Intro to/History of Neuroscience Flashcards
Showed specific regions of brain controlled movement using monkeys and that ablation caused paralysis
Ferrier
How do we know prehistoric people knew the brain was important?
There are skulls that show signs of early attempts to repair the brain, so they understood the brain was important to life
Believed the heart was the key to the soul and memories were stored there
Egyptians
Opposite techniques that were both used to prove localization
Stimulation and ablation
Mentioned several organs (mostly the heart) but nothing about the brain
Bible
Produced detailed drawings of the brain and believed in was the controlling organ
Andreas Vesalius
Major cause of suicide experienced by 30 million
Depression
Believed in fluid mechanical theory, but that human abilities came from the mind that communicated to brain via the pineal gland
Descartes
What were the 4 humors thought to control the body?
yellow bile - fire, black bile - earth, phlegm - water, blood - air
Came up with the view that the brain was in control but through the movement of vital fluids through nerves he thought were hollow tubes. This view held for 1500 years
Galen
Thought all parts of cerebrum contribute to all functions was wrong, but did show traits don’t match phrenology though ablation
Flourens
Used to study neuropharmacological and behavioral studies
Rats and mice
When was it known the brain was not mystical and follows the laws of biology?
by 1800
When was it known brain signals use nerves?
by 1800
White matter contains these that make up nerves and communicate with the gray matter (17th/18th century)
Nerve fibers (axons)
Used to study synapse formation
D. melanogaster (fruit fly)
Described the optic nerve around 500 BC, continued to explore anatomy of brain and nervous system, and dissected sensory nerves
Alcmaion of Crotona
When was it known injury to the brain can cause death, disrupt thought, motor function and sensation
by 1800
Used experimental ablation to show Bell was correct
Flourens
Had a hieroglyph for the brain
Egyptians
Showed that electricity can stimulate muscle movement and the brain generates electricity
Galvani and du Bois-Reymond
Believed the brain was the center of mental processes
Plato
Believed the brain to be the center of sensation and intelligence, knew epilepsy was a brain disease
Hippocrates
Every brain has the same general patter of these (17th/18th century)
Bumps (gyri) and grooves (sulci)
2 million affected, severe psychotic illness, delusions, hallucinations, bizarre behavior
Schizophrenia
Provided good evidence for localization by studying patients who could understand language but couldn’t speak
Broca
Loss of nerve conduction, losing myelination
MS
Believed the heart was the center of intelligence and the brain simply cooled the blood
Aristotle
Approach that involves biology of the brain
Developmental biology of the brain
Pseudoscience focused on bumps of the skull being a result of structure of brain regions correlated with abilites
Phrenology
Approach that doesn’t involve humans but is vital for understanding human function
Animal behavior
Noticed that specific parts of the body are connected to specific nerves and sensory and motor neurons run on different paths
Herophilus (father of anatomy)
Used for early studies of the somatosensory system
Rats and Mice
What are neuroscientists and all scientists subject to?
The same biases as everyone else
Studied anatomy and published a lot on it. Thought the cerebrum was in control and described blood supply to the brain
Thomas Willis
Used to study visual system
Cats and primates
Performed dissections of humans and animals around 350 BC and observed sensory and motor nerves
Herophilus (father of anatomy)
Lesions here allow people to understand language but not speak it
Brocas area
Showed that the occipital lobe is required for vision through ablation techniques
Munk
What did early scientists think neurons were/did?
Believed they were tubes for carrying the humors
These people knew about brain damage but had no way to fix it
Egyptians
People thought one of two things controlled intellect but had no good idea of how either functioned, what were they?
Brain and heart
Different animals have different amounts of this. Clearly seen in the platypus bill
They have different levels of cortical representation. Bill input occupies most of the cortical sheet and there is more whisker representation in rats than squirrels
Cut the pig laryngeal nerve and noticed the pig could no longer squeal. Concluded nerves from the brain and spinal cord control function
Galen
Approach that involves computational modeling
Mathematical
Believed the brain to be important for function, like Hippocrates, and performed many dissections on animals (sheep, dogs, pigs) to try to determine brain function from structure
Galen
Approach that looks at the development of drugs which affect the nervous system function and the brain
Neuropharmacology/neurochemistry
What have different animals developed over time and why?
Different brains to focus on what they’re good at
Why are various animals good models for studying the brain?
They have certain brain structures that may be larger and better at specific functions
Used to study aging and development
C. elegans (worms)
Showed that spinal nerve bundles are made of bundles of fibers with ventral roots carrying motor and dorsal roots carrying sensory. Each nerve carries info one way
Bell and Magendie
Introduced evolution in On the Origin of Species
Darwin
Approach that involves dissection of pathways
Dissection of cellular or molecular pathways In neurons
The peripheral and central divisions were recognized here
17th/18th century
Challenged Descartes by saying the pineal gland communicating to the brain doesn’t provide any unique human abilities
Willis
Championed phrenology and divided the brain into 27 regions which he thought reflected abilities
Gall
Approach that looks at ion channels
Ion channel physiology
Many people in this time period believed the heart controlled the body except for this man who thought it was the brain
Hippocrates
Used for early studies of the visual system
Monkeys
Axons
White matter
Why should we study specific animal species?
Specific traits or behaviors
Ease of studies in cost/life span
Comparative anatomy
Good animal models of disease
These two things shaped early views of the brain
Limited data and experimental techniques
Using dogs and frogs, they showed a specific region of the brain controlled movement (used electrical stimulation)
Fritsch and Hitzig
Produced wax cast of ventricles and detailed drawings of brain anatomy and vasculature
Leonardo da Vinci
The more fundamental the process, the more what the animal model can be used to study it
More basic, less advanced
Degeneration of dopaminergic neurons, loss of voluntary movement
Parkinsons
Used to study development and drug screening
D. rerio (zebrafish)
4 parts of the scientific method
Observation, replication, interpretation, and verification
What did Egyptians do with the bodies of the deceased?
Discarded the brain but preserved the rest of the body
Cell bodies
Gray matter
Used to study basic bio of neurons, synaptic transmission, and plasticity
Squid and snail
Thought since the cerebellum felt hard, it controlled muscles. Also believed the brain received sensory info
Galen
Showed that an electric eel can produce a spark and thus generate electricity within its body
Walsh
Measured the speed of a nerve impulse by stimulating and measuring how long it took to conduct
Von Helmholtz
Degeneration of cholinergic neurons, dementia, fatal
AD
Believed sensory fibers connected to the cerebrum and motor fibers connected to the cerebellum
Bell
Loss of blood supply can lead to permanent loss of function
Stroke
By 1500, much of this was described
Gross brain anatomy including naming of pons and hippocampus
This is highly regulated for lab animals
Animal welfare
When was it known different parts of the brain probably have different functions (diff neurons lead to and go from diff areas)
by 1800
Seizures due to disruption of normal brain electrical activity
Epilepsy
Approach that is its own field and looks at the processes of the brain
Psychology
Observed spinal reflexes and explained how they might occur
Descartes
What was the major theory in early neuroscience regarding how the body functioned?
Body functioned by balancing 4 vial fluids called humors (yellow bile - fire, black bile - earth, phlegm - water, blood - air)
Noticed animals behaved many ways like humans, but on a more basic level
Thomas Willis
The minimum number of these must be used in experiments
Animal models
Thought since the cerebrum was soft, sensations and memories were formed there
Galen
What is neuroscience research driven by?
Driven by hypotheses but also requires discovery research
The view of nerves changed from hollow tubes to this
Wires that conduct electricity generated by activity of the brain
Saw injuries to gladiators and noticed how the affected behavior
Galen