Quiz 1

Question 0

Phenotypic Plasticity

Answer 0

The individual’s capacity to develop into more than one phenotype.

*the way that genetic makeup interacts with environment to elicit a specific phenotype from a large range of possibilities,

Question 1

Neuroplasticity

Answer 1

The nervous system’s potential for physical or chemical change that enhances its adaptability to environmental change and its ability to compensate for injury.

Question 2

The brain stems includes what brain structures?

Answer 2

Medulla
Pons
Midbrain

Question 3

Anatomical vs Functional Organization of Nervous System

Answer 3

Pg 36 in textbook

Question 4

Brainstem contains neurons that regulate….

Answer 4

• Respiration, cardiovascular activity, consciousness, alertness
• reflexes, simple behaviors mediated by cranial nerves
• Tracts involving cortex & cerebellum for posture, smoothness of muscle movements, muscle tone

Question 5

Reticular Activating System

Answer 5

• neurons located throughout the brainstem
• activates diencephalon & neocortex for arousal from sleep
• injury leads to problems with arousal, alertness and even coma

Question 6

Pons

Answer 6

• bridge between cerebellum and rest of brain
• fibers connecting cerebral cortex w/ cerebellum to modulate motor impulses by associating postural and kinesthetic information.
• lesions here (or cerebellum) may cause “cerebellar dysfunction”

Question 7

Locus Coeruleus

Answer 7

• nucleus in the Pons
• where Norepinephrine is synthesized
• projects to entire cortex
• activates cortex for alertness, responding to novel stimuli, responding to stressful stimuli (especially fear)
• at times, produces positive feelings of reward, helps maintain emotional tone, inhibits pain

Question 8

Raphe Nuclei

Answer 8

• located from medulla through midbrain
• releases serotonin to the rest of the brain (mood/anxiety disorders)
• also projects to spinal cord to modulate reflexes (including sexual) and pain (less that norepinephrine)

Question 9

Substantial Nigra

Answer 9

• origin of dopaminergic pathway primarily to striatum of the basal ganglia (nigrostriatal pathway)
• Parkinson’s disease occurs when 90% of DA cells die here

Question 10

Ventral Tegmental Area

Answer 10

-dopaminergic neurons that project to:
-limbic system, including nucleus accumbens (Mesolithic
pathway)
-reward system
-psychosis when hyperactive
-cortex
-helps to promote optimal attention, cognition, positive
mood
-negative Sxs of schizophrenia when hypoactive

Question 11

Mesocephalic portion of reticular formation…

Answer 11

…is particularly critical for cortical activation

Question 12

Cerebellum

Answer 12

• components: cerebral cortex, subcortical nuclei, cerebellar cortex
• subconscious control of complex movement, posture, muscle tone, gait, visuomotor coordination
• acquiring/maintaining smooth, coordinated motor skills
• involved in error correction of movements (compares intended movement w/ actual movement so that next movement is more accurate)
• ataxia: loss of coordination, balance caused by cerebellar dysfunction, alcohol intoxication and as side effect of some drugs

Question 13

Cerebellum may also have a role in…

Answer 13

• fluency of ideas, perceptions
  
  • prepares neural systems so they are timed properly & faster
  • lesions may disrupt selective attention, visiospatial abilities, memory & habit formation, executive functioning (e.g. Abstract reasoning, verbal fluency, & word generation, planning, time judgment), and emotional modulation
    - primarily slow in above functions

Question 14

Behavioral neuroscience

Answer 14

• study of brain-behavior relationships, how brain function relates to thoughts, emotions and behavior
  
  • biological foundations of behavior
  • neuropsychology- study of above in humans

Question 15

Benefits of Clinical Neuropsychology

Answer 15

• research, especially when neuropsych tests are combined w/ neuroimaging
• diagnosis - strengths and weaknesses of individ. pt.
• pt. care and planning
• treatment/rehabilitation
• forensic evaluation

Question 16

Thinking “outside the box”

Answer 16

• realizing that ct may suffer from multiple disorders

- realizing that a dx should be changed;not getting “locked” into a particular dx

Question 17

Rostral-Caudal Axis (longitudinal, neuroaxis)

Answer 17

Long axis of body from nose to tail

Question 18

Dorsal-Ventral Axis

Answer 18

Perpendicular to longitudinal axis from back to front or abdomen

Question 19

Other terms used in brain

Answer 19

• “Posterior” synonymous with “dorsal”
• “Anterior” synonymous with “ventral”
• In brain, “superior” used for “dorsal” and “inferior” used for “ventral”

Question 20

Planes of Brain

Answer 20

• horizontal: parallel to longitudinal axis from one side to other (splits to dorsal/ventral portions)
• transverse/coronal: perpendicular to longitudinal axis between dorsal and ventral surfaces (splits to anterior/posterior sections)
• sagittal: parallel to longitudinal axis and midline from dorsal and ventral surfaces (splits to left/right sections)
• midsagittal: midline, divides into symmetrical halves
• parasagittal: off the midline to the side

Question 21

Ipsilateral

Contralateral

Answer 21

• ipsilateral: on the same side

- contralateral: on opposite side

Question 22

Afferent

Efferent

Answer 22

• afferent: infor coming into brain or part of brain

- efferent: information leaving brain or part of brain

Question 23

Nerve
Tract
Nucleus

Answer 23

• nerve: bundle of axons outside CNS
• tract: bundle of axons inside CNS
• nucleus: cluster of cell bodies inside CNS (in gross anatomy)
  
  • where DNA located
  • ganglion: a cluster of cell bodies outside CNS

Question 24

Single Cell Microelectrode

Answer 24

• placed on single neurons, gives insight into function
  
  • single neuron that responds only to:
    
    • head direction
    • line segments with certain orientation
    • specific human face

Question 25

Electrical cortical stimulation mapping

Answer 25

• provides insights, but is invasive and usually limited to animals &surgical pts.
  
  • example- when certain areas are stimulated olfactory sensations are experienced

Question 26

Wada test

Answer 26

Amobarbital injected into cartoid artery disrupts ipsilateral cognitive functioning (usually language is tested)

Question 27

Electroencephalography (EEG)

Answer 27

-measures graded potentials in dendrites
-advantages;
-excellent temporal resolution
-can be performed in office or clinic, relatively less expensive
-useful for dxing seizures, sleep dis., depth of anesthesia, attn
def.
-disadvantages
-much less spatial resolution (knowing source of various waves)
-cannot assess subcortical structures or all cortical activity

Question 28

Quantitative Electroencephalogram (qEEG)

Answer 28

-data is quantified, compared statistically to age-appropriate normative database
-advantages
-provides more precise info about activity, including source
-accepted procedure for evaluating TBI in military/VA hospitals
-significant literature relating qEEG patterns tipsy historic/med
disorders
-disadvantages:
-must be used with perspective
-somewhat controversial for clinical use

Question 29

Event-Related Potentials (ERP)/Evoke Response Potential

Answer 29

• brief changes in EEG response to a discrete sensory stimulus
• repeated stimulation w/ averaging allows for pattern identification & canceling out of unrelated activity
• use of comps can create brain maps & provide insight into:
  
  • areas that process certain stimuli
  • sequence of processing
  • maturation, compensation after injury, aging

Question 30

Magnetoencephalography (MEG)

Answer 30

• magnetic fields created surrounding electrical currents
• much better resolution than EEG or qEEG due to less distortion
  
  • better source localization
  • more expensive than EEG or QEEG
  • only used in research currently, are only a few machines

Question 31

Computed topography (CT)

Answer 31

Advantages
   -used mainly in ER
   -good for imaging bone, TBI, stroke
Disadvantages
   -x-ray exposure
   -less spatial & temporal resolution than other techniques

Question 32

Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI)

Answer 32

Advantages
-excellent spatial resolution & contrast
-no exposure to x-rays or radioisotopes
-can answer different referral questions by manipulating
parameters
Disadvantages
-pts w/ ferromagnetic materials in body cannot be imaged
-hard for pts w/ claustrophobia
*different protocols produce different things

Question 33

Position emission tomography

Answer 33

-oxygen or glucose are labeled and then uptake in tissues is measured
-active areas use more oxy and gluc
Advantages
-measures function; used extensively in research
-useful for diagnosing earlyneurodegenerative diseases
Disadvantages
-must be near cyclotron, but these are more common and less expensive currently

Question 34

Functional MRI (fMRI)

Answer 34

• measures changes in blood-oxygen level dependent signal (BOLD) - a differential measure of oxyhemoglobin vs deoxyhemoglobin after O2 has been used by active cells
• more active metabolism causes greater signal

Advantages
-no radioactive isotopes required, excellent spatial and good temporal resolution.

Disadvantages

• both PET and fMRI have disadvantage of requiring relatively simple tasks compared to complexity of everyday tasks
• neuropsychological tests and knowledge are critical for good experiments using these techniques

Question 35

Single-Proton Emission Computed Tomography (SPECT)

Answer 35

Advantage
-less expensive & useful for finding sourced seizure onset
Disadvantage
-poorer resolution that PET
-some databases are proprietary and can be controversial