Neuroanatomy Flashcards
What is the limbic lobe?
- Anatomical concept
- Composed of fornicate gyrus (cingulate gyrus+ parahippocampal gyrus)
- Cortical mantle of telencephalon
- Surrounds the diencephalon
Briefly describe MacLean: The “triune brain” theory. What does each part is responsible for?
- Primitive –> survival
- Intermediate –> emotional
- Rational –> logical
What is the function of limbic system? Which part is responsible for this function?
- Learning and memory (HIPPOCAMPUS)
- Control of emotions and instinctive behaviour (AMYDALA)
Widely accepted concept of the limbic system is that it:
- Analyses stimuli for _____ significance
- Stores emotional _____
- Tags _____ input with emotional component and impacts cognitive responses that is required for normal social behaviour and survival
emotional
memory
sensory
What is limbic loop? What does it do?
- Motivational state dictated behaviour.
- Looks at somatosensory input, and assigns ‘tags’ and emotional component to it.
- Emotional touching experiences get attention and tends to be remembered
*Joins sensory and motor
(add emotion, importance of input (memories/past experiences)
4 cortices found in the limbic system
- Cingulate gyrus
- Parahippocampal gyrus
- Orbitofrontal cortex
- Subcallosal area
4 nuclei found in the limbic system
- Amydala
- Hypothalamus
- Mammillary bodies
- Anterior nucleus of thalamus
4 major fibre tracts found in the limbic system
- Fornix
- Fornical (hippocampal) commissure
- Cingulum
- Uncinate fascicle
Cingulum and uncinate fascicle are _______ fibres that are related to the limbic system
association
Where is the cingulum fascicle? What is it?
Is located in cingulate and parahippocampal gyri
Connects cortical structures of both gyri
Hippocampus cingulate cortex
(transfers information)
What is the uncinate fascicle?
Connects temporal with frontal lovbe (orbitofrontal cortex)
What is memory?
The acquisition, storage and retrieval of information
The hippocampus plays a critical role in ______ term memory
Short
The __________ mediates short term memory, it contains 3 components of verbal information, visual information and spatial information
Pre- frontal cortex
The _________transfers short-term memory into long-term
Hippocampal formation
Where is short-term verbal information processed?
- Posterior parietal cortext
- Broca’s area
Where is short-term visual information processed?
- Frontal cortex
Where is short-term spatial information processed?
- Prefrontal subregions
What are the types of long-term memory?
Explicit (personally experienced and facts &general knowledge)
Implicit (skills & habits and emotions, classical and operant conditioning, priming)
Where is long-term explicit memory stored?
Cortical association areas
Where is long-term implicit memory of skills and habits stored?
- Motor cortex
- Basal ganglia
- Cerebellum
Where is long-term implicit memory of emotions, classical and operant conditioning, priming (eg. smell) processed?
Amydala
What is the function of entorhinal cortex?
- The hippocampal formation receives major input through the entorhinal cortex
(door to the limbic loop) - The hippocampal formation sends major output to the entorhinal cortex
- Important structure for learning, memory, and spatial navigation
- It is first site to be affected in Alzheimer’s disease
- It provides the largest fibre input to the hippocampus
What cells does entorhinal cortex contain and what is this crucial for?
Contains grid cells, crucial for spatial navigation
So patients first developing Alzheimer’s disease lose spatial navigation first