory formation.
hippocampus; thalamus and hypothalamus
What can cause memory loss especially when bilateral medial temporal lobes are affected?
Infarct/ischemia
What area of the brain plays a big role in emotions and drives, is an active participant in all four limbic functions, and attaches emotions to stimuli?
Amygdala
What clinical disease is caused by abnormalities in the limbic system, frontal lobe, and thalamus?
Schizophrenia
What clinical disease is marked by an excessive rate of activity in the amygdala and the failure of control by the frontal cortex?
Anxiety
What hormone causes increased production of corticosteroids?
ACTH
What hormones increase production of testosterone, estrogen, and progesterone?
FSH and LH
What hormone functions in milk letdown?
Oxytocin
What hormone functions in milk production?
PRL
What is ADH also called?
Vasopressin
