Subcortical Structures

Question 1

5 Principal Components of Basal Ganglia

What’s the mneumonic device?

Answer 1

Caudate Nucleus
Putamen
Globus Pallidus
Subthalamic Nucleus
Substantia Nigra

Chris Parker Got Something Special

Question 2

Where is basal ganglia connected to?

(where it receives inputs and projects outputs)

Answer 2

Receives input from all cortical areas.

Project only to areas on frontal cortex concerned with motor planning and execution.

Question 3

What is a large part of basal ganglia’s function? How do we know?

Answer 3

Motor planning and execution.

We know based on where it projects information.

Question 4

What 2 diseases are most often associated with basal ganglia?

Answer 4

Huntington’s Chorea and Parkinson’s Disease

Question 5

What is Chorea?

Answer 5

involuntary dance-like movements and jerks

Question 6

how many Americans have Parkinson’s? What rank common is it as a degenerative disease?

Answer 6

1 million Americans.

2nd to Alzheimer’s

Question 7

What neurologically goes wrong in Parkinson’s?

Answer 7

Degeneration of dopaminergic neurons in substantia nigra.

Question 8

Symptoms of Parkinson’s. What does it typically start with?

Answer 8

Starts with small tremors.

Then increases weakness, tremors, poor balance, difficulty in initiating movements, resting tremor

Question 9

What is resting tremor?

Which disease?

Answer 9

Parkinson’s.

Vibratory movements in arms and hards that diminish when individual makes purposeful movements.

Question 10

What are treatments for Parkinson’s?

Answer 10

No long-term cure.

Therapies available lose effectiveness over time.

Question 11

Genetic and Environmental factors of Parkinson’s

Answer 11

Used to think it was genetic, but now there are unknown enviornmental facotrs through twin studies

Question 12

What is a protective factor for Parkinson’s

Answer 12

Smoking. But not sure what chemical

Question 13

What brain regions degenerate in Huntington’s Disease?

Answer 13

Caudate Nucleus and Putamen

Question 14

Huntington Disease symptoms

Answer 14

Uncontrollable, jerky, involuntary movements; loss of memory, personality changes, decreased mental capacity

Question 15

What is the cure for Huntington’s?

Answer 15

no cure. eventually causes death

Question 16

When does Huntington’s typically occur?

Answer 16

3rd or 4th decade of life

Question 17

What’s an autosomal dominant condition?

Which disease?

Answer 17

Huntington’s Disease.

Autosomal dominant means each child has 50% chance of inheriting the disease. And everyone who gets the gene will eventually get the disease.

Question 18

Why does sex not matter for autosomal dominant conditions?

Answer 18

In autosomal (first 22 pairs) chromosomes, not sex chromosome.

Question 19

Why is the age of onset for Huntington’s a concern?

Answer 19

It is after typical childbearing years, which means you will have a child before you know you have Huntington’s.

Question 20

Limbic system functions

Answer 20

Emotions (love, fear, sorrow) and memory; sexual activity

Question 21

The larger the amygdala, the stronger the _______

Answer 21

sex drive

Question 22

What’s to note about the classification of limbic system and basal ganglia?

Answer 22

They are classifications that aren’t warranted (lots of disagreement and debate on them being unitary)

Question 23

Which brain region is sometimes included in limbic system but sometimes not?

Answer 23

Hypothalamus

Question 24

Brain parts in limbic system

Answer 24

Fornix, Amygdala, Cingulate Cortex, Septum, Mammillary bodies, Hippocampus, Hypothalamus

Question 25

Why do some include hypothalamus in limbic system?

Answer 25

It controls release of biochemicals to mediate fear.

Question 26

How important is memory in the limbic system?

Answer 26

Very. It helps our survival and conceptual learning.

Question 27

Conceptual learning example

Answer 27

Being afraid of getting eaten by a bear.

(we have never experienced it, so it’s a concept)

Question 28

Which system has to do with drive-related activities central to survival?

Answer 28

Limbic system

Question 29

Which other region does our limbic system interact with? For what functions?

Answer 29

Cerebral cortex.

Higher-order cognitive tasks.

Question 30

3 parts of the brainstem

Answer 30

Medulla, pons, midbrain

Question 31

Where are ALL the tracts from brain to body and body to brain located?

Answer 31

Brain stem

Question 32

Where contains nuclei of the cranial nerves?

Answer 32

Brain stem

Question 33

A small lesion to the brain stem will cause what?

Answer 33

Coma

Question 34

Medulla functions

Answer 34

Digestion, breathing, heart rate

Question 35

Pons functions

Answer 35

conveys info about movement from cerebral hemispheres to cerebellum.

Question 36

Midbrain functions

Answer 36

sensory and motor functions, like eye movement and visual/auditory reflexes

Question 37

What 2 brain regions are required for pracitcing motor activities without much thought?

Answer 37

Cerebellum and pons (pons do the relaying of info)

Question 38

What percent of brain’s volume is cerebellum? What percent of neurons does it contain?

Answer 38

10% of brain volume, more than 50% of neurons in the brain

Question 39

What does the cerebellum do with regulating movement?

Answer 39

It adjusts the output of motor systems and corrects ongoing movements when they deviate.

Question 40

What brain regions is cerebellum connected to? (3)

Answer 40

Motor cortex (intent), pons relay the message, and spinal cord (execution)