S & F NS

Question 1

What makes up the CNS?

Answer 1

brain and spinal cord

Question 2

What 2 NS are components of the Peripheral Nervous system?

Answer 2

Somatic nervous system and autonomic nervous system

Question 3

What makes up the somatic nervous system?

Answer 3

Motor neurons and sensory neurons

Question 4

What makes up the autonomic nervous system ?

Answer 4

Sympathetic nervous system and parasympathetic nervous system

Question 5

Function of the brain stem?

Answer 5

Life support functions - breathing, digestion, heartbeat - all unconsciously

Question 6

Function of the limbic system?

Answer 6

Highly specialised neural structures at top of brain stem - e.g., amygdala, thalamus, hippocampus - regulates emotions, hunger, sleep-wake (think memory, emotion and stress)

Question 7

Function of the cerebellum

Answer 7

involved in movement and posture, unconsciously

Question 8

Function of cerebral cortex

Answer 8

primary sensory areas and processes with awareness ( two hemispheres)

Question 9

What are the two hemispheres of cerebral cortex connected by?

Answer 9

The corpus callosum

Question 10

Function of corpus callosum?

Answer 10

Bundle of neurons that allow right and left hemispheres to communicate.

Question 11

What are the 4 lobes in the brain?

Answer 11

Frontal lobe, Parietal lobe, temporal lobe, occipital lobe

Question 12

Main function of the occipital lobe?

Answer 12

Visual processing

Question 13

Main function of the parietal lobe?

Answer 13

Somatosensory processing (touch, pain temp etc) - also hearing, visual perception, memory and language

Question 14

What is Wernickes area?

Answer 14

Speech comprehension - this area in found within the temporal lobe

Question 15

Main function of the temporal lobe?

Answer 15

Primary auditory complex - also interacts with other structured of the libic system - memory, learning and attention

Question 16

What is Brocas area?

Answer 16

involved in speech function - production of language - this area is found within the frontal lobe

Question 17

Main function of the frontal lobe?

Answer 17

Planning (self-managemnt and decision making), reward seeking behaviour, selecitve attention, empathy, personality, primary motor cortex

Question 18

Frontal lobe - primary motor cortex function

Answer 18

voluntary movement - walking, waving etc - each body part has proportion of primary cortex devoted to it

Question 19

How do we study the brain?

Answer 19

Post-mortem dissection of pateints brains’, animal models and neuroimaging

Question 20

Types of neuroimaging

Answer 20

fMRI - functional magnetic resonane imaging
PET - positron emission tomography
EEG - electroencephalography

Question 21

Grey matter

Answer 21

mostly cell bodies - grey due to lack of myelin sheath - composed mainly of neuronal cell bodies, dendrites, unmyelinated axons, glial cells, and synapses.

Question 22

White matter

Answer 22

mostly myelinated axons - transmitting signals to grey matter

Question 23

Functioning of the neuron

Answer 23

Dendrites receive input from other neurons (via neurotransmitters)
This causes electrical changes that are interpreted in the cell body (soma)
If signal is strong enough, it is passed on as an action potential down the axon
Myelinhelps to stop the action potential degrading
Axon terminalsreceive the action potential & release neurotransmitters across the synapseto other dendrites

Question 24

How does electrical signal work?

Answer 24

• Difference in electrical charge between the inside and the outside of a neuron
• WHY? Develops due to quantity of ions on inside and outside of the neuron
• E.g. sodium (Na+), Chloride (Cl-), Potassium (K+)
• At rest, the inside of a neuron is more negative (-70mV)

Question 25

Action potential

Answer 25

• Basis for electrical signaling within neurons.
• When dendrites receive input from another neuron (via neurotransmitters) it can cause depolarisation of the neuron
• Repeated depolarisation causes the neuron to reach its threshold membrane potential (-55mV)
• Channels open allowing positive sodium ions (Na+) across the membrane into the neuron (depolarisation)
• This triggers the electrical signal (action potential) that travels down the axon.
• At the peak of the action potential, K+ channels open, allowing positive Potassium to leave the cell across the membrane (repolarisation)
• The neuron overshoots the resting membrane potential, becoming hyperpolarised (difficult to cause neuron to fire again)
• The action potential travels down the axon and can cause a release of neurotransmitters at the axon terminals to signal the next neuron.

Question 26

Communication between cells

Answer 26

• When activated by an action potential, the pre-synaptic axon terminal releases neurotransmitters into the synaptic cleft/gap.
• Neurotransmitters bind to receptors on the post-synaptic dendrite.
• This can cause a change (increase/decrease) in the likelihood that the post-synaptic cell will fire an action potential.