The Brain SAC Flashcards
The Nervous System
It receives sensory information, processes information and organises a coordinated response to information.
Is comprised of the CNS and PNS.
Central Nervous System
The CNS comprises of the brain and the spinal cord.
It coordinates all incoming sensory info and initiates outgoing motor messages.
The brain is the master controller and the spine acts as a message highway.
PNS
Comprised of all the nerves outside of the CNS and carries messages between the CNS and muscles, glands, organs etc.
Autonomic Nervous System
Is a subdivision of the PNS.
Enables communication between PNS and CNS regarding involuntary movement.
e.g. basic survival processes like breathing.
Has a major role in stress, fear and anger and contains 2 subdivision.
Somatic Nervous System
Is a subdivision of the PNS.
Enables communication between PNS and CNS regarding voluntary movement.
SOMA MEANS BODY
Sympathetic Nervous System
Subdivision of the ANS.
Increases our environmental arousal. Dominant in response to perceived threats, stressful situations or psychological or physiological stimuli.
S IS FOR STRESS
Parasympathetic Nervous System
Subdivision of the ANS.
It maintains homeostasis by lowering arousal and returning the body to a calm state.
PARA STANDS FOR PARACHUTE
Hindbrain
- Located at the base of the brain.
- Controls autonomic functions and reflexes e.g. breathing
- Contains the cerebellum
Cerebellum
The cerebellum is the ‘little brain’ on the underside of the brain behind the stem. It plays a role in balance and coordination. It enables ‘muscle memory’ and voluntary muscle movement.
JESS FALLING OVER
Location, Role, What does it contain?
Midbrain
- Located between the Forebrain and the Hindbrain.
- Plays an important role in relaying information between regions and CNS.
- Contains the Reticular Formation and the Basal Ganglia
Reticular Formation
It controls physiological arousal and filters sensory information coming into the brain.
Basal Ganglia
Plays a role in; procedural memory, planning and control of motor skills and encoding implicit (internal) memories related to movement.
Forebrain
It is the largest and most complex brain region, it is involved in sophisticated mental processes and complex functions such as emotions, motivations, learning, memory and reasoning.
The forebrain contains the cerebrum, the hippocampus and the amygdala.
Cerebrum and Cerebral Cortex
The cerebrum is the largest and most developed part of the brain. It is responsible for most of our actions. It is divided into 2 hemispheres.
The outer layer is called the cerebral cortex which coordinates complex mental functions and processes.
Hippocampus
It transfers short-term memories into long-term memories. It doesn’t store anything but plays a role in language memories. If it is damaged a person will have difficulty consolidating explicit (external) memories in long-term memory.
Reduction in hippocampal volume is one of the earliest signs of Alzheimer’s.
What is is? and What happens if it is damaged?
Amygdala
Helps to encode and store the emotional component of implicit memories. If it is damaged; Impaired ability to express and interpret emotions and a lack of a fear response.
What was the experiment? Why did they do it? What happened?
The Split Brain
2 hemispheres are connected by the corpus callosum. In the 1960s and 70s, doctors severed this to prevent seizures. This led to patients’ brains acting separately and without communication.
Corpus Callosum
What is it? What does it do? What happens when it is cut?
The part that connects and enables communication between the two hemispheres.
When severed, it causes divided cognitive systems due to each hemisphere having different abilities and functions.
Frontal Lobe
- Sophisticated mental activities
- Regulates emotions and personalities
- Voluntary movement
Contains the; prefrontal lobe, premotor cortex, primary motor cortex and Broca’s area. PHINEAS GAGE
Prefrontal Cortex
- Coordinates complex mental processes
- Recognizes and plans motor movement
- sends info to the premotor cortex
WHAT TO DO
Premotor Cortex
- Receives info and processes it into motions
- sends motions to the primary motor cortex
HOW TO DO IT
Primary Motor Cortex
- Receives the motions
- Initiates voluntary motor movements
- Signals cerebellum to relay info
DOING IT
Broca’s Area
- Production of speech
- only in the left frontal lobe
Damages can cause Broca’s Aphasia (can understand speech but cannot produce it effectively.) SARAH SCOTT
Does 3 things
Parietal Lobe
The region behind the frontal lobe. It plays a role in spatial awareness, spatial reasoning and processing somatosensory info.
It does two things, info and ALFIE
Primary Somatosensory Cortex
Located in the parietal lobe.
It receives and processes somatic(bodily)sensory info.
e.g. pain, temperature and touch.
Helps us understand our body’s position in space to coordinate our senses and movement.
ALFIE
Occipital Lobe
Located at the rear of the brain and plays a major role in vision.
Contains the primary visual cortex.
Primary Visual Cortex
- Located in the Occipital Lobe
- Enables interpretation of visual info.
Damage causes chronic blindness
Temporal Lobe
At the bottom of the brain.
Receives and processes sounds and the responses to sounds.
Plays a critical role in understanding sounds of speech.
Contains the primary auditory cortex and Wernicke’s Area.
Primary Auditory Cortex
Located in the temporal lobe.
The left PAC processes verbal sounds (language).
The right PAC processes non-verbal sounds (music)
Damage causes the patient to be deaf with no damage to the ears.
Wernicke’s Area
Located in the temporal lobe.
Responsible for the comprehension of speech and enables meaningful and coherent speech.
Damage causes Wernicke’s Aphasia or the inability to produce or interpret meaningful speech.
Synaptic Plasticity: LTP
Long-term potentiation is where connections are strengthened relatively permanently through repeating activation.
Synaptic Plasticity: LTD
Long-term Depression is where connections are weakened relatively permanently through repeated low-level activation.
Developmental Plasticity
Occurs in response to aging and maturing.
Synaptogenesis
Where more synapses form between axon terminal and dendrites of neurons.
Synaptic Pruning
The elimination of underused synapses.
Adaptive Plasticity
Occurs due to a need to adapt to best suit an environment.
Sprouting
The formation of new branches in a neuron.
Rerouting
The formation of new connections to avoid damaged neurons.
How do psycho-social impacts relate to the site of injury with an ABI?
Different regions of the brain are responsible for various functions, so damage to particular areas can result in distinct psychological, emotional, and social consequences.
Define it and examples
TBI
Damage to the brain is caused by an external force. e.g. car accident, physical assault, shaken-baby syndrome or sporting knocks.
(Pyscho, social and bio)
Phineas Gage
An iron rod passed through Gage’s frontal lobe. His personality was affected (PYSCHO) and his friends said that ‘he was no longer Gage.’ (SOCIAL)
He began having seizures afterwards and died from one twelve years after the accident. (BIO)
Case study
An in-depth investigation into one person’s experience.
Definition and Examples
NTBI
Damage to the brain is caused over time by internal factors. e.g. near-drowning, Alzheimer’s, stroke or substance abuse.
Alzheimer’s Disease
- Is a degenerative NTBI
- It progressively destroys neurons in the brain.
Cognitive, Emotional, Behavioural
Effects of Alzheimer’s
Cognitive:
- Understanding, thinking, remembering and communicating
Emotional:
- Withdrawn, General apathy, restless, and violent outbursts
Behavioural:
- Physical decline, failure to; eat, shower and dress themselves.
Signs of Alzheimer’s
Amyloid Plaques:
- Can’t break it down, so it collects and blocks neuron signals
Neurofibrillary Tangles:
- Twisted strands of the tau protein (found in dead/dying nerve cells) clump together.
- It blocks substances from moving around causing the death of brain cells.
CTE
A progressive and fatal brain disease associated with repeated TBIs.
AARON HERNANDEZ
Effects of CTE
Memory loss, Depression, Anxiety, Paranoia, Mood impairments (aggression) and impairments in executive functioning (e.g. reasoning and decision-making)
- It causes parts of the brain to waste away (atrophy)
CTE VS Alzheimer’s
Both contain the presence of p-tau and neurofibrillary tangles and similar outward responses but CTE doesn’t get amyloid plaque build-ups.
Diagnosing CTEs
- Can only be diagnosed post-mortem
- Confirmed with the presence of p-tau and lack of amyloid plaque.
- Researchers try to use CT scans to look for structural problems in areas of the brain where damage is possible if a CTE is suspected.
