Test 2: Chapters 2 + 5 Flashcards
What are neurons?
Specialized cells that carry messages throughout the nervous system.
What are the types of neurons?
- Afferent
- Efferent
- Inter
What are afferent neurons?
- Sensory
- From senses to brain and spinal cord (CNS)
What are efferent neurons?
- Motor
- From the CNS to glands and muscles
What are interneurons?
“In between” neurons in CNS
How many neurons are there in the brain and how long are they?
- About 100 billion
- From thousands of cm - 1 m
What are the parts of a neuron?
- Cell body
- Dendrites
- Axons
- Myelin sheath
- Glial cells
What are glial cells?
- Forms the myelin sheath on axons
- Like glue that holds neurons together
- Removes waste such as dead neurons
- Accelerates impulses
What can a loss of glial cells result in?
Multiple sclerosis
What are the structures at the synapse?
- Axon terminal
- Synaptic vesicles
- Neurotransmitters
- Synaptic cleft
What charge does a neuron have at resting potential?
Negative
What is the action potential in firing a neuron?
“All or none”
What is the refractory period of firing a neuron?
1 - 2 ms
How fast can a neuron be fired?
Up to 1000 times per second.
What are the functions of the neurotransmitter: acetylcholine?
Motor control at junction between nerves and muscles - Excitatory - skeletal - Inhibitory - heart Mental process - Learning - Memory - Sleep/dream
What if you have too little acetylcholine?
You could have Alzheimer’s.
What are the 4 monoamines?
- Epinephrine
- Norepinephrine
- Serotonin
- Dopamine
What do the monoamines do?
- Regulate arousal
- Regulate feelings
- Motivate behaviour
What are the functions of the neurotransmitter: epinephrine?
Bursts of energy after exciting/threatening event, AKA “adrenaline rush”
What are the functions of the neurotransmitter: norepinephrine?
- Arousal and alertness (for vigilance)
What happens if you have too little or too much norepinephrine?
Too much: manic
Too little: depression
What would block the re-uptake of norepinephrine?
Cocaine and crack.
What are the functions of the neurotransmitter: serotonin?
- Negative mood regulation
- Impulse control
- Dreaming
What happens if you have too little serotonin?
- Depression/suicide
- Anxiety
- Impulse disorder
What would block the re-uptake of serotonin?
Antidepressants
What are the functions of the neurotransmitter: dopamine?
- Motivation and reward (eat, drink, sex)
- Motor control and planning
What happens if you have too little or too much dopamine?
Too much: schizophrenia
Too little: Parkinson’s
What would block the re-uptake of dopamine?
Cocaine and crack.
What are the functions of the neurotransmitter: gaba?
- Most important inhibitory transmitter
- Prevents neural activity chaos
- Reduces anxiety
What happens if you have too little gaba?
Epilepsy
What would block the re-uptake of gaba?
Tranquilizers and alcohol.
I am guessing based off of other questions…
What are the functions of the neurotransmitter: glutamate?
- Most important excitatory transmitter
- Learning and memory
What happens if you have too much glutamate?
Stroke or brain injury.
- Excessive glutamate is released after which causes seizures and neural death
What are the functions of the neurotransmitter: endorphins?
- Less pain
- More pleasure, well-being (runner’s high)
Opiates-opium, morphine, heroin, codeine
What is the nervous system made up of?
- Central nervous system
- Peripheral nervous system
What is the central nervous system made up of?
- Brain
- Spinal cord
What is the peripheral nervous system made up of?
- Somatic nervous system
- Autonomic nervous system
What is the autonomic nervous system made up of?
- Synpathetic
- Parasymphathetic
What is the brainstem made up of?
- Medulla
- Reticular formation
- Pons
What does the medulla control/regulate?
- Heartbeat
- Breathing
- Blood pressure
- Coughing
- Swallowing
- Vomiting
What does the reticular formation control/regulate?
- Attention
- Alertness
What do the pons control/regulate?
- Body movement
- Sleep
- Dreaming
What is the cerebellum?
- “little brain”
- Graceful smooth movement and coordination
- Two hemispheres
What does the thalamus do?
Relay of sensory info between lower and higher brain areas.
What is the hypothalamus?
The master regulator of almost all 4Fs (flight, fight, freeze, mate) but not pressure, heart rate, breathing.
What is apart of the limbic system?
- Amygdala
- Hippocampus
What does the amygdala control/regulate?
Emotion related to survival (fear).
What does the hippocampus control/regulate?
New memories.
What is the cerebral cortex?
2 hemispheres for higher mental processes (language, memory, thinking, perception).
What is the corpus callosum?
The bridge between the right and left hemisphere.
What are the lobes of the brain?
- Frontal
- Parietal
- Occipital
- Temporal
What does the frontal lobe control/regulate?
- Motor
- Plan/organization
- Impulse control
- Emotion
- Special language centres
What does the parietal lobe control/regulate?
Somatosensory cortex
What does the occipital lobe control/regulate?
Primary visual cortex
What does the temporal lobe control/regulate?
- Primary auditory cortex
- Memory
What are the special language centres of the brain?
- Broca’s Area
- Wernicke’s Area
What does Broca’s area control/regulate?
- Speech production
- Left frontal lobe
What does wernicke’s area control/regulate?
- Speech comprehension
- Left temporal lobe
What is the somatosensory cortex?
Homunculus
What does the left hemisphere control/regulate?
- Language
- Mathematics
- Analytical
- Sequential
What does the right hemisphere control/regulate?
- Visual spatial
- Music
- Holistic (patterns rather than pieces)
- “hear” language (theme, moral, joke)
- creativity
- intuition
- recognition
- expression of emotion
Which side of the body does the right hemisphere control?
Left
What side of the body does the left hemisphere control?
Right
What is split brain?
Someone who has no corpus callosum
Why would you have no corpus callosum?
- surgery for epilepsy
- born without
When you show someone a picture who has split brain, what will they say they see on the right and the left? And why?
On the right: the word or image they saw on that side. Because the left hemisphere is dominant for verbal process.
On the left: say nothing, but would be able to identify the word/object by pointing at it. Because the right hemisphere cannot share the information with the left, so the left won’t know the word.
What ade the scanning techniques?
- EEG
- CT Scan
- MRI
- PET
- fMRI
- MEG
What are the waves and what do these waves mean on an EEG?
- Beta wave: awake, mental or physical activity
- Alpha wave: awake but relaxed
- Theta wave: light sleep
- Delta wave: deep sleep
What does an EEG do?
Gives info for basic brain activity.
Patients need to be sitting.
What does a CT scan do?
Gives a basic picture of the brain.
Used for studying brain structure.
Less quality than MRI.
What does an MRI do?
Gives a basic picture of the brain, like CT but the image is clearer.
Used to study brain structure.
What does a PET scan do?
Shows how active individual places in the brain are (different shades - different level of creativity, red is most active cause of glucose?).
Can show the function/activity while the patient is doing an activity.
Used to study brain activity.