L1 - History and Intro to CNS Flashcards
What is the mass of an adult brain?
1.5kg
What is the human brain project?
A european project to simulate brain activity
What is the BRAIN initiative?
An american project to map the functional connectome
What did Hippocrates believe about the function of the brain?
That all pleasures joys etc stem from the brain
What did Aristotle believe about the brain?
That it was a cooling mechanism for the blood
What is localism?
That neurons and brain areas have specific functions
What is holism?
Fairly undifferentiated working more as an aggregate field
What did Franz Joseph Gall believe?
That bumps on the skull corresponded withbumps on the surface of the brain and this correlated with personality traits.
What is an important thing to remember when doing lesion studies on the brain?
That removing a specific area of the brain does not necessarily remove the function of that area due to the plasticity of the brain
What did Galvani famously notice?
He observed animal electricity in frogs. Therefore the brain generates electricity and the nerves are electrical wires.
What did Penfield do?
He created somatotropic maps
What did Hodgkin and Huxley do?
Find the mechanism and the all or nothing nature of the AP
What are important model animals in studying brain function?
C. elegans, Aplysia, Drosophila, Zebra fish, Musmusculus
When did CNS histology start and why?
1820 due to formaldehyde fixation and the microtome
What is the Nissl Stain?
Crysl violet, thioxin and basic anitine which stains neuronal nuclei and surrounds. It distinguishes neurons from glia.
What is the golgi stain?
Silver chromate solution which stains a few random neurons in their entirety
What was the fight over the neuron doctrine?
There was a fight between Golgi and Cajal. Golgi believed in reticular theory and Cajal believed in individual neurons. We now know that some cells do behave similarly to Golgi’s theory for example when neurons function in syncitium
What are the postulates of the neuron doctrine?
- Neurons are individual cells that are itnerconnected through synaptic contacts.
- Connection Specificty -neurons do not connect at random
- Law of dynamic polarization - Unidirectional flow
What are the classifications of neurons based on coarse morphology?
Unipolar
Bipolar
Multipolar
What are the classifications of neurons based on coarse axonal projection and function?
Sensory neuron
Interneuron
Principal neuron/ projection neuron
What are the classifications based on amain action and secreteion?
Classical transmitters
Co-transmitters
neuromodulators
What are the three main types of neurotransmitterss?
Amino acids e.g. glutabate, glycine and gaba
Amines e.g. ACh, dopamine, adrenaline, NA, serotonin and histamine
Neuropeptides e.g. Substance P, Neuropeptide Y,
