LECTURE 4 - Cortical Functions Flashcards
What are the three types of cortical regions?
primary sensory, primary motor, association cortex
What do association areas do?
combine info across sensory systems, play a role in conducting higher-order functions
The cortex is functionally organized as a ___ ___network.
distributed hierarchical
What happens in Layer IV?
input of sensory info
Which Layers are afferent?
I through III, and IV
Which Layers are efferent?
V and VI
Layer IV has direct inputs to the ___.
thalamus
Layers V and VI has outputs to the __.
primary motor cortex
Are Layers I through IV biggest in the primary sensory, the association, or he primary motor cortex?
primary sensory cortex
Are Layers V and VI biggest in the primary sensory, the association, or he primary motor cortex?
primary motor cortex
70-85% of all cortical neurons are ___ cells, which are efferent projection neurons that send info from one region or cortex to another
pyramidal
Pyramidal cells are found in which Layers?
II, III, V, VI
Do larger cells send axon further?
yes (b/c of myelination)
What are smaller, star-shaped spiny cells that mostly stay put?
stellate
Layer I contains mainly __ neurons and __ neurons.
spiny, stellate
Layer III is important because it has interspheric ___ afferents, and efferents.
corticocortical
Layer IV deals with ___ afferents.
thalamocortical
Layers V and VI are mostly in charge of the ___ efferents.
subcortical
What do spiny neurons have that non-spiny neurons don’t?
dendrites
Are stellate cells excitatory or inhibitory? What is an example of such a neurotransmitter?
excitatory, glutamate, aspartate, norepinephrine, epinephrine
Do interneurons have dendritic spines?
no
Are interneurons excitatory or inhibitory? What is an example of such a neurotransmitter?
inhibitory, GABA, glycine, dopamine
Do interneurons all look the same?
no
Which hemisphere specializes in producing/understanding language?
left
Which hemisphere specializes in perceiving nonverbal info (music, facial expression)
right
The hemispheres control movement on the __-lateral side of the body.
contralateral
Which hemisphere is associated with analytical/sequential processing?
left
Which hemisphere is associated with holistic/parallel processing?
right
Which hemisphere has no speech but good auditory comprehension of language and some reading ability?
right
Which hemisphere can recognize words (semantic processing) but cannot understand rules and sentence structure (syntactical processing)?
right
What is the purpose of the WADA test?
To determine which side has speech, memory, and motor functions (mostly in epilepsy surgical candidates)
What structure joins Broca’s and Wernicke’s areas?
arcuite fasilicus
In the WADA test, ___ ___ is injected into the left ___ ___ to numb the ipsalateral hemisphere. Then same on the right.
sodium amobarbital, carotid artery
Together, Heschl’s gyrus, anterior and posterior temporal planes (STP) are sometimes called what?
planum temporale
The __ __ is deeper in the left hemisphere..
Sylvian fissure
The left hemisphere has one small __ __, while the right has two big ones.
Heschl’s gyrus
The planum temporale consists of what three structures?
Heschl’s gyrus, anterior and posterior temporal planes (aSTP, pSTP)
The __ __ is bigger in the left hemisphere.
planum temporale
The right hemisphere is ___ than the left.
heavier
One difference between left and right temporal lobes is that the ___ side is larger and heavier.
right
One difference between left and right temporal lobes is that left is for __ and right is for __ functions.
language, music
One difference between left and right temporal lobes is that the slope of ___ ___ is steeper on the right.
Lateral fissure
One difference between the left and right temporal lobes is the organization of the __ ___.
Frontal Operculum
One difference between the left and right temporal lobes is the distribution of __, depending on the structure.
neurotransmitters
The ___ hemisphere extends farther anteriorly.
right
Temporal lobes symmetries are highly affected by __ and __.
sex, handedness
When two functions are selectively and independently affected, this is called what?
double dissociation
After a left temporal lobectomy, __ scores would be lower.
verbal
After a right temporal lobectomy, __ score would be lower.
performance
In “split brain” patients, the __ __ is severed, so each hemisphere functions independently (no cross-talk btwn hemispheres).
corpus callosum
When CC is severed, visual info in __ __ is processed in __ __, and vice versa.
left hemifield, right hemisphere
What happens if a “blind sight” patient is asked to verbally identify an object presented to their right visual field? What about left?
they report object on right, object on left is not reported but can be recognized
Chimeric stimuli in “split brain” studies show the importance of the __ hemisphere for __ __.
right, facial recognition
In dichotic presentation, when asked to verbally report sounds heard, inputs in the __ ear have preferred access while inputs in the other ear are suppressed, b/c left hemisphere specializes in speaking.
right, left
There is a left hand advantage for identifying ___, and a right hand advantage for identifying __.
shapes, letters
Broca’s area is located in the __ hemisphere, while Wernicke’s area is in the __.
left, right
__ to __% of the population are lefties.
10 to 30
___ is possibly influenced by handedness, gender, environment, genes.
brain asymmetry
What four factors could account for hand preference?
environment, anatomy, hormones, genes
What tasks favor women?
calculation, verbal memory, object memory, fine motor skills, perception
What tasks favor men?
math reasoning, form perception, mental rotation, target direction, visual imagery
Castrating male rats/monkey resulted in ___, while increasing testosterone in female animals led to ___.
less aggression, more aggression
What are anatomical sex differences favoring female brains?
larger language, larger medial paralimbic, larger lateral frontal, greater relative gray matter, more densely packed neurons in temporal lobe
What are anatomical sex differences favoring male brains?
more neurons, and larger: medial frontal; cingulate; amygdala and hypothalamus; overall white matter; ventricles; right planum parietale
