The nervous system Flashcards
2 Parts of the central nervous system
Brain and the spinal chord
How can the brain be sliced so it can be viewed
- Coronal slice; left to right
- Sagittal slice; Front to back
- Transverse slice; Top to bottom
What are the 3 major brain regions
- Forebrain
- Brainstem
- Cerebellum
What are the 2 parts of the forebrain
- Cerebrum
2. Diencephalon
What are the 2 parts of the diencephalon
- Thalamus
2. Hypothalamus
What are the 3 parts of the brainstem
- Midbrain
- Pons
- Medulla oblongata
What are the 4 parts of the cortex
- Occipital lobe
- Parietal lobe
- Frontal lobe
- Temporal lobe
What does the occipital lobe do
Visual processing e.g. colour, orientation and motion
What is wrong with schizophrenia patients
They have abnormal activity levels in the occipital lobe causing hallucinations
What does the parietal lobe do
Sensory processing and proprioception (self awareness)
What is wrong with dyslexic patients
They have reduced levels of activation in the left parietal lobe
What does the frontal lobe do
Decision making, attention, consciousness, emotions and deliberate movement
What is prefrontal lobotomy
A surgical process that was used to treat number of personality and cognitive disorders but often resulted in impaired voluntary behaviour
What does the temporal lobe do
Auditory processing, language and speech
What is wrong with patients with receptive aphasia
A condition where there is major impairment of language comprehension whilst speech retains natural
This is due to damage to the temporal lobe often induced by a stroke
What does the corpus callosum do
It connects the right and left hemispheres allowing information to be passed between them
What happens when the corpus callosum is severed
Causes patients to be able to with their left eye but not process the information and visa versa
What does the hippocampus do
Memory formation and memory retrieval
What happens when the hippocampus is damaged
Clive Wearing; unable to retain short term memory however still has long term memory of the past
What does the basal ganglia do
Movement, balance and posture
What is wrong with patients with Parkinson’s disease
They have a neurodegenerative disease caused by reduced dopaminergic function in the basal ganglia
What is wrong with patients with Huntingdon’s chorea
Its a genetic disease that causes damage to the basal ganglia
What does the thalamus do
Has over 40 different nuclei
Multi-model functions
What is wrong with patients that have synasthesia
They have damage to the thalamus, causing ‘blending’ of information streams
This leads to feeling sounds or hearing colours
What does the hypothalamus do
A collection of small nuclei e.g. temperature, hunger/thirst, neuroendocrine control, circadian rhythms and blood pressure and heart rate
Plays a major role in the flight or flight response
What does the brainstem do
Controls homeostasis; Breathing, heart rate and blood pressure
Motor movements; reflexes, fine motor movements of limbs and face in conjunction with the cortex
What is wrong with patients with ‘locked-in syndrome”
Damage to the pons
patient is aware but cannot move or communicate verbally due to complete paralysis of nearly all voluntary muscles in the body except for vertical eye movements and blinking
What does the cerebellum do
Movement precision and coordination
What does the spinal chord do
Transmits signals from/to to the brain/body
Reflexive circuits
What is wrong with patients with plegia
Spinal chord injury
different levels of plegia; tetra/ quadric/paraplegia
What does the peripheral nervous system consist of
Autonomic nervous system and the somatic nervous system
What does the autonomic nervous system do
its for unconscious control e.g. breathing, digestion, heart rate and blood pressure
What does the somatic nervous system do
Voluntary control via skeletal muscle
What are the 4 parts of the cerebrum
- Cortex
- Corpus callosum
- Hippocampus
- Basal ganglia
