Physiology & Psychopharm Flashcards
Acetylcholine
involved in muscle contraction
REM sleep
Memory
Ass. with Myasthenia gravis, Alzheimer
Dopamine
regulation of voluntary movement
reinforcement of stimulants
mood
ass. with Schizophrenia, Parkinson, Tourette’s, Huntington’s
Norepinephrine
mood, attention, dreaming, learning, fight or flight
Serotonin
involved in body temperature, hunger, thirst, sexual behavior, aggression, mood, sleep, arousal
high levels: Schizophrenia, ASD, Anorexia
low levels: aggression, depression, suicide, bulimia, OCD, PTSD, mania
GABA
(inhibitory neuro.)
motor control, vision, anxiety, sleep, eating, seizures
ass. with Huntingtons Disease (Basal Ganglia), epilepsy
Glutamate
(excitatory neurotransmitter.)
learning and memory (hippocampus), forming long-term memories
excitotoxicity –> seizures, Huntington’s, Alzheimer’s
Endorphins
inhibitory neuromodulators decrease sensitivity of post-synaptic neurons to neurotransmitters;
runner’s high;
control of emotions, memory, learning, & sexual behaviors
Myasthenia Gravis
autoimmune disorder that attacks Acetylcholine —> weak skeletal muscles
Divisons of Nervous System
Central and Peripheral
Central Nervous System
Brain and Spinal Cord
Spinal Cord
carries info from brain to peripheral
Parts of the Spinal Cord
Cervical, Thoracic, Lumbar, Sacral, and Coccygeal
Quadriplegia
damage to spinal cord in cervical area
Paraplegia
damage to spinal cord in thoracic area
Peripheral
Somatic and Autonomic Nervous System
Somatic Nervous System
sensory nerves carry info from sensory receptors to CNS
motor neurons that carry info from CNS to skeletal muscles
voluntary movement
Autonomic Nervous System
involuntary!
sympathetic & parasympathetic system
Sympathetic
arousal & expenditure of energy, fight or flight
Parasympathetic
conservation of energy, bringing person down
Development of CNS
- Proliferation
- Migration
- Differentiation
- Myelination
- Synaptogenesis
Neuroimaging Techniques
provide info on structure & function of the brain
structural or functional
Structural Neuroimaging Techniques
provide Information about the physical structure
Ex. CT, MRI, CAT
CT
uses x-rays to capture images of horizontal slices of the brain
MRI
has better resolution, produce cross-sectional images, using magnetic & radio waves
CAT
horizontal skies of brain
Functional Imaging
provides Information about brain activity
Ex. PET, fMRI, SPECT
PET
provides info about blood flow, glucose metabolism, oxygen consumption
fMRI
provides info about brain activity
EGG
provides info about electrical activity
Brain Anatomy
Hindbrain, Midbrain, and Forebrain
Hindbrain
Medulla, Pons, Cerebellum
Medulla
involved in swallowing, coughing, sneezing, breathing, heartbeat, blood pressure
controls flow of info from spinal cord to and from the brain
Damage= fatal
Pons
integrate movement in R/L side
Cerebellum
involved in balance, learning procedural movement, refine movements, timing coordinated movements, procedural MEMORY
damage –> ataxia
ataxia
slurred speech, loss of balance
Midbrain
Superior/ Inferior colliculi, substantia nigra, reticular formation, reticular activating system
superior/inferior colliculi
routes for visual/auditory info
substantia nigra
brain rewards system; production of dopamine; movement
reticular activating system
involved in consciousness, arousal, wakefulness, reflexive reactions, cardiovascular activity
plays a role in ADHD & Schizophrenia
Forebrain
Thalamus, Hypothalamus, Basal Ganglia, Limbic System, Cerebral Cortex
Thalamus
motor, language, memory (declarative memory), transmitting sensory information (except olfaction) to cortex
ass. with Wernicke-Korsakoff Syndrome
Wernicke Korsakoff Syndrome
due to chronic alcoholism
involves thiamine deficiency & atrophy of neurons
associated with the thalamus
Hypothalamus
hunger, thirst, sex, sleep, temperature, emotional reactions, hormones, HOMEOSTASIS
includes suprachiasmatic nucleus & maxillary bodies
suprachiasmatic nucleus
part of the hypothalamus;
meditates sleep-wake cycle (circadian rhythms)
mammillary bodies
part of hypothalamus;
involved in learning & memory;
damage –> anterograde amnesia
Basal Ganglia
involved in planning & organizing voluntary movements (works alongside cerebellum)
includes: caudate nucelus, putamen, globus pallidus in forebrain, and substantia nigra in midbrain (Can Nancy Play Golf Please)
Disorders associated with Basal Ganglia
Parkinsons, Huntingtons, Tourette’s, OCD, ADHD, Schizophrenia, Akinesia, Hyperkinesia
Limbic System
memory & emotions; motivation;
includes: amygdala, hippocampus, cingulate cortex
Amgydala
emotional activities, attaching emotion to memories; processes odors
Kluver-Bucky Syndrome, GAD, Panic Disorder, PTSD, Depression
Kluver-Bucky Syndrome
involves decreased fear and aggression, increased compulsive behaviors, hyper sexuality, psychic blindness
due to bilateral lesions
Hippocampus
learning & memories, spatial, visual, & verbal info, consolidating of declarative memories, explicit memories
Cingulate Cortex
attention, emotion, experience of pain
Cerebral Cortex
divided in to left & right hemispheres connected by corpus callosum
contralateral representation!
Contralateral Representation
brain processes Information on the opposite side except for olfaction & visual (stimuli goes to opposite side of each eye)
Left (Dominant) Hemisphere
written, spoken language; logical thinking, rational thought, positive emotions
Right (non-dominant) Hemisphere
facial recognition; creativity, nonverbal memory, negative emotions
Lobes of cerebral cortex
frontal, parietal, occipital, & temporal
Frontal Lobe
composed of primary motor cortex, supplementary motor area, premotor cortex, Broca’s area, prefrontal cortex
Broca’s Area
responsible for production of speech
Broca’s Aphasia
expressive aphasia; non-fluent
difficulties in production of spoken and written language; poor articulation, stress conjunctions;
anomia
prefrontal cortex
involved in emotions, memory, attention, executive functions
dorsolateral area (working memory), orbitofrontal area, and mediofrontal area
Parietal Lobe
somatosensory cortex
Apraxia
results from damage to parietal lobe
inability to perform skilled motor movements
tactile agnosia
inability to recognize items by touching them
asomatognosia
inability to recognize own body parts
anosognosia
unable to recognize own disorder
Grestmann’s Syndrome
finger agnosia, agraphia, acalculia; right-left confusion
lesions in dominant parietal lobe hemisphere
Temporal Lobe
auditory cortex & Wernicke’s area
involved in long-term declarative memories; codes, stores, & retrieves memories; language; auditory processing
Wernicke’s Aphasia
Receptive Aphasia;
deficits in language comprehension, impaired reproduction but fluent output
Occipital Lobe
includes visual cortex: visual perception & memory
prosopagnosia
inability to recognize familiar faces;
due to lesions at junction of fusiform gyrus of occipital lobe
Trichromatic Theory
(Young-Helmholtz)
there’s three cones: red, blue, green
Opponent-Process Theory
(Hering)
bipolar receptors: red-green, yellow-blue, white-black
-thalamus (transmits sensory input)
-negative afterimages
Color Blindness
carried in X chromosome, higher in men> women
color constancy
ability to recognize color of an object despite changes in lighting
Gate-Control Theory
when too much info is received, cells in spinal cord block some pain signals
Synethesia
stimulation of one sensory area triggers another one
Psychophysics
study of relationship b/w physical stimuli magnitudes & psychological sensations
Absolute Threshold
minimum stimulus that leads to a sensation
Difference Threshold
minimum stimuli increment needed to recognize discrepancy in two stimuli
AKA: just noticeable difference
Weber’s Law
the higher the intensity of stimulus, the higher the increase in stimuli required for JND
Fetcher’s Law
physical stimulus changes= log function related to psychological sensations
Steven’s Power Law
exponential function of stimuli intensity
Hippocampus is Associated with what disorder?
Alzheimers
Damage to Thalamus
leads to retrograde & anterograde amnesia
Retrograde Amnesia
inability to recall previously learned information
Anterograde Amnesia
inability to recall new information
Long-Term Potentiation
Occurs in hippocampus;
greater responsively of postsynaptic neuron to low intensity stimulation by pre-synaptic neuron after presynaptic neuron has had high frequency stimulation
Anomia
inability to name common objects
Conduction Aphasia
associative aphasia;
damage to arcuate fasciculus;
results in anomia, paraphasia, and inability to repeat simple words or phrases;
does not affect language comprehension
Transcortical Aphasia
results from lesions outside Broca/ Wernicke’s area
James-Lounge Theory of Emotion
physical reactions to stimuli –> emotion
Cannon-Bard Theory of Emotion
emotional & bodily reactions occur at the same time as a result of thalamic stimulation;
bodily reactions are similar for many emotions
Achromatopsia
condition where person is without color vision
due to damage to occipitotemporal area or dysfunction of cone cells
Agnosia
inability to recognize familiar objects or sounds
Akathisia
inability to sit or stand still; uncomfortable sense of restlessness
Akinesia
complete or almost complete loss of movement
Anosognosia
failure to recognize one’s own neurological symptoms