The Central Nervous System And Cerebral Cortex Flashcards

Question

The mesencephalon

Answer 1

Tectum- two main structures -Inferior colliculus- part of the auditory system -Superior colliculus- part of the visual system Tegmentum includes- Reticular formation- sensory processing, sleep,arousal,attention,muscle tone, movement and reflexes Red nucleus and substantia nigra- important components of the motor system

Answer 2

The cerebellum (little brain)- coordinates our movements. Damage- eg cerebral palsy impairs walking,balance,posture, and skilled motor activity The pons- involved in sleep and arousal

Answer 3

Contains medulla oblongata- borders the spinal cord Controls vital functions such as control of breathing

Answer 4

Located within the spinal column Communicates with sense organs and muscles Two fibre pathways Dorsal roots sensory information Ventral root-motor information

Answer 5

Cerebral cortex- decrease in inhibitory behaviour, slows down information from the senses, inhibits thought processes Limbic system- exaggerated emotion,memory loss Hypothalamus and pituitary- sexual behaviour,urine excretion Medulla- sleepy,unconscious

Answer 6

-Concerned with the generation of movement -Each part of the body has its own specific area of representation in the motor cortex -Contralateral control -Damage-loss of fine movement control, problems with fast automatic actions,impaired movement of facial muscles

Answer 7

-Area in the left hemisphere of the frontal lobe - in charge of producing speech -Identified by Paul broca- reported case of man who had lost the power of speech through could still make speech noises and understand speech -Impairment- Brocas aphasia- slow deliberate speech

Answer 8

Involved in -Working memory- keeping relevent information in memory for a short period of time,problems on delayed response tasks -Planning and carrying out sequences of actions -Shifting attention -Inhibiting inappropriate responses and behaviour In social situations

Answer 9

- railway worker in 1848 -Explosion went wrong -Iron rod fired through cheek and out top of skull -Didn't loose conscious -Notable differences in social behaviour -Before described as hardworking and dependable -After- rude, unreliable,swear aggressive ect -Case based on anecdotal evidence

Answer 10

- processes sensory information from different parts of the body -Similar to motor cortex each part of the body has its own area of representation -evidence that experience can modify representation -Contralateral -Phantom limb- neurons that took information in for that limb get taken over by other processes - people who wear a prosthetic limb go through less neural reorganisation

Answer 11

-Primary function- integrates sensory and motor information -Key functions- spatial navigation and perception -Monitors all information about body position and passes it to all areas involved in movement -Damage- problems in detecting sensory information, difficulty in recognizing objects they can touch but not seen, problem with spatial ability -Damage to right pariateal lobe- sensory neglect - people ignore objects on one side of visual field (draw half of lock or house ect)

Answer 12

-Area in the left hemisphere of the temporal lobe -Involved in the comprehension of speech -Discovered by german neurologist Carl Wernicke- found that damage in the region disrupted speech -Impairment- Wernicke's aphasia- fluent speech and normal speech sounds but speech fails to convey a rational meaning. Also an inability to understand words Damage to equivalent area in the right temporal lobe- problems in processing music

Answer 13

-Mostly hidden from view in the grooves of the cortex,responsible for the processing of information from the ear- involved in the interpretation of sound Temporal lobe also involved in complex visual processing eg faces Damage to the right temporal lobe- prosopagnosia Tumors in the temporal love are also associated with visual and auditory hallucinations

Answer 14

-Primary visual cortex- receives and processes information from the visual system -Analyses visual information- features such as light, pattern, shape ect - damage- deficits is visual perception- eg problems in perceiving faces and objects, cortical blindness - blind because of brain not eyes -People who go blind but have working visual cortex, will be able to imagine visual scenes and have visual dreams

Answer 15

-Individuals who experience epileptic seizures can have different experiences depending upon the area of the brain affected -Understanding the function of the different brain areas therefore can contribute to our understanding of experiences during an epileptic seizures

Answer 16

-Neurological condition,characterised by tendency to have recurrent seizures -5% of global population will experience a seizure but do not have epilepsy -40-50 million people with epilepsy worldwide -2 million new cases, globally each year -50% of cases start in childhood

Answer 17

-Sudden (but often) and excessive neuronal firing Normal firing rates 80x per second During seizure- up to 500x per second Often a period of extreme tiredness afterwards Can occur in any part of the brain

Answer 18

Focal Focal aware- activity while alert Focal impaired awareness- activity changes awareness Secondary generalised, activity in one brain area spreads Generalised Absence- staring Myoclonic- short jerky movements Tonic-clonic- go stiff,fall have convulsions Tonic- go stiff, fall, no convulsions Atonic- fall limply

Answer 19

-Most common starting place -Associated with visual and auditory perception -Common symptoms -Sight-seeing small things as large and vice versa -Hallucinations- smells,sounds and tastes as well as visual -Feeling detached from environment -Deja vu

Answer 20

-Predominantly deals with movement Often brief- afterwards period of weakness Rare- Todd's paralysis Common symptoms -Head drawn to one side Arm/hand becomes stiff and drawn upwards Trembling in finger moves up hand and whole arm (Jacksonian seizure) Less common symptoms Behavioural (screaming,swearing,laughing)

Answer 21

-Associated with bodily sensations -Seizures cause strange physical sensations -Tingling/warmth down one side of body Parietal lobe next to frontal lobe - can experience movements (sensory seizures)

Answer 22

-Associated with vision Common symptoms -Seeing flashes -Seeing bells of light -Temporary absence of vision