Introduction to Neural Structures and The Nervous System

Question 1

What are the two types of cells that form brain tissues?

Answer 1

Neurons and glial cells (neuroglia)

Question 2

What is the ratio of neurons to glial cells in the brain?

Answer 2

1:10

Question 3

What are three features of a neuron?

Answer 3

they always have an axon, communicate via a synapse and have dendrites

Question 4

What is the axon, where, in the cell, do they come from?

Answer 4

The output side of the cell. The protrude from a conical shaped thickening of the cell body called an axon hillock.

Question 5

What are dendrites?

how do they interact with dendritic spines ?

Answer 5

they are the input side of the cell, usually thicker and shorter than an axon.

They have their area increased by dendritic spines that lie perpendicular on the dendrites.

Question 6

What are dendritic spines?

3 points

Answer 6

Protuberances on dendrites, They receive most of the neuron’s excitatory output. They then increase the dendritic arbour.

they are made of a neck and head,, made up of actin filaments and b tubulins. As this emulates muscle tissue, they are able to change their shape.

Question 7

What are the three ways that synapse can be classified/differentiate from each other?

Answer 7

By the number of processes (dendrites/axons) (i.e. if it is bipolar, multipolar)

By the length of the axon- i.e. Golgi type 1 neurons have a long and large axon to project information far away, while golgi type 2 have a short axon.

They can vary in shape

Question 8

what are the three shapes of neurons (specifically the cell body)?

Answer 8

triangular, fusifoid (kind of conical) and ovoid (kind of oval shaped or circular

Question 9

What are pyramidal cells?

4 features

Answer 9

They are the main neuron that makes up the most mass within your cerebral cortex,. They are present in every layer off the cortex (there are five) bar the superficial one (the top one).

They have many processes, with very spiny dendrites

They are projection neurons (Golgi type 1) as the axons are long and project into other cortexes.

They have a triangular cell body

Question 10

What are spiny stellate cells?

What are 3 features of them

Answer 10

They occur in the cerebral cortex as well as pyramidal cells

They have ovoid cell bodies, they are multipolar, dendrites are radial, short/spiny and only in once area, meaning they are golgi type 2

Question 11

What are dopaminergic neurons?

4 features

Answer 11

They have fusiform cell bodies

They have axons that emerge from dendrites as well as their cell body (usually the axon only comes from the cell body)

These axons project to many other areas, so are therefore golgi type 1

These cells often tend to degenerate in people with parkinson’s

Question 12

What are Purkinje cells?

What are they like? what happens if they are damaged?

Answer 12

They are a type of neuron found in the cerebellum.

They are bipolar, have an ovoid cell body, are highly branched and spiny in their dendrites.

Damage of this type of cell can cause issues with motor movements

Question 13

How many of the 5 main types of neurons are found in the cerebellum?

Answer 13

4

Question 14

What are glial cells?

what are three types

Answer 14

the gLuE of the brain, they link together tissue and neurons.

Oligodendrocytes, astrocytes, microglia

Question 15

What do oligodendrocytes form?

Answer 15

schwann cells (and therefore the myelin sheath)

Question 16

What are astrocytes like?

Answer 16

• They are star shaped
  They constitute 20-50% of the volume of most brain areas
• They are connected by gap junctions

Question 17

What are four functions of astrocytes (which, in case you forgot, are a type of glial cell)

Answer 17

They make the cuff around the nodes of ranvier,

they ensheath synapses and dendrites

They therefore maintain the blood/brain barrier- the glial cells wrap around the endothelial cells and the capillaries, therefore stopping the blood content from affecting the brain.

They contribute to the reuptake of neurotransmitters

They are also involved in neurovascular coupling

Question 18

what is neurovascular recoupling?

Answer 18

The changing of blood supply to different areas in the brain based on the responses needed.

Question 19

What are microglia?

Answer 19

They are a type of glial cell. As the immune system in the blood can’t access the brain, they act as the brain’s immune system. They have many processes and will carry out phagocytosis on antigens affecting the brain

Question 20

What do these anatomical “directions” mean?

Dorsal/ventral?

Anterior/Posterior

Rostral/Caudal

Medial/Lateral

Answer 20

Towards the back/towards the belly (top and bottom)

Towards the front/back

Towards the beak (front)/ tail (back)

Towards the middle/towards the side

Question 21

What do we call the ways we cut cross sections of the brain?

Answer 21

Planes of section

Question 22

what are the three planes of section and what do these look like

Answer 22

Horizontal- sideways, like when you cut a victoria sponge in half

Coronal- side on slice from the top, like if you sliced a walnut in half but NOT down the seam

Sagittal- vertically down the middle, like a hot dog bun

Question 23

What are the 5 subdivisions of the brain?

Answer 23

Myelencephalon, metencephalon, mesencephalon, diencephalon and telencephalon

Question 24

What are the main features of the myelencephalon?

Clues- vagus nerve

Answer 24

It contains the medulla oblongata. It controls things like heart rate. It has nuclei that It has nuclei that control respiration, tongue musculature, blood pressure (hypoglossal nuclei) and heart rate via the nucleus ambiguus (which gives rise to the vagus nerve, part of the ANS)

Question 25

What does the metencephalon contain?

Answer 25

the pons and the cerebellum.

Question 26

What are pons?

Answer 26

They contain the nuclei involved in sleep and arousal, so are therefore involved in noradrenaline release.

Question 27

What can alcohol do?

Answer 27

create a temporary leisure in your cerebellum.

Question 28

What is the mescencephalon made up of?

Answer 28

The tectum and the tegmentum.

Question 29

what is the tectum?

Answer 29

it is important in processing visual and auditory information. It consists of inferior and superior colliculi. Inferior colliculi are part of the auditory nervous system while the superior colliculi are part of the visual system and are involved in rapid eye movement ( and eye movement in general)

Question 30

What are the three major structure within the tegmentum?

Answer 30

Periaqueductal grey, red nucleus and substantia nigra (part of the motor system)

Question 31

What does the Periaqueductal grey do?

Answer 31

wraps around the duct carrying cerebrospinal fluid. Contains bits of tissue that control species-typical innate behaviours (such as courtship or hunting behaviours).

Question 32

What does the red nucleus do?

Answer 32

controls the muscles of the shoulder and the upper arm

Question 33

What part of the brain are the diencephalon and telencephalon?

Answer 33

the forebrain

Question 34

What does the diencephalon contain?

Answer 34

The thalamus and hypothalamus

Question 35

What are the four fs that the hypothalamus controls via glandular response?

Answer 35

Fighting, fleeing, feeding and fucking

Question 36

What is the telencephalon?

info about area, location and subsections

Answer 36

The telencephalon has a lot of mass, it makes up most of the 2 cerebral hemispheres and is connected by the corpus callosum. It contains the limbic system- emotional processing, basal ganglia Motor behaviour , cerebral cortex

Question 37

Which primary cortexes does the telencephalon contain?

Answer 37

the primary visual cortex (in the occipital lobe), the primary auditory cortex (in the temporal lobe), the primary somatosensory cortex (in the parietal lobe)
It has the primary motor cortex in the frontal lobe

Question 38

What do we call cortexes that are not “primary”?

How do they interact with primary cortexes?

Answer 38

association cortices. These work with primary sensory and motor cortices to create a relationship between input/sensation and action, as well as coordinating perception, learning, memory etc.

Question 39

What does the hippocampus consist of? (3 things)

Answer 39

Amygdala, cingulate cortex, medial septum

Question 40

What does the basal ganglia consist of?

Answer 40

Caudate nucleus, Putamen, Globus Pallidus.