Neuropsychology and Neuroscience Lecture 5&6

Question 1

What is the pre-frontal cortex?

Answer 1

The prefrontal cortex is the section of the frontal cortex that lies at the very front of the brain. The prefrontal cortex contributes to a wide variety of executive functions, including: Focusing one’s attention. Predicting the consequences of one’s actions; anticipating events in the environment.

Question 2

What are the 3 regions of the prefrontal cortex?

Answer 2

The Dorsolateral, upper medial, and the ventromedial / orbitofrontal

Question 3

Damage to the dorsolateral causes what?

Answer 3

Innappropriate sequences of action, poor working memory (not able to keep things in mind and update relevent info)

Question 4

Damage to the Upper Medial causes what?

Answer 4

Apathy, Intertia, and poor motivation

Question 5

Damage to the ventromedial / orbitofrontal causes what?

Answer 5

Loss of inhibition, risky behaviour, poor self-evaluation, unable to evaluate a social context, poor social skills.

Question 6

What is the most common form of actue brain injury?

Answer 6

Closed head injury (Blow to the head without fracture of the cranium)

Question 7

What are the areas most commonly damaged due to closed head injury’s ?

Answer 7

Damage to the ventromedial / orbitofrontal PFC but also anterior parts of the temporal lobes. This can cause Disinhibition, loss of self-control, and increased emotions. There can also be disconnections across brain regions and diffuse axonal injury

Question 8

What did Phineas Gages head penetrating injury cause for him?

Answer 8

His personality and social behaviour was changed

Question 9

What is a ventromedial prefrontal cortex injury?

Answer 9

People with damage to the ventromedial prefrontal cortex still retain the ability to consciously make moral judgments without error, but only in hypothetical situations presented to them. They are severely impaired in making personal and social decisions.

Question 10

What is the result of a ventromedial prefrontal cortex injury during childhood?

Answer 10

Evidence suggests that this type of injury during child-hood leads to poor moral judgements for self-interest and less empathy than a similar injury in adults.

Question 11

What is the result of a ventromedial prefrontal cortex injury during adulthood?

Answer 11

Adults with this injury are able to reject simple moral rule violations compared to those who had this injury earlier on in life

Question 12

What are low-conflict, self-serving moral scenarios?

Answer 12

Scenarios which are low conflict and self serving that test whether you would break a moral rule or not.

Question 13

What do adult vmPFC (ventromedial PFC) and amygdala injurys usually lead to in adults?

Answer 13

Leads to poorer attention to other peoples eyes for social attention and interaction

Question 14

What is the amygdala?

Answer 14

The amygdala is responsible for the perception of emotions such as anger, fear, and sadness, as well as the controlling of aggression.

Question 15

What do amygdala lessions cause in experiments?

Answer 15

A lack in social response in animals causing them to become isolated

Question 16

What do lessions or for example calcification of the amygdala cause in humans?

Answer 16

Cause cause reduced fear to external threats, and the failure to recognise fearful faces. They usually fail to recognise someone elses personal space and tent to stick to someone more than what is comfortable.

Question 17

How is the amygdala related to panic disorders?

Answer 17

Evidence has shown hyperactivity of the amygdala is related to panic disorders as it causes increased panic and fear to dangerous internal threats such as oxygen deprivation.

Question 18

What is the urbach wiethe disease?

Answer 18

a very rare, recessively inherited disorder, characterized by yellowish white infiltrative deposits on the skin, the mucous membranes and other internal organs. It can lead to the calcification of the amygdala in the brain.

Question 19

What is the hippocampus?

Answer 19

Hippocampus, region of the brain that is associated primarily with memory, located in the inner (medial) region of the temporal lobe, forms part of the limbic system,

Question 20

How do you increase the volume of the posterior hippocampus?

Answer 20

Some kinds of exercise and learning although as this occurs anterior volume will decline.

Question 21

Can you increase the volume of the posterior hippocampus?

Answer 21

Yes! although at the same time anterior volume will decline

Question 22

What are enriched environments?

Answer 22

An environment in which influences the brain. It was found that enriched environments produce better quality brains

Question 23

True or False? Enriched environments produce better quality brains

Answer 23

True

Question 24

What do enriched environments produce in the brain?

Answer 24

More dendrites on neurons and more spines (synapses) on those dendrites. This helps with more efficient information processing.

Question 25

Can environmental stimulation promote recovery of brain function after an injury

Answer 25

Yes. according to numerous studies.

Question 26

Could enriched environments reduce impairments after brain injury to the limbic thalamus?

Answer 26

Yes!

Question 27

What is the most common kind of dementia?

Answer 27

Alzheimers disease

Question 28

What is alziemers disease?

Answer 28

Where an individual has lost their ability to make ‘independent judgements’ and have loss of everyday functions. There must be two or more areas of cognition that are compromised to have dementia. The most critical feature is the loss of brain tissue

Question 29

What is progressive neuro degeneration?

Answer 29

The progressive loss of structure or function of neurons, including death of neurons

Question 30

What are two types of abnormal culprits causing brain degeneration in alzheimers disease?

Answer 30

1. High levels of Amyloid-beta plaques in the brain tissue

2. Abnormal levels of ‘tangles’ inside the brain neurons

Question 31

What is atrophy?

Answer 31

Where a body tissue or an organ wastes away, especially as a result of the degeneration of cells, or become vestigial during evolution.

Question 32

Is there a link between education and not getting dementia?

Answer 32

Yes! Slightly

Question 33

What are the 7 modifiable lifestyle factors that increase the rates of dementia?

Answer 33

Midlife obesity, diabetes, midlife hypertension, depression, physical inactivity, smoking, and low education