Lecture 8

Question 1

Prominent sulci in the human brain

Answer 1

Sylvian fissure
Central sulcus

Question 2

Weight of brain

Answer 2

alive: 1300-1400 grams
dead: can be half of it due to atrophy (many people who die are old)

Question 3

Neurons are a bit more spread out on the …

Answer 3

Gyrus

Question 4

Neurons

Answer 4

Several types
Forms complex structures

Question 5

Glia

Answer 5

Several types

Question 6

Largest variation in neurons is …

Answer 6

Variation in size

Question 7

Types of glia

Answer 7

microglia - phagocytotic: they clean up
astrocytes
oligodendrocytes - in central nervous system
ependymal cells - line ventricular cavities and the central canal of the spinal cord: they sense what is going on in the cerebrospinal fluid by cilia which are in contact with the CSF
Schwann cells- in PNS

Question 8

Multiple sclerosis

Answer 8

Lesions in the white matter

Question 9

Glia per cm^2

Answer 9

We have more glial cells than rodents

Question 10

Primary Motor cortex damage

Answer 10

contralateral spastic paresis

Question 11

Damage to Premotor cortex

Answer 11

Apraxia - inability to do purposeful movements

Question 12

Prefrontal cortex damage

Answer 12

loss of concentration, distraction, lack of initiative etc. (similar to end-stage AD)

Question 13

Primary somatosensory cortex damage

Question 14

Posterior parietal association cortex - lesion to dominant side

Answer 14

Apraxia, astereognosia might be present - inability to recognize objects by touch
Receptive aphasia: not understand spoken language (sometimes Alexia also)

Question 15

damage to visual cortex

Answer 15

Scotoma (black spot)
Lesions cana lso produce contralateral hemianopsia (lose half of visual field)

Question 16

Temporal lobe

Answer 16

Primary auditory cortex
-Unilateral lesion: issues w locating the sounds in the contralateral field

Question 17

Hippocampus

Answer 17

In MTL

Question 18

Cerebellum

Answer 18

Small brain, derived from metencephalon - fine tunes movement and muscle coordination

Question 19

Thalamus

Answer 19

Does lot of stuff

Question 20

Hypothalamus

Answer 20

takes care of hormonal system, water balance, hunger, sexual urges and behaviour autonomic regulation, thermoregulation etc. - most people can’t survive without it

Question 21

Basal ganglia

Answer 21

striatum, globus pallidus, substantia nigra, subtalamic nucleus

Question 22

CSF

Answer 22

Creates a buffer for brain; produced in choroid plexus

Question 23

Blood brain barrier

Answer 23

Tight junction of endothelial cells in brain capillaries. astrocytes are important for maintainace. Rodent and human BBB differ a bit

Question 24

Alzheimer’s disease

Answer 24

Progressive and irreversible disease

Question 25

AD symptoms

Answer 25

memory loss, loss of initiative, changes in personality, misplacing things, changes in mood and behaviour, problems with language, difficulty performing familiar tasks etc.

Question 26

AD brains

Answer 26

Filled with extracellular amyloid beta placques and neurofibrillary tangles (not everyone w plaques gets AD)

Question 27

Stages of clinical progression of AD

Answer 27

Stage 1: - 2 to 4 years; less energetic and spontaneous, getting lost etc. Stage 2 moderate: 2 to 10 years after onset - clearly disabled, forget personal history, reading writing problem, speech problems etc. Stage 3 severe: lose bodily function - can't go to bathroom, memory disappears etc.

Question 28

Staging of neuropathology of AD : Braak stages

Answer 28

-Stages 0-2: cognitively unaffected people no PFC tangles, could have some amyloids Hippocampus can't have amyloidplaques, can have tangles AD pathology absent in areas involved in memory and cognition -Stage 3-4: mild cognitive impairment, PFC plaque density increases dramatically -Stage 5-6: overt dementia, plaques and tangles throughout mpost of the brain

Question 29

in hippocampus in AD

Answer 29

Tau is accumulated

Question 30

Risk factors of AD

Answer 30

After 65, rises sharply after 75 Genetic More women than men ApoE4 gene Down syndrome

Question 31

Parkinsonism

Answer 31

tremor, rigidity, bradykinesia etc.

Question 32

Visualize dopamine

Answer 32

SPECT and PET

Question 33

PD systems troubled

Answer 33

Basal ganglia - control movement Dopamine - inhibitory neuromodulator in basal ganglia Acetylcholine - excitatory neuromodulator in the basal ganglia

Question 34

MPTP

Answer 34

Can broke the system if ends up in the dopamine neurons - works greatly in animal research

Question 35

Alpha methyl para tyrosil

Answer 35

Has a transient effect

Question 36

Hydrocephalus

Answer 36

Cause: Imbalance between how much cerebrospinal fluid is produced and how much is absorbed into the bloodstream. Excess cerebrospinal fluid in the ventricles, puts harmful pressure on brain tissue Treatment: Surgical insertion of a drainage system called shunt. One end of the tube in ventricles, the other in stomach/heart chamber (another part where it is more easily absorbed)