Quiz 1

Question 1

Behavioral Neuroscience

Answer 1

The study of brain-behavior relationships, how brain function relates to thoughts, emotions and behavior.

Question 2

Rostral-caudal axes (longitudinal, neuroaxis)

Answer 2

– Long axis of the body from nose to tail

Question 3

*Dorsal-ventral axes

Answer 3

Perpendicular to longitudinal axis from back to front or abdomen
• “Posterior” synonymous with “dorsal”
• “Anterior” synonymous with “ventral”
• In brain, “superior” used for “dorsal”
• In brain, “inferior” used for “ventral”

Question 4

Horizontal plane

Answer 4

Parallel to longitudinal axis from one side to the other

Question 5

*Transverse (coronal) plane

Answer 5

Perpendicular to longitudinal axis between dorsal and ventral surfaces

Question 6

*Sagittal plane

Answer 6

Parallel to longitudinal axis and midline
from dorsal and ventral surfaces
• Splits into left, right portions
• Midsagittal – Midline, divides into symmetrical halves
• Parasagittal – Off the midline to the side

Question 7

Anterior

Answer 7

Located near or toward the front of the head

Question 8

Caudal

Answer 8

Located near or toward the tail

Question 9

Dorsal

Answer 9

On or toward the back or, in reference to brain nuclei located above

Question 10

Frontal

Answer 10

“of the front” or, in reference to brain sections, a viewing orientation from the front

Question 11

Inferior

Answer 11

Located below

Question 12

Lateral

Answer 12

Toward the side of the body

Question 13

Medial

Answer 13

Toward the middle; sometimes written as mesial

Question 14

Posterior

Answer 14

Located near or toward the tail

Question 15

Rostral

Answer 15

“Toward the beak”; located toward the front

Question 16

Superior

Answer 16

Located above

Question 17

Ventral

Answer 17

On or toward the belly or side of the animal in which the belly is located or, in reference to brain nuclei, located below

Question 18

Ipsilateral

Answer 18

On same side

Question 19

Contralateral

Answer 19

On opposite side

Question 20

*Afferent

Answer 20

Information coming into brain or part of brain (e.g., step on a tack).

Question 21

*Efferent

Answer 21

Information leaving brain or part of brain (e.g., lift your foot).

Question 22

*Locus coeruleus

Answer 22

A nucleus in the pons (part of the brainstem) involved with physiological responses to stress and panic:
• Projects to entire cortex, releases norepinephrine (NE)
• 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 23

*Raphe nuclei

Answer 23

• Main function is to release serotonin to the rest of the brain
• Located from medulla through midbrain
• Project to many areas of brain and release
serotonin (5-HT):
• Mood (depressive disorders)
• Anxiety disorders

Question 24

The Brainstem consists of:

Answer 24

• hindbrain, midbrain, diencephalon
• The brainstem receives afferent nerves coming in from all of the body’s senses, and it sends efferent nerves out to the spinal cord to control virtually all of the body’s movements except the most complex movements of the fingers and toes.

*The shapes and relative sizes of the brainstem’s
parts can be imagined as analogous
as to your fist, wrist, and forearm.

Question 25

*Reticular activating system (RAS)

Answer 25

• Responsible for regulating arousal and sleep-wake transitions. • Also called reticular formation • Injury leads to problems with arousal, alertness and even coma. *If a person is in a coma it's always always damage to the RAS

Question 26

Pons

Answer 26

• A bridge between cerebellum & rest of brain

Question 27

*Substantia nigra (“black substance”)

Answer 27

Brain structure located in the mesencephalon (midbrain) that plays an important role in reward, addiction, and movement. -Animals showed that if the substantia nigra was killed experimentally, the animals showed symptoms remarkably similar to those in human Parkinson’s patients, including tremors, muscular rigidity, and a reduction in voluntary movement. • Origin of DA (dopaminergic) pathway primarily to striatum of the basal ganglia (nigrostriatal pathway) • Parkinson’s disease occurs when 90% of DA cells die here.

Question 28

*Ventral tegmental area (VTA)

Answer 28

Origin of dopaminergic neurons that project to: * Need to know: VTA has dompaminergic neurons that go to 2 places - 1) MESOLIMBIC PATHWAY 2) MESOCORTICAL PATHWAY

Question 29

MESOLIMBIC PATHWAY

Answer 29

• Limbic system, including nucleus accumbens (mesolimbic pathway) • Reward system • Psychosis when hyperactive

Question 30

MESOCORTICAL PATHWAY

Answer 30

• Helps to promote optimal attention, cognition, positive mood" - hyper fx in mesocortical pathways is involved in ADHD - but hypoactive = neg sxs of schizophrenia

Question 31

*Cerebellum

Answer 31

Subconscious control of complex movements, posture, muscle tone, gait, visuomotor coordination; in the hindbrain. • May have role in fluency of ideas, perceptions - Prepares neural systems so that they are timed properly & are faster. - Lesions may disrupt selective attention, visuospatial abilities, memory & habit formation, executive functioning (e.g., abstract reasoning, verbal fluency & word generation, planning, time judgment), and emotional modulation

Question 32

*Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) - Advantages

Answer 32

* Excellent spatial resolution & contrast | * No exposure to x-rays or radioisotopes

Question 33

*Ataxia

Answer 33

Loss of coordination, balance caused by cerebellar dysfunction, alcohol intoxication and as side effect of some drugs"

Question 34

Electroencephalography (EEG)

Answer 34

• Measures graded potentials on dendrites

Question 35

Quantitative Electroencephalogram (qEEG)

Answer 35

Data is quantified, compared statistically to age appropriate normative database

Question 36

*Event-Related Potentials (ERP)

Answer 36

• Brief changes in EEG in response to a discrete sensory stimulus • Repeated stimulation with averaging allows for pattern identification and canceling out of unrelated activity.

Question 37

Magnetoencephalograpy (MEG)

Answer 37

• 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 38

*Neuroplasticity

Answer 38

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 39

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) - Disadvantages

Answer 39

* Pts w/ ferromagnetic materials in body cannot be imaged. | * Hard for pts w/ claustrophobia

Question 40

Spectroscopic MRI

Answer 40

• Can image chemical composition of brain

Question 41

Positron emission tomography (PET)

Answer 41

* Oxygen or glucose (flurodeoxyglucose (FDG) are labeled, and uptake in tissues is measured. * PET image is usually superimposed on MRI image for better spatial resolution.

Question 42

PET Advantages

Answer 42

Measures function; used extensively in research • Useful for diagnosing early neurodegenerative diseases

Question 43

PET Disadvantages

Answer 43

- must be near a cyclotron, but these are more common and less expensive currently.

Question 44

Functional MRI (fMRI)

Answer 44

* Measures changes in blood-oxygen level dependent (BOLD) signal – a differential measure of oxyhemoglobin vs deoxyhemoglobin after O2 has been used by active cells * More active metabolism causes greater signal.

Question 45

Single-Proton Emission Computed Tomography (SPECT)

Answer 45

Advantage • Less expensive (contrast agent readily available) and useful for finding source of seizure onset Disadvantage • Poorer resolution than PET • Some databases are proprietary

Question 46

Hindbrain

Answer 46

- Controls various motor functions ranging from breathing to balance to fine movements, such as those used in dancing. - Its most distinctive structure, and one of the largest structures of the human brain, is the cerebellum. -Evolutionarily the oldest part of the brain; contains the pons, medulla, reticular formation, and cerebellum, structures that coordinate and control most voluntary and involuntary movements.

Question 47

Cerebellum consists of:

Answer 47

- reticular formation, pons, and the medulla | - The pons and medulla contain substructures that control many vital movements of the body.

Question 48

Midbrain

Answer 48

Central part of the brain that contains neural circuits for hearing and seeing as well as orienting movements.

Question 49

*Functions of the brainstem

Answer 49

- consciousness & awareness, respiratory, cardio, reflexes, smooth movements