Practice SAC Questions Flashcards
How It Relates To Brain Injury, How It Is Diagnosed
Explain CTE (2 marks)
CTE is a progressive and fatal brain disease which is associated with repeated head injuries and concussions. It is a neurodegenerative disorder through the traumatic brain injuries a person experiences.
Define brain trauma and explain the link between CTE and brain trauma. (2 marks)
Brain trauma refers to damage to the brain caused by an external force and CTE interrelates after a person experiences brain trauma multiple times, possibly leading to CTE development.
Explain the process of diagnosing an individual with CTE (2 marks)
CTE can only be diagnosed post-mortem (after death) when an autopsy is completed. It cannot be diagnosed whilst an individual is still alive as brain scans do not have the capacity to detect changes that categorise CTE.
List 3 symptoms of CTE (3 marks)
Depression
Aggression
Loss of concentration and attention
Explain how Case B’s career as a boxer would have put him at risk of developing CTE (2 marks)
Case B’s career as a boxer puts him as a higher likelihood of developing CTE because boxing is a high-impact and physical contact sport, where the possibility of one or more head knocks are higher as well as multiple concussions which are what causes CTE.
Explain CT and MRI as neuroimaging techniques. (2 marks)
MRI - is a generated computer image of an individuals’ brain, completed through harmless magnetic fields and used to diagnose structural abnormalities in the brain.
CT - contrasts the blood vessels in the brain through an injection, using x-rays to get images of a brain.
Identify one functional neuroimaging technique and explain how this technique may be used to track brain activity. (2 marks)
PET scans are a functional neuroimaging technique and can be used for tracking brain activity as it records brain activity through the use of a radioactive tracer injected into a persons’ bloodstream.
Define neurodegenerative and identify another example of a neurodegenerative disease. (2 marks)
A neurodegenerative disease is a neurological disorder that is characterised by a progressive loss of neurons in the brain. An example of a neurodegenerative disease is Parkinsons’ disease.
Explain the functions of neurons in the brain and describe the change to the neurons that occurs in a neurodegenerative disease. (2 marks)
Neurons in the brain transmit and receive signals/messages through the nervous system. When someone has a neurodegenerative disease, the neurons are damaged, which affects the neural transmission in the brain and body, as the damaged neurons die, disrupting communication to and from the brain.
Identify a biological, psychological and social changes that were evident in the case study that may have resulted from CTE (3 marks)
B - loss of balance (motor control)
P - suffered with memory loss and confusion
S - verbally abusive towards his wife and tried to hit her (aggression)
What lobe of the brain indicates damage to case b’s difficulties with executive functioning? (1 mark)
frontal lobe.
Differentiate between the processes of sprouting, rerouting and pruning in adaptive plasticity. (3 marks)
sprouting is the creation of new extensions to an existing neuron, however rerouting, which is when a neuron makes a new connection between other neurons to create alternate neural pathways. Unlike rerouting and sprouting, pruning is the elimination of weak, ineffective or unused synaptic connections entirely.
Explain which (sprouting, rerouting or pruning) would be the best indicator that an individual with brain damage is recovering from this damage and justify your response. (2 marks)
rerouting is the best mechanism of adaptive plasticity when assessing if a person is recovering from brain damage as healthy neurons make new connections to undamaged neurons to communicate the person to be able to complete tasks they previously couldn’t before recovery begun.
Differentiate between an onset and insidious onset brain injury with examples. (4 marks)
sudden onset brain injuries occur from one singular point in time like a hit to the head or a car accident. Comparing a sudden onset brain injury to an insidious onset brain injury that happens over a long period of time such as repeated drug use or parkinsons disease.
Explain the purpose of long-term potentiation (inc. suspected CTE) (2 marks)
long-term potentiation is the long-lasting strengthening of synaptic connections. If LTP is occuring, it signifiies that an individual is able to practice skills that have been decaying due to the effects of CTE, indicating a reversing of the weakening that occurs in individuals with neurodegenerative diseases.
