Quiz 1 - Neuroanatomy Flashcards
To ace QUIZ 1!
How many neurons and glia are there in the brain (cerebral cortex, cerebellum, and spinal cord)?
~ 80 billion neurons - Thousands of synapses each - Total synapses: 0.06 - 4 quadrillion - Loose 85,000 cortical neurons/day. - Cerebral cortex and associated areas: 12 to 15 billion neurons - Cerebellum: 70 billion neurons - Spinal cord: 1 billion neurons. ~ 80 billion glia
How do we go about the examination of the brain?
Anatomy: Neuron Doctrine
Physiology: Neurons are electrical
Pharmacology: Different drugs affect different parts of nervous system
Psychology: Study behaviors of animals.
What has been the purpose of language areas in brain study?
After phrenology, language has been used to determine functional localization.
What did Brodmann come up with?
- Cytoarchitectonic map = cell-structure = map of cell structures.
- Based on size and organization of cells.
What is the modern view of localization?
Parallel (multiple things at once) and Serial (one after the other, steps) processing.
- All processes functionally localized: Language, Emotion, Motor Control.
- Brain processes discreet chunks of the world and puts it back together for us.
- Consciousness is distributed across brain
- Split-brain patients sometimes have 2.
What is PDP?
- Parallel Distributed Processing is when the brain breaks down information into chunks and then puts it back together at an unconscious level.
What happens in the brain to generate a single action?
- Sensory Input
- Social/Emotional evaluation
- Motor planning
- Motor execution
- Sensorimotor feedback/error correction
- Homeostasis
What is serial processing?
Information passed to “relay” stations
- Each station integrates more complex information
- Information process as it ascends.
Do this, then that, and then that.
What is parallel processing?
Different types of information processed separately
- Vision
- Motor Control
- Sensory
Occurs at same time of serial processing.
What is topographic organization?
Consistent relationship between the outside world and where it is mapped inside the brain.
What are contralateral projections?
Ipsilateral: same side of the body
Contralateral: One side of brain to the opposite side
Decussation: crossing in the shape of an “X”
Outside brain function and structure:
Gyrus (plural. gyri): the bump on outer surface
- Hill
Sulcus (pl. sulci): the groove
- Indentation
Fissure: deep grooves
- Deep sulcus: longitudinal fissure, lateral fissure (slyvian fissure), and Calcerin fissure on the back by occipital lobe
Describe the Cerebral cortex.
Four lobes
- Subcortical areas: Limbic system, Basal Ganglia, and Hippocampus
- Protection: Meninges (Fibers and connective tissues), Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), and Blood Brain barrier.
- Outer most portion of brain
- Six layers
What are the six cortical layers?
I. Acellular, axons and dendrites II. Small, spherical granule cells III. Pyramidal cells IV. Sensory input from thalamus V. Output from CNS VI. Blends with white matter
What is the subcortical nuclei?
A collection of cells (gray matter cells not at the level of the cortex).
- Limbic System: Motivational behaviors
- Basal Ganglia: Motor control
- Hippocampus: Memory and navigation
- Nuclei not homogeneous: clusters of gray matter.
Describe the Limbic System.
The motivational system: Emotional and behavioral drives.
- Amygdaloid body: Associated with emotions mainly with fear.
- Cingulate gyrus: Important for decision making, planning
- Parahippocampal gyrus: Associated with memory function, communicates with the hippocampus. Damage here leads to memory impairment.
- Hippocampus: Memory consolidation and navigation.
- Fornix: Connects hippocampus to rest of brain.
Describe the Basal Ganglia.
Controls muscle tone and coordinates learned movement patterns
- Globus pallidus: output of the basal ganglia
- Caudate and Putamen: input to basal ganglia (take signals from brain and send the information to globes pallidus).
- Substantia nigra: projects upwards to the basal ganglia
- Subthalamic nucleus: input
Describe the Hippocampus.
Between the thalamus and cerebral cortex
- Critical for storing certain types of memory.
- Navigation
Describe the meninges.
Fibrous layers surround and protect CNS - Dura mater: tough outer membrane - Arachnoid membrane: weblike - Pia mater: adheres to CNS surface Continuous with meninges of spinal cord - Protection from both chemical and physical things.