Neuroscience Past & Future Flashcards
Describe the major advancements in our understanding of the NS BC
- evidence of prehistoric trepanation 5000-3000BC - suggests they knew the head was vital
- 500BC Ancient Greece - Hippocrates postulated brain as the seat of intelligence & correlated structure and function. Then 500 yrs later a step back - Aristotle reverted to heart as centre of intellect & introduced the ‘5 senses’
What levels of analysis are used in neuroscience to study the brain?
- Molecular - eg a particular protein
- Cellular
- systems - eg visual systen, motor system
- behavioural - eg what parts of the brain control particular behaviour
- cognitive
Describe the advancements of neuroscience in the 2nd century
- 2nd century - Galen - named the cerebrum & cerebellum & correctly postulated their role - view prevailed for 1500 years
Describe the advancements of neuroscience in the 16th century
- 16th century - Andreas Versalius - rather of anatomy
Describe the advancement of neuroscience in the 17th century
- 17th century - fluid mechanics model of the brain. Descartes introduced philosophical dualism - the mind vs the brain. Postulated the “mind” was the pineal gland (nope)
- 17-18th centuries we differentiated between grey and white matter
Describe the advancements of neuroscience in the 18th century
- 18th century - development of stains, naming brain lobes, CNS/PNS division
Describe the advancements of neuroscience in the 19th century
- 19th century - away from fluid mechanics, intro of electricity model (nerves as wires). Localisation of function - some badly (Bell, and Gall - total crackpot who is responsible for phrenology), some well (Flourens - via ablation, Broca - speech). Darwin’s evolution of nervous system (common mechanisms). Cell theory arrives - Schwann introduces the neuron.
What is a requirement for any experiment involving a sentient animal?
ethics committee approval (must have vets, current researchers, animal weflare and members of public)
What defines a sentient animal for ethical purposes
All vertebrates and cephelapods
What are the 3 R’s for ethical experimental design?
- Replacement (can we use anything else instead?)
- Reduction (minimise the number of animals while staying statistically viable)
- Refinement (ensure no suffering)
List the different modes of imaging in the nervous system
Radiography
* CT
* MRI
* fMRI
* DTI
mapping with radioactive tracers
* SPECT
* PET
immunofluorescence using axoplasmic transport
Compare options for radiography imaging of nervous system
- CT - xray that is digitally reconstructed into brain slice. shit for anatomy but great for finding tumours/lesions
- MRI - great for anatomy, super clear, doesnt require xray, brain slice in any angle (but only until we run out of helium)
- fMRI - detects blood flow, looks at active brain regions but task being tested has to happen inside the MRI
- DTI - measures water diffusion, great for imaging white matter tracts
compare SPECT & PET
- SPECT (Single photon emission CT) - poor man’s version, measures blood flow (sort of like MRI) using radioisotope with radioligand
- PET (photon emission tomography) - VERY expensive, radioactive solution that emits positrons, positrons emitted wherever blood goes (measures metabolic activity)