models of the human mind and organisation of nervous system Flashcards
what is comparative neuroanatomy
- the comparison of brain structures across species
- many advancements come from animal studies
- even fruit flies have similar sleep patterns and used to ‘model’ human disease
does size of the brain matter?
no! animals intelligence is not proportional to size of brain. brain size scales with animal size
do number of neurons count
yes! the greater the number of neurons, the greater the number of synaptic connections and the greater the complexity of function that the brain can support
what do brains support
functional specialisation - particular types of skills or requirements have relatively larger brain areas dedicated to that particular function
what did charles darwin claim
root of virtually all human behaviour derives from natural processes operating on ancestral species
- led to moral and ethical debates regarding psychological processes in humans and animals
what are companies simulating the brain and mind
- Allen Brain Institute
- The Human Brain Project
- The Virtual Brain
what is the allen brain institue?
- $100 mill donation from microsoft founder paul allen
- creating detailed maps/atlas with data from mound and human brain form brain areas > neurons > genes
- in 2020, launched MindScope focusing on vision to explore how brain generates ‘mental phenomenon’
what is the human brian project
- eu 10-year initiative worth over $1 bill
- emphasis on simulating neurons for ‘brain inspired computing’ ‘neuromorphic computing’ (‘brain on a chip’)
- address the questions of ‘why simulate the brain?’
- reduce need for animal experiments, study disease in unprecedented in silico experiments, improve validation of data and experiments with computational validation
what is the virtual brain
- does not simulate individual neurons but does investigate patterns of activity at a larger scale equivalent to EEG or MRI
- simulates/models whole brain dynamics and functional connectivity to understand global brain function in healthy and disordered states
can you draw an outline of the divisions of the nervous system?
look in your notes lol
what does the CNS contain
brian and spinal cord
what is brain encased with
skull
where does spinal cord sit
within vertebrae, which allows for protection and flexibility in moving body
what does PNS refer to
network of nerves that extend out from the CNS thoughout the body
does PNS send messgaes
yess! from brain to control muscle movement
does PNS receive messages?
yes!! receives sensory info about body position, pain, temp and transmits this to the CNS
what can PNS be further subdivided into
Somatic Nervous system and Autonomic Nervous system
what is the somatic nervous system
recieves sensory info from sensory organs and controls muscle movement of skeletal muscle and includes spinal nerves that extent through vertebrae
what does efferent mean
send signals from brain to muscle
what does afferent mean
send signals from peripheral sensory areas to communicate from sense modalities back to brain
what is the autonomic nervous system
- self governing includes smooth muscle, cardiac muscle and glands - mediates non-voluntary functions of nervous system
what can ANS be subdivided into
parasympathetic, sympathetic, and enteric nervous system
what is parasympathetic nervous system
for rest and digest
what is sympathetic nervous system
fight or flight mode
what is enteric nervous system
- contains 100mill neurons (termed second brain)
- has own reflexes and senses and can act independently of the brain
- nearly all neurotransmitters found in the brain are found in the gut
- major role in emotions and stress
