Neuropsychology: Definitions + History

Question 1

Egyptian outlook on neuropsychology
3 points

Answer 1

• records of head injuries that led to deficits on the opposite side of the body.
• heart was associated with consciousness and intelligence, this is knows as ‘cardiocentric model’.
• brain was not preserved in mummification process

Question 2

What did Alcmean (5th century BCE) believe

Answer 2

the brain was responsible for sensation and thought

Question 3

Hippocrates (460 370 BCE) thought the brain’s was…

Answer 3

the controlling organ of the body

Question 4

Plato (428-348 BCE) theorised what?

Answer 4

That our…
- brain was associated with intellect
- heart with anger, fear and pride
- gut greed desire and lower passions

Question 5

In the 5th century, due to the Hippocratic Revolution what part of the body was believed to be immortal

Answer 5

The intellectual soul (i.e. brain)

Question 6

Aristotle 384-322 BCE
- how he disagreed with Plato
- role of heart and brain

Answer 6

• heart was an organ of intellect and function not brain
• Proposed that the heart was warm and therefore - a sign of sensation and animation - primary importance
• brain was cool - an elaborate coding system

Question 7

Evaluation of Plato

Answer 7

lacked clinical approach - no evidence
- he only studied humans with brain damage
- his dissection was limited to animals - the majority being cold-blooded

Question 8

Galen (130-200 AD) believed ‘animal spirits’ were…

Answer 8

produced in the left ventricle of the heart and carried to the brain

Question 9

Galen
- dissected what ?
- worked on what ?
- intellect was what ?
- localisation ?

Answer 9

• dissected only animals
• worked on the role of the nervous system, made a distinction between the sensory + motor nerves
• proposed that the basic components of intellect were, imagination cognition, and memory
• localisation wasn’t to the substance of the brain itself, but to the ventricles of the brain

Question 10

Bishop Nemesious and the ventricle Doctrine (390 AD).
- Ventricles housed what functions ?
- Supported by ?

Answer 10

Ventricles considered to house these functions:
- Perception = Anterior Ventricle
- Cognition = Middle Ventricles
- Memory = Posterior Ventricles

Possibly supported by lesion studies.

Question 11

The Renaissance; Versalius
- dissection should be what?
- Noted what about Galen and did what as a result
- rejected what and why

Answer 11

Versalius, anatomist believed dissections should be main tool for teaching physicians
- first to note that Galen would have worked from animal studies, corrected some of the anatomical errors that had persisted as a result
- Rejection of the idea of ventricular doctrine, because human ventricles did not differ greatly from other mammals, who could not be considered to have higher reasoning skills

Question 12

How is the spinal cord localised
- What Nerves are in the spinal cord

Answer 12

It has two types of nerves emerging from it:
- Dorsal (Posterior) nerve
- Ventral (Anterior) nerve

Question 13

What is the role of the Dorsal Nerve

Answer 13

To carry sensory information into the spinal cord.
Sensory info —> spinal cord

Question 14

What is the role of the Ventral nerve

Answer 14

To carry motor signals to the muscles, to produce movement.
Motor signals —> muscles —> produce movement

Question 15

What is the Bell-Magendie Law (1811-1822)

Answer 15

states that the ventral spinal roots transmit motor impulses and the posterior roots sensory impulses.
Only in one direction.

Question 16

Split brain operations were carried out in humans to…

Answer 16

Treat severe epilepsy

Question 17

The first person to identify a difference between sensory and motor nerves was…

Answer 17

Galen

Question 18

According to Aristotle the reason humans have a large brain is…

Answer 18

so that it can act as a cooling system for the larger human body

Question 19

Franz-Gall believed what?

Answer 19

That regions of the brain relate to specific functions + traits.
An individual who is skilled in those functions will show well developed brain regions.

Question 20

What is Phrenology

Answer 20

the study of the conformation of the skull, to draw conclusions about a person’s mental faculties and traits of character

Question 21

Who criticised Phrenology in the early 1800s and why

Answer 21

Marie-Jean-Pierre Flourens.
Cortex functions as a whole are responsible for intelligence.
Used animals to demonstrate that after damage functions of the brain could be recovered.
Worked on animals and could have been young, therefore more plasticity.

Question 22

What did Paul Broca discover in 1861

Answer 22

A patient with damage to the left inferior frontal cortex showed:
- Intact language understanding
- Impaired speech production
- Patient Tan

*Broca was never an advocate for phrenology which was why the change was noted. He was also well respected in the area

Question 23

Who was Phineas Gage and what happened to him

Answer 23

Worked as a construction foreman, building a railroad.
Described as responsible, intelligent and socially well adapted.
3cm thick iron bar went through his skull, entering below the left cheekbone and exiting through the top of his head.
After became unreliable, disrespectful, lost his social conventions and responsibility.

Question 24

Harlow’s first and second report.
Bigelow’s report
Broca’s talk

Answer 24

Harlow’s first report didn’t mention localisation.
Bigelow mentioned full recovery.
Broca’s talk in 1968 is when the shift towards localisation began.
Harlow’s final paper highlights changes in personality, as evidence for localisation of function.

Question 25

Who is Theodor Meynert

Answer 25

Worked on anatomy of the brain.
studied cellular architecture of the brain and was the first to note variations in the histological structures, according to the regions.

*Histology = The study of tissues and cells under a microscope

Question 26

What did Franz Nissl develop?

Answer 26

Nissl method.
Process of staining the cell body to highlight different structures.

Question 27

Camillo Golgi found what ?

Answer 27

Used silver nitrate staining solutions to stain selected cells in their entirety.
Now able to see axon, dendrite and the length of the neuron.

Question 28

Neuron Doctrine
Brain is made up of…

Answer 28

Provided the basis of modern neuroscience.
Brain is made up of individual units (cells) with specialised features (the axon, dendrites and cell body).
Cells are connected by sites of contact (the synapse).

Question 29

Where is language localised in the brain

Answer 29

Left Hemisphere

Question 30

Where is Face recognition localised in the brain

Answer 30

Right Hemisphere

Question 31

Where is Emotion localised in the brain

Answer 31

Right Hemisphere