Lecture 1 and 2 Flashcards
What is cranial trephination?
- brain surgery performed ritualistically and with simple implements that involved drilling holes directly into the skull
How did the body function according to Galen (Greco-Roman 130-200 AD)?
The body functions according to a balance of four vital fluids (humors) that flow through the ventricles and nerves.
What are the 4 humors and what do they mean?
- Sanguine (blood): temperaments are extroverted and social
- Melancholics (black bile): creative, kind, and considerate
- Cholerics (yellow bile): energy, passion, and charisma
- Phlegmatics (phlegm):characterized by dependability, kindness, and affection
What did Descartes’ ideas about the brain involve?
He thought that the brain was a machine and was involved in fluid mechanics, meaning that fluids in the brain inflated muscles to cause movements. He also thought that the connection of the mind and body was the pineal gland and that this gland only existed in humans.
What is phrenology?
The idea that different bumps on the skull could reveal mental abilities and character traits. These bumps were also used to determine how developed each region of the brain was depending on the size of the bumps.
What is equipotentiality?
This was the idea that one area of the brain could take over the role of another area of the brain.
What did Flourens study and argue about the brain?
Flourens argued that the brain functioned as a whole. He opposed the doctrines of phrenology and conducted ablation studies that challenged localization of function.
What did Lashley study and argue about the brain?
Lashley conducted ablation studies to conclude that memories were not localized and argued that impairment was related to the amount of tissue removed rather than its location. This led him to argue that brain tissue had equal potential for the mediation of brain functions.
What did Broca argue about the brain?
He argued that language ability was localized to a restricted region.
What do modern studies of localization provide?
These studies provide and measure of where peak activity occurs in the brain, rather than a single region involved in a particular task.
What is the neuron doctrine of Ramón y Cajal?
The idea that the brain is made up of discrete cells called nerve cells, each delimited by an external membrane
What is the reticular theory?
An early theory of the nervous system that believed that the cells of the brain were fused into a giant web like network and that all cells were in contact with each other (continuous). This web was said to function as a network, meaning the contribution of its individual parts is lost.
What is the reticulum theory of Camillo Golgi?
Golgi believed that the protoplasmic processes we now call dendrites were in contact with blood vessels and functioned to provide nutrients to cells. He also believed that the business of the nerve cells was carried out by what is now called axons, which he believed were continuous with each other and formed the reticulum, or network.
Who named the synapse?
Sir Charles Sherrington named the axon-dendrite junction the synapse
What is the dendrite?
Neurite conveys information towards the cell body (recieves information)
