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NMI > Neuroscience > Flashcards

Neuroscience Flashcards

1
Q

Where is the homunculus located?

A

On either side of the central gyrus (separates frontal & parietal lobes)

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2
Q

Where is the cerebellum located?

A

Underneath cerebrum, behind the brain stem

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3
Q

What are the 3 types of movements?

A
  • Reflex
  • Rhythmic motor patterns (automatic, e.g. chewing, walking)
  • Voluntary movement (require conscious control)
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4
Q

What does movement require?

A
  • Sensory info coming in
  • Processing of info at an automatic and/or cognitive level
  • Executing a response with the correct amount/timing of muscle activity
  • Ability to rapidly modify response
  • Learning & memory
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5
Q

Where does sensory info come from?

A
  • Visual
  • Vestibular
  • Somatosensory (including tactile & kinaesthetic sensation)
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6
Q

What is the function of the visual system?

A
  • Sight
  • Eye movement control
  • Info for postural and limb movement
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7
Q

What is the visual system made up of?

A
  • Retina
  • Afferent pathways (optic nerve, thalamic/vestibular connections, cortical connections for perception)
  • Efferent connections (eye movements)
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8
Q

What are the 3 pathways that transmit visual info to the CNS?

A
  1. Lateral geniculate of thalamus
    - Occipitotemporal region (visual object identification)
    - Posterior parietal cortex (visual guidance)
  2. Tectum
    - Visually guided eye movements (orientation)
  3. Pretectal area
    - Pupillary reflexes
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9
Q

What are the functions of the vestibular system?

A
  • Provides info about direction & speed of head movement
  • Position of head relative to gravity
  • Gaze stabilisation
  • Postural adjustments
  • Autonomic function & consciousness
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10
Q

What is the vestibular system made up of?

A
  • Vestibular apparatus/labyrinths (semicircular canals, utricle & saccule located in inner ear)
  • Afferent connections (vestibular nerve, connections to vestibular nuclei & cerebellum)
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11
Q

What are the functions of the vestibular apparatus/labyrinths?

A

Semicircular canals

  • Directional specific, acceleratory forces
  • Give 3D picture

Otoliths (utricle & saccule)

  • Respond to vertical/linear displacement
  • Respond to gravity
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12
Q

What is the main vestibular afferent pathway?

A

Vestibular nerve

  • Vestibular nuclei in medulla/pons
  • Flocculonodular lobe of cerebellum
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13
Q

What is the central vestibular system made up of?

A
  • 4 nuclei
  • 6 pathways
  • Vestibulocerebellum
  • Vestibular cortex
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14
Q

What does somatosensation include?

A
  • Touch
  • Pain
  • Temperature
  • Vibration
  • Proprioception
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15
Q

What contributes to somatosensation?

A
  • Receptors
  • Somatosensory pathways
  • Conscious relay pathways
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16
Q

How is afferent somatosensory information transmitted?

A
  • Ascending sensory pathways
  • Important connections in brain stem, thalamus
  • Important cortical regions (perception)
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17
Q

What are the different types of sensory pathways?

A

Conscious relay

  • Location/type of stimulation
  • Accurate/discriminative info

Divergent

  • Transmit to many locations
  • Conscious & unconscious

Unconscious relay

  • Proprioceptive/movement related info
  • Automatic adjustments of movement/posture
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18
Q

What are the ascending sensory pathways?

A
  • Dorsal columns
  • Anterior & lateral spinothalamic
  • Spinocerebellar: Unconscious movement-related info
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19
Q

What are the features of the dorsal columns?

A
  • 3-neuron relay pathway
  • Decussates in medulla
  • Discriminative touch, conscious proprioception
20
Q

What are the features of the spinothalamic tracts (anterolateral columns)?

A
  • 3-neuron relay pathway
  • Decussates in spinal cord
  • Conscious discriminative pain & temp
  • Also includes divergent pathways for slow aching pain
21
Q

What are the features of the spinocerebellar tract?

A
  • Unconscious movement related info
  • Two pathways (posterior, cuneo)
  • Also includes internal feedback tracts
22
Q

What are the features of the internal feedback tracts of the spinocerebellar tract?

A
  • Convey info for spinal reflexes
  • Anterior spinocereballar (auto coordination of lower limbs)
  • Rostrospinocerebellar (auto coordination of upper limbs)
23
Q

What are the 3 relay areas of the brain?

A
  • Medial lemniscus
  • Internal capsule
  • Corpus collosum
24
Q

What is the function of the medial lemniscus?

A
  • Crossing of 2nd order neurons of dorsal columns
  • Sensory decussation
  • Relay to the VPL nucleus of thalamus
25
Q

What is the function of the internal capsule?

A
  • 3 parts (posterior limb, genu/cranial nerve links, anterior limb)
  • Connects cortex with sub cortex structures (brainstem, thalamus)
  • Ascending & descending axons
26
Q

What is the function of the corpus collosum?

A
  • Connects hemispheres

- Allows for inter-hemispheric communication

27
Q

What are the main integration centres involved with movement?

A
  • Thalamus
  • Cerebral cortex
  • Vestibular nuclei
  • Basal ganglia
  • Cerebellum
  • Spinal cord
28
Q

What are the features of the thalamus?

A
  • Part of diencephalon
  • Collection of nuclei
  • Selective filter for the cortex
29
Q

What are the main functions of the thalamus?

A
  • Integration of sensory info
  • Regulates consciousness, arousal & attention
  • Processes emotional & some memory info
30
Q

What are the 5 main areas of the cerebral cortex?

A
  • Primary sensory cortex (receives info)
  • Sensory association cortex (recognises sensation)
  • Association cortex (interpretation)
  • Motor planning areas (movement composition)
  • Primary motor cortex (coordinates movement)
31
Q

What is the function of the primary sensory cortex?

A
  • Discriminates size, texture, shape of objects

- Receives info directly via thalamus

32
Q

What is the function of the sensory association cortex?

A
  • Analyses info from primary sensory cortex/thalamus

- Provides stereogenesis & memory of tactile/spatial environment

33
Q

What is the function of the pre-motor cortex of the motor planning areas?

A
  • Controls trunk/girdle muscles
  • Anticipatory postural adjustments
  • Involved in selecting motor programs based on sensory input/association
34
Q

What is the function of the supplementary cortex of the motor planning areas?

A
  • Initiates movement
  • Orientation
  • Planning bimanual & sequential movements
35
Q

What is the function of the primary motor cortex?

A

Voluntarily controlled movement

36
Q

What are the 3 areas of the association cortex?

A
  • Pre-frontal
  • Parieto-temporal
  • Limbic
37
Q

What is the function of the association cortex?

A
  • Personality
  • Integration/interpretation
  • Processing memory
  • Generation of emotion
  • Intelligence
  • Self-awareness
  • Executive functions
38
Q

What are the features of the vestibular nuclei?

A
  • 4 nuclei: Deiter’s, medial, inferior, superior
  • Part of pons/medulla
  • Sensory integration (visual, proprioceptive, tactile, auditory info)
  • Motor control of eyes & posture
39
Q

What are the features of the basal ganglia?

A
  • 4 nuclei: Striatum, globus pallidus, subthalamic nuclei, substantia nigra
  • Located in middle of brain near thalamus
  • Crucial link between idea of movement and doing movement
40
Q

What are the motor functions of the basal ganglia?

A
  • Amplitude, speed, initiation of movement
  • Allows sequential, simultaneous tasks
  • Muscle tone/force
  • Selects/inhibits specific motor synergies
41
Q

What are the cognitive functions of the basal ganglia?

A
  • Working memory
  • Sustained attention
  • Ability to change behaviour with tasks
  • Motivation
42
Q

What is the structure of the cerebellum?

A
  • Three lobes: Anterior, posterior, flocculonodular

- Three functional vertical divisions: Vestibulocerebellum, spinocerebellum, cerebrocerebellum

43
Q

What are the functions of the 3 functional divisions of the cerebellum?

A

Vestibulocerebellum:

  • Equilibrium of movement
  • Flocculonodular lobe

Spinocerebellum:

  • Gross limb movement
  • Vermis & paravermal regions

Cerebrocerebellum:

  • Distal limb movement
  • Lateral cerebral hemispheres
44
Q

What is the overall function of the cerebellum?

A
  • Fine tune motor commands to make movement supple, graceful, coordinated
  • Compare actual motor output to intended output
45
Q

What is the function of the spinal cord?

A
  • Simple reflex responses
  • Integrates activity from all sources
  • Adjusts motor LMNs output via common spinal interneurons
46
Q

What connects lower motor neurons (LMNs) to the brain?

A

Descending motor pathways (efferent)

  • Corticospinal
  • Corticobulbospinal
  • Rubrospinal
  • Reticulospinal
  • Vestibulospinal

NMI (9 decks)

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