Lecture 4: Part 2

Question 1

What’s another name for pain processing?

Answer 1

Nociceptive processing

Question 2

Signal travels ______ in fine touch, and ______ in pain.

Answer 2

fast, slow

Question 3

What is hapsis?

Answer 3

(fine touch and pressure) - fast and slow

Question 4

What is proprioception?

Answer 4

(bodily awareness) - rapid

Question 5

Touch sensory pathways:

Answer 5

Afferent: transmit information from the periphery to the brain via the SC

Question 6

Motor pathways

Answer 6

Efferent: transmit information from the brain to the periphery via the SC

Question 7

What is the dorsal column–medial lemniscus pathway?

Answer 7

Sensory pathway of the central nervous system that conveys sensations of fine touch, vibration, two-point discrimination, and proprioception (position) from the skin and joints.

Question 8

Dorsal is _______ while ventral is ______.

Answer 8

sensory, motor

Question 9

What happens to the somatosensory cortex when a body part gets injured?

Answer 9

Over time the cortex will expand the importance of another body part

Question 10

Compare and contrast immediate vs chronic pain.

Answer 10

1. A feeling resulting from injury or a feeling that injury has occurred
2. Linked to the healing process, can extend beyond the healing process
3. Can be studied relatively easily, private experience; difficult to study objectively

Question 11

Comorbidity of Canadians experiencing chronic pain…

Answer 11

50% Depression
35% Suicidal Ideation
73% it interferes with their normal work

Question 12

What cortical areas receive inputs regarding nociceptive information? (3)

Answer 12

1. Anterior cingulate
2. Prefrontal cortex
3. Insula

Question 13

What are differences in pain explained by? (3)

Answer 13

differences in the activity of the prefrontal cortex, anterior cingulate and somatosensory cortex

Question 14

Define hyperalgesia.

Answer 14

something that started as painful is now even more painful. Imagine the curve shifting left on the stimulus intensity vs pain intensity plot

Question 15

Define allodynia.

Answer 15

Something that isn’t painful, but after injury becomes painful.

Question 16

Define spontaneous pain.

Answer 16

if you’ve been in pain without a clear stimulus causing it

Question 17

Why does rubbing the area in pain help?

Answer 17

Transmission of touch info modulates/inhibits transmission of nociceptive information

Question 18

What brain regions contribute to the modulation of pain?

Answer 18

periaqueductal gray (PAG) and rostroventral medulla (RVM)

Question 19

Pain info is travelling up which tract?

Answer 19

ascending spinothalamic

Question 20

How does pharmacology help in pain reduction?

Answer 20

Inhibitory interneurons near the ascending spinothalamic tract express u-opioid receptors, opioids bind to these receptors and turn them off.

Question 21

Where does voluntary action originate?

Answer 21

primary motor cortex of the front lobe

Question 22

Where do motor neuron axons form tracts in the brain?

Answer 22

In the midbrain and medulla (pyramid) and synapse with lower motor neurons in spinal cord.

Question 23

In motor action the prefrontal cortex is responsible for ______ while the premotor cortex is responsible for ________

Answer 23

planning, sequence organization

Question 24

What is the primary motor cortex responsible for?

Answer 24

movement production, contains homunculus (parallel representation to the somatosensory homunculus)

Question 25

What is the motor repertoire?

Answer 25

The observation that areas of the premotor and motor cortex might represent general groups of behaviors (not one action)

Question 26

Lesion to which brain part impairs the ability to coordinate motor sequences.

Answer 26

premotor cortex

Question 27

Describe mirror neurons.

Answer 27

Found in the premotor cortex of the frontal lobe.

Respond to seeing the action + enacting action. Might play a role in social recognition and learning actions

Question 28

What is a mental rehearsal/visualization?

Answer 28

brain activity during imagined movement is similar to that during movement (though 30% of the actual activation), athletes do this

Question 29

What is decussation?

Answer 29

happens because tracts cross over (and so we have loss of movement)

Question 30

What is the direct pathway through the basal ganglia important for?

Answer 30

Important role in initiating movements.

Question 31

What is the indirect pathway through the basal ganglia?

Answer 31

Important role in inhibiting unwanted movements.