Neuropsychology Flashcards

1
Q

Spinal cord

A
  • carries information between the brain and peripheral nervous system
  • consists of 31 segments divided into cervical, thoracic, lumbar, sacral, and coccygeal
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2
Q

Quadriplegia

A
  • aka tetraplegia
  • damage at cervical level
  • loss of sensory or motor functions in the trunk, upper limbs, and lower limbs
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3
Q

Paraplegia

A
  • damage at thoracic, lumbar, or sacral level

- loss of sensory or motor functions in the lower limbs

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4
Q

Conduction

A

electrochemical process by which info is recieved and processed within a neuon

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5
Q

Resting Potential

A

Before a cell recieves signals from adjacent cells, it is at resting potential, which means that the inside of the cell is negatively charged, while the outside is positively charged

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6
Q

Depolarization and Action Potential

A

The cell receives sufficient stimulation from other cells, the electrical balance between the interior and exterior changes, and hte interior becomes less negative - depolarization. This triggers action potential, which is an electrical impulse that travels quickly through the cell

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7
Q

All or none principle

A

whenever stimulation received by a neuron from adjacent cells exceed a minimum threshold, the resulting action potential is always the same magnitude

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8
Q

Conduction is influence by these two factors

A

1) the larger the diameter of the axon, the greater the speed of the nerve impulse
2) the thicker the myelin, the greater the speed

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9
Q

Multiple sclerosis

A

loss of myelin that involves muscular weakness, impaired coordination and balance, sensory loss, and blurred or double vision

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10
Q

Acetylcholine (ACh)

A
  • involved in the control of voluntary movement, learning and memory, sexual behavior, sleeping
  • inhibitory or excitatory, depending on location
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11
Q

Dopamine

A
  • involved in movement, learning, mood, and the reinforcing effects of stimulants, opiates, and nicotine
  • Abnormal levels linked to depression, Schizophrenia, Tourette’s, ADHD, Huntington’s, and Parkinson’s
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12
Q

Norepinephrine

A
  • mood, dreaming, learning, and autonomic responses

- related to depression, mania, and panic disorder

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13
Q

Serotonin (5-HT)

A
  • regulation of anxiety, mood, memory, aggression, pain, sleep, appetite, and sexuality
  • low levels: depression, aggression, PTSD, OCD, Bulimia
  • high levels: Schizophrenia, Autism, decreased appetite
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14
Q

Gamma-Amino Butyric Acid (GABA)

A
  • main inhibitory NT
  • motor control and anxiety
  • anxiolytics: increase GABA
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15
Q

Glutamate

A
  • major excitatory NT

- LTP

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16
Q

Endorphins

A
  • endogenous morphine
  • neuromodulators involved in reducing feelings of pain and producing feelings of pleasure
  • runners high and pain-relieving effects of acupuncture and placebos
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17
Q

Thyroxin

A
  • controls metabolism
  • undersecretion –> hypothyroidism: slows metabolism, causes reduced appetite, weight gain, lower HR, cold intolerance, decreased sex drive, fatigue, depression, and impaired memory
  • oversecretion –> hyperthyroidism/Graves Disease: speeds up metabolism and causes increased appetite, weight loss, increased HR, nervousness, agitation, heat intolerance, insomnia, and decreased attn span
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18
Q

Insulin

A
  • released by pancreas
  • stimulates the uptake of glucose and amino acids into cells
  • Undersecretion can lead to diabetes and hyperglycemia
  • Oversecretion can lead to hypoglycemia
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19
Q

Cortisol

A
  • secreted by the adrenal cortex
  • regulates blood glucose levels
  • undersecretion leads to Addison’s disease, which is muscle weakness, fatigue, low blood pressure, decreased appetite and weight loss, etc
  • oversecretion leads to Cushing’s disease, which is obesity, hypertension, depression ,anxiety, etc
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20
Q

Hindbrain

A

medulla oblongata, pons, cerebellum

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21
Q

Midbrain

A

reticular activating system, substantia nigra

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22
Q

Forebrain

A

hypothalamus, thalamus, basal ganglia, and limbic system

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23
Q

Reticular activating system

A

regulates the sleep-wake transition, screens incoming sensory information especially during sleep, and arouses higher centers in the brain when important info should be paid attn to

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24
Q

Substantia nigra

A

controls movement, plays a role in reward-seeking and addictive behaviors, contributes to Parkinson’s

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25
Q

Hypothalamus

A
  • maintains the body’s homeostasis by monitoring the body’s internal states and controlling temp, metabolism
  • motivated behaviors, feeding, sex, aggression, and maternal behavior
  • physical expression of strong emotions such as rage, fear, and excitement
  • Contains suprachiasmatic nucleus and mammillary bodies
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26
Q

Suprachiasmatic nucleus

A

regulates circadian rhythms, sensitivity to light and dark

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27
Q

Mammillary bodies

A

play a role in memory

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28
Q

Thalamus

A

Central relay station for sensory information (except olfactory, which goes directly to the amygdala)

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29
Q

Basal ganglia

A
  • Caudate nucleus, globus pallidus, putamen
  • extrapyramidal motor system, involved in posture and gross muscle movements, coordination of movement, process and relay info necessary for the control of voluntary movement, motor expression of emotion, sensorimotor learning
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30
Q

Limbic system

A

mediates the emotional component of behavior, made of amygdala, septum, cingulate cortex, hippocampus

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31
Q

Kluver-Bucy syndrome

A

amygdala lesions lead to reduced fear and aggression, increased docility, altered diet, and psychic blindness, hypersexuality

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32
Q

Hippocampus

A

memory and learning, memory consolidation (transfer to info from STM to LTM), degeneration leads to Alzheimer’s, damage leads to anterograde amnesia

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33
Q

Contralateral representation

A

right hemi controls left body, left hemi controls right game; two exceptions are olfactory (right to right, left to left) and visual (right visual field to right)

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34
Q

Lateralization

A
  • 90% of righties and 60% of lefties: left hemi is responsible for written and spoken language, logical and analytical thinking, expression of positive emotions
  • right hemi responsible for understanding spatial relationship, creative and holistic thinking, expression of negative emotions
  • hemi responsible for language is the dominant hemisphere
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35
Q

Split brain patients

A
  • corpus callosum cut to relieve seizures - led to deficits in visuoprocessing
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36
Q

Primary motor cortex

A

pyramidal motor system, involved in voluntary movement

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37
Q

Premotor cortex

A

motor actions, observing other performing motor actions

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38
Q

Broca’s area

A

Broca’s aphasia: deficits in production of written and spoken language, speak slowly and with great difficulty, anomia, aware of deficits

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39
Q

Prefrontal cortex

A
  • higher-order cognitive processes, working memory, regulation of memory, motor responses
  • dysexecutive syndrome: impaired problem-soliving, planning, and abstract thinking, and apathy
  • Pseudodepression: apathy, lack of motivation, reduced verbal output
  • Pseudopsychopathy
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40
Q

Temporal lobe

A

auditory cortex, Wernicke’s area

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41
Q

Wernicke’s aphasia

A

Trouble understanding language, fluent speech that makes no sense, unaware of deficits

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42
Q

Conduction aphasia

A

comprehends language and speaks fluently but has anomia and difficulty repeating

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43
Q

HM

A

temporal lobectomy, short term memory and memory for info were intact, but unable to require new info or recall info acquired shortly before surgery

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44
Q

Parietal lobe

A

Somatosensory cortex

45
Q

Somatosensory agnosia

A

tactile agnosia (inability to identify objects by touch), asomatognosia (inability to recognize one’s own body parts), anosognosia (inability recognize one’s own symptoms)

46
Q

Apraxia

A
  • inability execute purposeful movements
  • ideomotor apraxia: cannot pantomime or perform particular action, but perform it spontaneously
  • constructional apraxia: annoy draw or arrange blocks on pattern
47
Q

Contralateral neglect

A

loss of knowledge about one side of body/environment, generally right parietal lobe and left field

48
Q

Gerstmann’s syndrome

A

lesions on the left hemi and involves a combo of agraphia, acalculia, finger agnosia, and left-right disorientation

49
Q

Occipital lobe

A

visual cortex, damage can cause cortical blindness, blind spots, after-imates, alexia (inability to recognize printed words), visual agnosia (inability to recognize objects), prosopagnosia (inability to recognize faces)

50
Q

Sensation v perception

A

Sensation: the receipt of info by the sensory receptors and translation of that info into nerve impulses sent to the brain
Perception: the process of becoming aware of and interpreting what has been sensed

51
Q

Visual pathway

A
  • cornea: transparent covering
  • pupil: opening within the iris
  • lens: focuses light waves on the retina, contains rods (black and white, sides) and cones (color, center of retina, called fovea)
  • Optics nerves: tract to left hemi carries signals from right visual field of both eyes, tract to right hemi carries signals from left visual fields of both eyes
52
Q

Young-Helmholtz trichromatic theory

A

three types of cones that respond to red, blue, green

53
Q

Hering’s opponent-process theory

A

three types of opponent-process cells: red-green, yellow-blue, white-black

54
Q

Color blindness

A

anomaly on the X chromosome, so males are more likely to be color blind; several types of color blindness, most common is red-green

55
Q

Audition

A

physical stimuli for audition are sound waves, type of mechanical energy

56
Q

Loudness v pitch v timbre

A

Loudness: intensity determine by amplitude measured in decibels
Pitch: frequency of sound waves measured in terns of cycles per second, hertz
Timbre: tonal quality of sound related to sound wave’s complexity

57
Q

Pain factors

A

extreme heat, cold, pressure; affected by past experience with pain, expectation about pain relief, and the presence of anxiety and depression

58
Q

Gate-control theory

A

activation of large nerve fibers that carry info about touch, pressure, and vibration inhibits transmission of pain; activities that close the gate include massage, or applying heat or cold to injury

59
Q

Neuropathic pain

A

nervous system trauma, surgery, disease, some drugs, phantom limb pain

60
Q

Synesthesia

A

joining senses, involuntary perceptual condition in which stimulation of one sensory modality spontaneously elicits a sensation in another modality

61
Q

Psychophysics: absolute threshold

A

weakest stimulus that a person can detect

62
Q

Psychophysics: difference threshold

A

just noticeable difference, the smallest physical difference between two stimuli that is recognized as a difference

63
Q

Weber’s Law

A

JND for any stimulus increases in size in direct proportion to the magnitude of the stimulus (ie JND for weight is 2%)

64
Q

Fechner’s Law

A

logarithmic relationship between psychological sensation and the magnitude of a physical stimulus

65
Q

Steven’s Power Law

A

exponential relationship between psychological sensation and the magnitude of a physical stimulus, with the exponent varying for different kinds of stimuli; method of magnitude estimation

66
Q

Stroke

A
  • cerebrovascular accident is an onset of neurological symptoms caused by an interruption or severe reduction of blood flow to the brain
    1 - Ischemic stroke - most common and occur when an artery that supplies blood to the brain becomes blocked
    2 - Hemorrhagic stroke - occurs when a weakened blood vessel in the brain ruptures or leaks
  • factors: hypertension, atherosclerosis, atrial fib, heart disease, diabetes, smoking, age over 55, male, AA, family history of stroke
67
Q

Middle cerebral artery (stroke)

A
  • supplies blood to frontal, temporal, and parietal lobes, and basal ganglia
  • most common stroke
  • leads to contralateral hemiplegia and hemiparesis in face and arm, contralateral visual field loss in both eyes, aphasia in dominant hemi, contralateral neglect in nondominant hemi
68
Q

Anterior cerebral artery

A
  • supplies blood to frontal and parietal lobes, corpus callosum, caudate nucleus
  • stroke leads to contralateral hemiplegia in leg, impaired judgment and insight, personality change
69
Q

Posterior cerebral artery

A
  • supplies blood to thalamus, temporal and occipital lobes

- stroke leads to cortical blindness, visual agnosia, language impairment, and memory loss

70
Q

TBI: open head injury

A
  • when the skull is penetrated (gunshot, knife)
  • symptoms are focal and may resolve relatively rapidly
  • some people do not lose consciousness
71
Q

TBI: closed head injury

A
  • occurs when blow does not penetrate skull
  • more widespread damage, LOC
  • sx: emotional, behavioral, physical, and cognitive
72
Q

TBI Severity

A

Glasgow Coma + duration of posttraumatic amnesia (PTA) + duration of LOC
Mild: GCS 13-15, PTA less than 1 hr, LOC <30m
Moderate: GCS 9-12, PTA 1-24h, LOC 30m-24h
Severe: GCS <8, PTA >24 h, LOC >24 h

73
Q

Huntington’s disease

A
  • degenerative disease caused by autosomal dominant gene and offspring have 50% chance
  • onset age 30-50
  • initial sx usually affective, followed by forgetfulness, personality changes, and motor sx
  • later: athetosis and chorea, dysarthria, dysphagia, immobility, Neurocog Disorder
  • suicide rates high, esp among younger people
74
Q

Athetosis

A

slow writhing movements

75
Q

Chorea

A

involuntary jerky movements of face, limbs, and trunk

76
Q

Dysarthria

A

difficulty articulating words

77
Q

Dysphagia

A

difficulty swallowing

78
Q

Parkinson’s disease

A

degenerative disease characterized by abnormalities in movement

  • caused by loss of dopamine cells in substantia nigra, leading to deficits in basal ganglia, thalamus, and cortex
  • sx: tremor, rigidity, postural instability, bradykinesia
79
Q

Tremor

A
  • hands, arms, and legs
  • initial symptom of PD
  • pill rolling: movements of thumb and forefinger
80
Q

Rigidity

A

muscles of the neck, arms, and legs

cogwheel rigidity is a combo of rigidity and tremor and characterized by short, jerky, ratchet-like movements

81
Q

Postural instability

A

impaired balance and equilibrium, causes instability, stooped posture, and gait disturbances

82
Q

Bradykinesia

A

slowness of voluntary movement, causes difficulty initiating and completing movements and affects both fine and gross motor functions, in the face produces a blank, mask-like facial expression

83
Q

Partial seizures

A

originate in a localized area in one side of brain and affect one side of body
1- simple partial seizures
2- complex partial seizures: aura, automatisms, various part of brain, mostly temporal lobe

84
Q

Generalized seizures

A

bilaterally symmetric
1 - tonic clonic - gran mal seizures - tonic stage is stiffening of muscles, clonic stage involves jerky movements
2 - absence seizures - petit mal

85
Q

Migraines

A
  • classic: starts with aura

- common: does not have aura

86
Q

Cluster headaches

A

severe burning or piercing non-throbbing pain that lasts for 15-90m more than once each day over several weeks or months

87
Q

Agonists v antagonists

A

Agonists: produce effects similar to those produced by NTs
Inverse agonists: produce effects opposite to those produced by NTs
Antagonists: produce no activity but reduce or block the effects of a NTs

88
Q

Drugs + age/race

A
  • older age: decrease in metabolism/longer half-life

- Asian As: metabolize more slowly than whites (benzos, lithium, some antidepressants, neuroleptics)

89
Q

Tricyclic Antidepressants (TCAs)

A
  • block the reuptake of norepinephrin and serotonin
  • ex: imipramine (Tofranil), clomipramime (Anafranil), amitriptyline (Elavil)
  • uses: hopelessness, anhedonia, physical symptoms of depression, panic attacks, agoraphobia, OCD
90
Q

SSRIs

A
  • block reuptake, increase serotonin
  • fluoxetine (Prozac), sertraline (Zoloft), paroxetime (Paxil)
  • MDD, OCD, panic d, social phobia, binge-eating, premature ejaculation
  • can lead to serotonin syndrome
  • compared to TCAs, quicker onset, fewer side effects, safer in overdose
91
Q

Monoamine oxidase inhibitors (MAOIs)

A
  • block the breakdown of norepinephrine and serotonin
  • phenelzine (Nardil), tranylcypromine (Parnate)
  • atypical/treatment-resistant depression
92
Q

SNRIs

A
  • venlafaxine (Effexor), duloxetine (Cymbalta), desvenlafaxine (Pristiq)
  • MDD, DAG, PD
93
Q

NDRIs

A
  • bupropion (Wellbutrin, Zyban)

- depression, smoking cessation

94
Q

Anti-seizure drugs

A

Carbamazepine (tegretol), valproic acid (depakote)

95
Q

Traditional antipsychotics

A
  • block dopamine, per the dopamine hypothesis - links Schizophrenia to overactivity of dopamine receptors
  • phenothiazines (chlorpromazine/Thorazine, thioridazine/Mellaril), butyrophenones (haloperidol/Haldol)
  • alleviate positive symptoms, no effect on negative symptoms
96
Q

Side effects of traditional antipsychotics

A

Anticholinergic effects: dry mouth, urinary retention, blurred vision, tachycardia, gastric distress, and sexual dysfunction
Extrapyramidal side effects: parkinsonism (muscle stiffness, gait, posture, speech), dystonia (muscle contraction), akathisia, TD (abnormal movements of the face, tongue, jaw)
- Neuroleptic malignant syndrome: rare, life-threatening side effect w/in first 2 weeks of drug leading to muscle rigidity, high fever, unstable blood pressure

97
Q

Atypical antipsychotics

A
  • clozapine (Clozaril), risperidone (Risperdal), olanzapine (Zydrez), aripiprazole (Ability)
  • affect dopamine as well as other NTs
  • alleviate positive and negative sx
98
Q

Benzodiazepines

A
  • increase GABA
  • diazepam (Valium), alprazolam (Xanax), clonazepam (Klonopin), lorazepam (Ativan), triazolam (Halcion)
  • anxiety, insomnia, muscle spasms, seizures, alcohol withdrawal
99
Q

Barbiturates

A
  • GABA
  • thiopental (Pentothal), amobarbital (Amytal), secobarbital (Seconal)
  • general anesthetic, insomnia, anxiety
100
Q

Azaspirones

A

buspirone (BuSpar) - anxiety

101
Q

Narcotic - Analgesics

A
  • mimic the effect’s of the body’s natural analgesics (endorphines)
  • natural opioids: opium, morphine, codeine),
  • synthetic/semi-synthetic opioids: heroin, methadone, oxycodone (Percodan, OxyContin), hydrocodone (Vicodin), meperidin (Demerol)
102
Q

Psychostimulants

A
  • mimic or potentiate the action of norepinephrine and dopamine
  • methylphenidate (Ritalin, Concerta), pemoline (Cylert), amphetamine-destroamphetamine (Adderall), cocaine, methamphetamine
  • ADHD, narcolepsy
103
Q

NRIs

A

atomoxetine (Strattera) - nonstimulant drug for ADHD

104
Q

Beta-blckers

A
  • inhibit sympathetic nervous system

- propanolol (Inderal)

105
Q

Anti-alcohol durgs

A
  • disulfram (Antabuse): inhibits alcohol metabolism causing nausea and vomiting
  • naltrexone: opioid antagonist, reduces the pleasurable effects and cravings
106
Q

Cognition enhancers

A
  • cholinesterase inhibitors that inhibit breakdown of acetylcholine
  • Cognex, Aricept, Exelon, Razadyne
  • memory loss, Alzheimers
107
Q

Practical Clinical Trials

A
  • contrary to clinical trials that focus on the efficacy of an intervention, PCTs focus on the effectiveness when carried out in a typical community setting
108
Q

Therapeutic Drug Monitoring

A

process of monitoring the concentration of a specific drug in a patient’s bloodstream at certain intervals to achieve optimal effectiveness

109
Q

Genetic screening methodologies

A
  • Cytogenetic testing: examine chromosomal abnormalities
  • Biochemical testing: examine proteins instead of the gene itself
  • Molecular testing: directly analyze DNA sequences