Lecture 1: getting started

Question 1

Alzheimer’s disease -> symptoms

Answer 1

atrophy of cortex - loss of function, memory loss, loss of personality, loss of identity

Question 2

Mild cognitive decline (Alzheimer’s disease)

Answer 2

starts in hippocampus -> problems with short-term memory, takes about 7 years

Question 3

Mild Alzheimer’s

Answer 3

temporal and parietal lobes affected; decline in reading and object/spatial memory; takes 2 years; less connections in memory areas; compensation mechanism: stronger connections in the frontal cortex

Question 4

Progressive Alzheimer’s disease

Answer 4

frontal cortex affected; takes 2 years; personality change, decline in attention and increase in impulsivity

Question 5

What is gone in progressive Alzheimer’s disease?

Answer 5

cognitive processes

Question 6

What remains intact in progressive Alzheimer’s disease?

Answer 6

sensory input and motor output

Question 7

How to enhance quality of life in progressive Alzheimer’s disease?

Answer 7

focus on stimulating sensory input -> ‘‘train’’; ‘‘don’t forget the laundry’’ ‘‘putting patient’s home door in the facility’’

Question 8

final stages of Alzheimer’s disease

Answer 8

visual cortex affected -> visual problems; takes 3 years and results in death

Question 9

How psychological disorders are unique?

Answer 9

no cortex atrophy, very few physical traces in the brain, but major behavioral problems; some areas may be enlarged but deviations are only visible in large samples

Question 10

prefrontal cortex -> ventro-medial part

Answer 10

emotional and social control; psychopaths have smaller connections between PFC and amygdala

Question 11

prefrontal cortex -> dorso-lateral part

Answer 11

cognitive control

Question 12

what is a difference between Parkinson and Huntington disease?

Answer 12

Parkinson - movement initiation issues, Huntington -uncontrollable movement

Question 13

What happens when you damage lateral prefrontal cortex?

Answer 13

dysexecutive syndrome -> problems with planning, working memory, uncompleted tasks, limited attention span, lack of insights into one’s actions, difficulties with dealing with real world = COGNITION

Question 14

What remains intact in dysexecutive syndrome?

Answer 14

intelligence, language, memory for events and facts

Question 15

What happens when you damage ventral and medial prefrontal cortex?

Answer 15

disinhibition syndrome -> constant movement, euphoria/mania, abnormal sense of humour, fail to respond to social cues -> Phineas Gage = SOCIAL AND EMOTIONAL CONTROL

Question 16

association fibres (white matter)

Answer 16

connections within hemisphere => connects primary sensory areas in parietal, temporal and occipital lobes to the association areas of the cerebral cortex and each other

Question 17

commisural fibres (white matter)

Answer 17

connections between hemispheres; examples: corpus callosum; posterior commisure, fornix, anterior commisure

Question 18

projection fibres (white matter)

Answer 18

vertical fibres because they connect subcortical structures and cortex

Question 19

corpus callosum

Answer 19

connects 2 hemispheres = they can communicate!

Question 20

posterior commisure

Answer 20

connects areas in the occipital lobes, primarily areas concerned with pupillary response and eye movement control

Question 21

fornix

Answer 21

connects various nodes of limbic circuity

Question 22

anterior commisure

Answer 22

connects olfactory bulbs, amygloid nuclei and medial and inferior temporal lobes

Question 23

short association fibres

Answer 23

connect adjacent gyri -> present in Alzheimer’s patients

Question 24

long association fibres

Answer 24

connect more distant gyri -> not present in Alzheimer’s patients

Question 25

superior longitudinal fasciculus

Answer 25

connects frontal, parietal, temporal and occipital lobes

Question 26

cingulum

Answer 26

connects frontal and parietal lobes to the para-hippocampal gyrus and adjacent temporal gyri

Question 27

uncinate fasciculus

Answer 27

connects frontal to temporal lobe contributing to the regulation of behavior

Question 28

inferior longitudinal fasciculus

Answer 28

connects occipital to temporal pole + contributes to visual recognition

Question 29

What happens if you damage corpus callosum?

Answer 29

split-brain -> two halves of the brain behave relatively independently

Question 30

What happens if you damage splenium of corpus callosum?

Answer 30

posterior disconnection syndrome of alexia = cannot understand written material, but can still speak and write

Question 31

How many braincells does human brain have?

Answer 31

around 80 bln