Review of NRSC 1 Flashcards
Describe what is meant by signal transduction in the peripheral nervous system.
Signal transduction refers to the process by which external/environmental stimuli are transformed into information encoded in action potentials within the peripheral nervous system.
Ascending sensory information from the periphery is relayed through the thalamus to which kind of areas of the cortex?
Ascending sensory information from the periphery is relayed through the thalamus to primary sensory cortices.
Give an example of topographic organization in the brain.
The primary somatosensory and motor cortices are organized topographically. The individual neurons in these regions collectively form a “homunculus” which represents the information coming and going from the body in various proportions.
Which cortical layer of the primary motor cortex (M1) contains pyramidal neurons which send long efferent projections to motoneurons in the spinal cord?
Layer 5 (the main output layer of the cortex) of M1 contains the pyramidal neurons which send long projections to motoneurons in the spinal cord.
What is different about the sensory information coming from these regions of the thalamus which send projections to association cortices?
The information which is coming from these regions of the thalamus is already processed sensory information (these areas of the thalamus do not directly receive ascending sensory information from the periphery).
Which areas of the thalamus do send projections to association cortices?
We have discussed both the pulvinar nucleus and the medial dorsal nucleus of the thalamus, which project to parietal and frontal association cortices, respectively.
How is integration of sensory information accomplished in association cortices?
Integration of sensory information is accomplished in the association cortices due to the high degree of interconnectivity (large amounts of cortical-cortical connections) between different areas of association cortex responding to different sensory modalities.
