neuropsychology Flashcards
what does neuropsych study
brain and behaviour
examines structure of healthy/normal brain across development
what is clinical neuropsych
neuropsych meets clinical psych
what are the 2 main components of clinical neuropsych
- assessing and diagnosing neurological disorder
- assessing changes in cognition, behaviour and mood
- estimating one’s previous functioning
- identifying strengths/weaknesses
- assist to identify problems if cause unknown - treating, rehabilitating, psycho-education, counselling
- educating clients and families, counselling them, therapeutic approaches
what is congenital hypothyrodism
thyroid gland is underactive at birth
does not produce hormone thyroxine that regulates metabolic rate-essential for brain development
what is cerebral palsy
occurs during foetal development and birth
leads to motor and postural problems
how can neurones die?
- blood supplies brain with glucose, oxygen metabolises it, essential for cells to function
- can die as a result of disease e.g. alzheimers
- can die of physical injury
what is MS?
• An autoimmune disease that attacks the central nervous system (brain, spinal cord) by destroying the coating of the nerves
• The immune system attacks the body’s own tissue
myelin sheath breaks down, effects transmission of electrical impulses
faulty functioning of nerves rather than death
what is diffuse damage
damage that is widespread throughout the brain
not easy to detect on brain scans
may cause small bleeds in brain
what is focal damage
damage that is concentrated in one or more areas of the brain
better at detecting it on brain scans
exact location will determine deficits that will occur
what is a static event
a one off event that causes brain damage (acute)
after one off events, a person’s condition stabilises and and can improve
it is important to get immediate medical attention however
define degenerative processes
involve chronic, underlying diseases that result in increasing amounts of damage and worsens over time
e.g. alzheimers, parkinsons, huntingtons
there is some treatment, but only treats symptoms and not disease
what is the brain like in its natural state?
soft, comparable to jelly/soft tofu
what are meninges
they consist of 3 layers that cover the brain and spinal cord to protect
what are the 3 layers in the meninges
dura
subarachnoid layers
pia mater
what is the dura
dense, inelastic membrane and adheres to skull
what are the subarachnoid layers
in between these is the subarachnoid space
this is well blood vessels and fibrous tissue are
this is where haemorrhage/bleeding may occur
pia mater
delicate, adheres itself to brain
name 5 main causes of brain damage
- vascular causes e.g. stoke, brain cancers
- TBI e.g. car accident
- infection e.g. bacterial or fungal
- neurodegenerative disease e.g. alzheimers, parkinsons, huntingtons
- autoimmune disorders e.g. MS
5 toxins e.g. lead poisoning, alcohol/substance abuse
what is the cortex
divided into left and right hemisphere
made up of grey matter which increases it’s surface area
what do sulci comprise of
grooves and fissures
what do gyri comprise of
convolutions/folds
what is symmetrical organisation
left and right hemisphere mirror each other in terms of structure and function
e.g. visual info and touch
tendency for contra-lateral control
what is contra-lateral control
left hemisphere controls right side of body and vice versa
what is asymmetrical organisation
left and right hemisphere do not mirror each other
e.g. language in left hemisphere, not in right
4 lobes in brain and what they do
Frontal lobes- motor, executive functions, mood, behaviour
Parietal- somatosensory (touch)
Occipital- sight
Temporal- hearing, memory
what are short fibres
connect one part of the lobe to another
what are association fibres
connect one lobe to another on same side of brain
what are commisures
link the two hemispheres
corpus callosum or anterior commisure
what does the primary visual cortex do
detects size, shape, colour and orientation
what are 3 things that can happen if the primary visual cortex is damaged
cortical blindness
blindsight
visual anosognosia
what is cortical blindess
person has a blindspot or is blind in opposite eye
retina of eye is intact but part of cortex processing that info is damaged
what is blindsight
people with cortical blindness may also experience this
the unconscious experience of vision
part of vision is processed in thalamus so they can respond to a light of something in front of them though they are not aware
what is visual anosognosia
people deny that they are blind
carry on as if they’re not
confabulate reasons for bumping into things
what is the visual association cortex
where high-order visual processing occurs
allows us to identify an object and its use
name 4 things which can occur is the visual association cortex is damaged
- visual agnosia- cant identify an object, drawing or photo
- colour agnosia- cant distinguish colour and relate it to objects
- object agnosia- cant recognise everyday objects
- prosopagnosia- cannot recognise faces, can recognise through speech
what is agnosia
loss of knowledge
what is anosognosia
someone is unaware of their condition
what does the primary somatosensory cortex do
info about temp, movement of limbs, touch and pressure
what happens if the primary somatosensory cortex is damaged
loss of sensation where lesion is on body
sensory nerves are sending signal but brain cannot process it
prone to injury
what does the association somatosensory cortex do
combines previous somatosensory info with tactile info
recognise things based on touch e.g. light switch at night
name 5 types of damage here
- tactile agnosia (astereognosis)
- Anosognosia
- hemi-inattention
- apraxia
- dressing apraxia
name 5 types of damage here
- tactile agnosia (astereognosis)
- Anosognosia
- hemi-inattention
- apraxia
- dressing apraxia
what is visual agnosia
unable to detect things based on touch even though senses are in tact
what is somatosenory anosognosia
unawareness of paralysis/illness/problems
person paralysed and doesnt know
what is hemi-inattention
fail to attend to stimuli on one side
damage to left side, results in failing to attend to things on right side
person may only raise right arm, eat foods on right side of plate
what is apraxia
involuntary movement
cant do movements when asked
sometimes will do them spontaneously
can be inappropriate
what is dressing apraxia
people cant coordinate the movements to dress themselves
cannot put legs through pants
what does the primary auditory cortex do
detects verbal and non-verbal sounds
what does tonotypically organised mean
higher pitch sounds occur in anterior regions
lower pitch sounds occur in posterior regions
what happens if the primary auditory cortex is damaged
it is rare as it is protected cant detect sounds cant differentiate between sounds cant locate sounds complain people are talking too quickly
what is cortical deafness
arises when primary auditory cortex is damaged
person cannot hear sounds as they process them
what happens in the left hemisphere for memory
verbal and visual info that is processed verbally
what happens in the right hemisphere for memory
non-verbal material
abstract and geometrical designs, faces and tunes
what does the auditory association cortex do
higher level processing of complex sounds
what does the left hemisphere do in auditory association cortex
wernicke’s area: analysis and comprehension of speech
what does the right hemisphere do in the auditory association cortex
non-verbal auditory sounds
music, other everyday sounds
what happens if left side of association auditory cortex is damaged
pure word deafness
wernickes aphasia
define pure word deafness
unable to recognise speech even though they can hear, speak, write and lip read
cant hear someone talking loudly
can hear everyday sounds though
define wernickes aphasia
may also suffer from word deafness
cant comprehend speech
sentence structure lacks meaning
have fluent speech but doesnt make sense
what happens if there is damage to the right side of the auditory association cortex and what does that mean
amusia- unable to hear music and other sounds such as doorbell, car honking
what do the frontal lobes comprise of
motor
pre-motor
pre-frontal cortex
what does motor do
responsible for controlling muscle movements
what happens if there is damage to motor
unable to perform find movements
damage usually confined to one side e.g. stroke
what does the pre-frontal cortex do
complex motor sequences
manage executive function affecting behaviour
affects ability to plan, think divergently, monitor performance
affects mood and working memory
what happens if there is damage to pre-frontal cortex
problems in complex motor sequences
cant copy rapid movements
what is diffuse axonal injury (DAI)?
- form of brain injury
- happens when the brain rapidly shifts inside the skull as an injury is occurring
- the shearing (tearing) of the brain’s long connecting nerve fibres (axons)
