Introduction Flashcards
What is the definition of Clinical Neuroscience?
the scientific study of disorders and disease of the nervous system
What are the 3 overlapping disciplines that combine to make clinical neuroscience?
- neurology
- psychiatry
- neuroscience
What is neurology?
medical specialty that goes over diseases, conditions, and infections of the NERVOUS SYSTEM (cns and pns). associated with physical changes in the nervous system
What is psychiatry?
medical specialty that goes over the diagnosis, treatment and prevention of mental illnesses (like addition and substance abuse) –> physical changes in NS are not as obvious
What is Neuroscience?
scientific study of the brain and nervous system like molecular neuroscience, cellular neuroscience, cognitive neuroscience, psychophysics and computational modeling
(basically non-medical and more science studies)
what century was the beginning of scientific studies on the brain?
17th century
which centuries did neurology and psychiatry split?
19th - 20th centuries
What century did neurology and psychiatry come back to form clinical neuroscience?
21st century
in 300 BC what was the main idea about brain functioning?
- brain was recognized to be the main controlling centre in the body and that the heart was used for perception and feelings.
- Aristotle thought that brain cooled the passions of the heart (brain was like a cooler)
in 100BC what was the main idea about brain functioning?
- based around ideas by Galen and his focus on ANIMALS
- he introduced the idea of spirits that circulated between the liver, the heart and the brain
- he also said that spirits were produced in the lining of the ventricles of the brain and flowed into nerves to make a movement [there was connection between the brain and the body via ventricles]
- ‘rational soul’ (decision making center) was thought to be in the brain via Galen
Andreus Vesalius (1514-1564) and dissection
- founded modern anatomy through dissection of humans
- proved some areas of Galen’s anatomy to be wrong, through differences of artery placements on the brain in animals (examined by Galen) and humans
Rene Descartes (1596-1650)
stated that everything in the brain was produced double except the pineal gland, therefore he hypothesized that the pineal gland put everything (spirits) together
- he proposed that spirits flowed to and from the pineal gland via nerves
- he recognized existence of reflexes but did not coin this term
Three major concepts promoted by Descartes
- only humans have a thinking mind (animals cant experience emotions therefore cannot be used for the benefit of human trials) called them “stimulus-response machines”
- dualism: mind (immaterial) and body (material) are separate
- Mind and body interact in the PINEAL gland. which directs flow of spirits through nervous system via nerves
Thomas Willis (1621-1675)
- modernized the scientific study of the brain and nerves
- worked with scholars called Virtuosi and did dissections of the brain
Key contributions of Thomas Willis
- circle of willis (series of blood vessels on the ventral surface of the brain)
- concluded that the cerebral cortex was the site of higher functions and actions and sensations were mediated by the nerves not by ventricles
- proposed the difference between immortal soul (only human soul) and material soul (soul shared by all animals and humans) and said that animals had perception, cognition and memory that could be studied for humans as well (unlike descartes)
- introduced the term ‘neurology’ to describe the peripheral nerves and coined the term reflexion for describing rapid automatic reactions (now called reflexes)
- observed mental disorders like hysteria, depression, epilepsy…etc..
When did scientific thinking flourish and what was it driven by?
it flourished in the Renaissance, and it was driven by the idea that natural laws can explain the workings of the material world (started in 14th century)
Luigi Galvani (1737-1798) contributions
obtained INDIRECT evidence that theres intrinsic electrical activity in the nervous system
- Measured directly in mid 1800s by Bois-Reymond using the sensitive galvanometers (made by galvani) and applied electrical stimulation to cause contractility in the limbs of the frog
Franz Gall (1758-1828) contribution to functional localization of the brain
- created phrenology
- read the bumps and dips of head and made a map of what those areas meant
- it was completely wrong but still contributed to the movement of more scientists researching of the human brain
Paul Broca (1824-1880) contribution to functional localization in the brain
- correlated pathology of the brain with behavior
- had patient “tan” with damage to left frontal lobe
- contributed to present that theres strong functional asymmetry in the brain
Jean Martin Charcot (1825-1893) contribution to clinical neurology
- founder of modern clinical neurology
- formalized review of signs and symptoms and examined NS in postmortems
- described classification of many disorders like MS, parkingsons, and ALS)
- studied complex behaviors like hyesteria
Wilder Penfield (1891- 1976) and localization of disease and normal function int he human brain
- described the homunculus in the brain
- showed that surgical removal of epileptic tissue could cure patients from seizures
How has science changed to allow for linking complex functions like memory and emotion to brain network
technical advances in medicine like use of MRI, PET, EEG and genetics have allowed to study objectively the brain and also progressive introduction of animal models
Sigmund Freud (1856-1939) contribution to emotions linked with brain network…etc..
- described and focused on cerebral palsy
- wanted to understand the basis of our complex actions
- focused on motivations and drives that can be unconscious
Camillo Golgi (1843-1926) and visualizing the neurons and network contribution
- developed a staining method called golgi stain that allow visualization of tissue
Santiago Ramon Y Cajal contribution to visualizing the neurons and network
used golgi staining for nerves and axon tracking and the concept of unidirectional flow of information along nerve cells
Donald Hebb’s contribution to synapse and memory in the brain
developed theory of learning based on synchronous firing of neurons (neurons that activate at the same time might code for something together)
Brenda Milner and contribution to memory in the brain
- studied patients with brain lesions
- discovered memory for facts (explicit memory) and how it uses a different set of neuronal network than memory for skills (implicit memory)
- emphasized role of hippocampus in memory
- working on difference between right and left hemisphere
Jospeh LeDoux and contribution to linking emotion to neural circuit
- works on fear coniditoning using pavlovian conditioning of fear in rats
- studying synaptic changes in response to fear conditioning
- looks at anatomy and electrophysiology
- emphasizes role of beta blocker
(looks at associations between stimulus eliciting negative response because it was previously associated with a negative concept in the past like PTSD
Antonio Damasio contribution to linking emotion to neural circuit
- studied convergence of information and then divergence
- understganding autobiographical selves (memory of ourselves based on memory formed and recalled)
- looked at emotion via brain imaging and recording
