Video Module 2: Neuroanatomy

Question 1

how many cells does the brain have?

Answer 1

• approximately 100 billion nerve cells
• approximately one trillion glial cells

Question 2

do we really only use 10% of our brain?

Answer 2

• No: this is a myth
• Only 10% of the cells in our brain participate in communication; the rest of the cells in our brain take-on supporting duties

Question 3

primary functions of the brain

Answer 3

1) creating a sensory reality by gathering info from the environment and body
2) integrating information by sending it to the brain to make sense of it; making decisions based on the information
3) producing motor output based on the information input; includes speaking, pointing, walking, writing, etc.

Question 4

central nervous system

Answer 4

• brain and spinal cord
• brain is the central processor: where cognition takes place; where the integration of neural signals takes place

Question 5

peripheral nervous system

Answer 5

• nerves everywhere except the brain and spinal cord
• carries information to and from the brain
• autonomic nervous system
• somatic nervous system

Question 6

autonomic nervous system

Answer 6

• part of the PNS
• controls unconscious functions such as breathing and digestion
• communicates with internal organs and glands
• sympathetic ANS: arousing (shuts down digestion, increases heart rate)
• parasympathetic ANS: calming (slows heart rate, decreases pupil size, resumes digestion)

Question 7

somatic nervous system

Answer 7

• part of the PNS
• communicates with sense organs and voluntary muscles
• sensory (afferent) SNS: handles sensory input; brings info in
• motor (efferent) SNS: handles motor output; brings info out to create movements

Question 8

cortical lobes

Answer 8

• separated by major fissures:
  1) longitudinal: separates hemispheres
  2) central: separates frontal and parietal lobes
  3) lateral: separates frontal+parietal lobes from the temporal lobe
• consists of the frontal, parietal, temporal, and occipital lobes

Question 9

frontal lobes

Answer 9

handles motor and executive functions

Question 10

parietal lobes

Answer 10

handles somatosensory information and information of spatial locations

Question 11

temporal lobes

Answer 11

handles audition (hearing), speech, and emotion

Question 12

occipital lobes

Answer 12

handles vision; early visual processing

Question 13

subcortical structures

Answer 13

• basal ganglia: located around the thalamus; controls movement; “the reptilian brain”
• limbic system: hypothalamus; thalamus; olfactory bulb; amygdala; hippocampus; “the mammalian brain”

Question 14

thalamus

Answer 14

• part of the limbic system
• located on top of the spinal cord
• responsible for relaying sensory information to other parts of the brain
• does not process olfactory information/smell (that goes to the olfactory bulb)

Question 15

hypothalamus

Answer 15

• part of the limbic system
• located under the thalamus
• controls motivated behaviours: eating, drinking, sexual intercourse
• a point of contact between the nervous system and the endocrine system

Question 16

amygdala

Answer 16

• part of the limbic system
• involved in regulating and processing emotion

Question 17

hippocampus

Answer 17

• part of the limbic system
• crucial in memroy formation and consolidation

Question 18

primary projection areas

Answer 18

• regions of the cortex where sensory input first arrives and where motor output last exists
• primary somatosensory projection area, primary motor projection area, primary visual cortex, primary auditory cortex

Question 19

primary somatosensory projection area

Answer 19

• somatosensory cortex
• representation of the sensitivity of body parts is proportional to cortical area

Question 20

primary motor projection area

Answer 20

• motor cortex
• representation of the motor control of body parts is proportional to cortical area

Question 21

primary visual cortex

Answer 21

• projection map of our visual cortex
• locations in space correspond to cortical areas of the primary visual cortex

Question 22

primary auditory cortex

Answer 22

• projection map of different pitches and tones
• different pitches and volumes correspond to cortical areas

Question 23

association areas

Answer 23

• 75% of the cortex
• create associations between simple ideas and sensations

damage can result in:
- frontal lobe: apraxia
- occipital/temporal lobes: agnosia
- frontal and temporal lobes: aphasia
- parietal lobe: neglect syndrome

Question 24

superior

Answer 24

above

Question 25

rostral

Answer 25

towards the front of the brain

Question 26

dorsal

Answer 26

toward the top of the brain

Question 27

ventral

Answer 27

toward the belly/underside of the brain

Question 28

caudal

Answer 28

towards the back of the brain

Question 29

inferior

Answer 29

below

Question 30

anterior

Answer 30

in front of

Question 31

posterior

Answer 31

behind

Question 32

lateral

Answer 32

toward the edge of the brain (toward the cortex)

Question 33

medial

Answer 33

toward the middle of the brain

Question 34

contralateral organization

Answer 34

the idea that many of the brain’s circuits are crossed
- one hemisphere controls and integrates information from the opposite side of the body
- sensations from the R side of the body are projected onto the L hemisphere; sensations from the L side of the body are projected onto the R hemisphere
- R visual field –> L hemisphere
- L visual field –> R hemisphere

Question 35

is the brain symmetrical or asymmetrical?

Answer 35

• the brain is both asymmetrical and symmetrical
• both hemispheres: emotion and vision; cortical lobes and many subcortical structures
• lateralized to the L: language
• lateralized to the R: spatial location information