Terminology, Anatomy and Techniques Flashcards
Define the unity of function principle.
A neural system is defined by the ensemble of connections dedicated to its specialized function.
What does allow the calcium imaging technique?
Tracking APs.
How are optogenetics particularly useful?
They allow to trigger very precise parts of neural circuits (by light excitation).
What is a topographic organization?
A point-to-point correspondance between sensory periphery and neurons’ inputs within CNS.
What is a neuronal nucleus?
Clearly distinguishable mass of neurons, usually deep in the brain.
What is a neuronal substantia?
Related neurons with less clear boundaries than nucleus.
What differentiates a neuronal tract from a neuronal bundle?
The axons inside of tract share a common origin and destination. Similarly, neurons of a bundle travel together, but in contrast, do not necessarily share a common origin and destination.
True or false: the ventral root is the entrance to spinal cord for sensory information carried by afferents axons of spinal nerves.
False: it is the dorsal root.
True or false: the midbrain is located below the pons.
False: above the pons.
What could arise from damage to corpus callosum?
The brain hemispheres could no longer communicate.
Who am I: a relay for all sensory pathways (except the olfactory one) before they reach the cerebral cortex?
The thalamus.
Arrange the anatomical parts of the CNS in the right order, from superior to inferior: Pons, Spinal cord, Medulla, Cerebrum, Diencephalon, Midbrain.
Cerebrum > Diencephalon >Midbrain >Pons >Medulla >Spinal cord
On the coronal axis of the CNS, arrange the anatomical parts of the spinal cord from distal to proximal: Spinal ganglion, Spinal nerve, Ventral root, Ventral horn, Lateral column, Dorsal column.
Spinal nerve >Spinal ganglion >Ventral root >Lateral column >Ventral horn > Dorsal column.
Who am I: I’m an invasive neuroimaging technique producing 3D images of brain activity.
PET
True or False: fMRI is a direct measure of neuronal brain activity.
False: indirect because it tracts the oxygen levels, not the neuronal impulses themselves.
Give one strength and one limitation to EEG.
Strength: good temporal res.
Limitation: poor spatial res.
Neuroimaging technique used to assess the state of brain tissues.
MRI
What are the primary functions of the brainstem (3) and cranial nerves?
- Deal with sensory and motor function of head and neck
- “Throughway” for ascending/descending information in the spinal cord and local sensory/motor tracts
- Regulating levels of consciousness
How is sensory and motor information separated in the brainstem?
- Sensory nuclei are found laterally
- Motor nuclei are found more medially
What is grey matter?
Cell bodies in the brain, they appear grey in freshly dissected brain
What is a cortex
Thin sheets of neurons, usually at the brains surface
What is a nucleus?
Clearly distinguishable mass of neurons, usually deep in the brain
What is substantia?
RELATED NEURONS BUT WITH LESS DISTINCT BOUNDARIES THAN A NUCLEUS
WHAT IS A LOCUS?
small, well defines group of cells
What is a ganglion?
Collection of neurons in the PNS, there is only the basal ganglia in the CNS
What is a nerve?
Bundle of axons in the PNS. Only nerve in the CNS is the optic nerve
What is white matter?
axons
What is a tract?
Collection of CNS axons that have the same origin and destination
What is a bundle?
Collection of axons that run together but don’t have the same origin or destination
What is a capsule?
axon collection that connects cerebrum with brainstem
what is a commissure?
Axon collection that connects one side of the brain with the other
What is a lemniscus?
A tract that meanders through the brain like a ribbon
