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Neuroscience > Week 1 > Flashcards

Week 1 Flashcards

1
Q

What is neuroscience?

A

scientific study of the nervous system, which controls behaviour

  • interdisciplinary
  • BPS fundamental
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2
Q

Central nervous system (CNS)

A
  • brain
  • spinal cord
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3
Q

Peripheral Nervous system (PNS)

A

Nerves (Cranial and spinal)

Ganglia (a mass of nerve cell bodies)

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3
Q

Neurones

A

Building block of the nervous system

  • dendrite: receives the AP
  • Myelin sheath - Insulates AP
  • Nodes of Ranvier - where the AP travels (saltatory conduction)
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4
Q

Why is NS an essential subject to pscyhology?

A

Behaviour is initiated in the nervous system

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5
Q

Psychologists who study biological bases of behaviour name?

A

Behavioural neuroscience

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6
Q

History of neuroscience

A

1) historical notions

2) Evolution

3) brain evolution

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7
Q

1) Human prehistory (2.5 million years ago)

A
  • stone age, bronze age, iron age, neolithic period
  • blunt force cranial trauma (on right = effects left side of body = brain works counterlaterally)
  • cranial trepanation
    • “5-10% of all skulls found from the Neolithic period were trepanned with single or multiple skull openings of various sizes”
    • Drilled holes in heads
      ○ Release of evil spirits?
      ○ Alleviation of pressure on brain?
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8
Q

Ancient Egypt

A
  • Earliest written reference to the brain (17th Century BCE) – the Edwin Smith Surgical Papyrus - doctors of the brain used to operate on the brain and write their methods
    • Believed the heart to be the control of function surprisingly
      Body and most organs were preserved (mummified) after death… but not the brain
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9
Q

Ancient Greece

A
  • Hippocrates (c. 460-377 BCE) the theory of the four humours “… the source of our pleasure, merriment, laughter and amusement, as of our grief, pain, anxiety, and tears is none other than the brain” ‘father of medicine’
    • Yellow bile, black bile, phlegm & blood = humours
      = Acknowledges importance of brain
    • Aristotle (384-322 BCE) “… the brain is not responsible for any of the sensations at all, the correct view is that the sear and source of sensation is the region of the heart”
      (Also Socrates & Plato)
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10
Q

Roman Empire

A

Galen (130-200 CE)

  • saw the brain as the ruling organ of the body
    • Common sense, cognition and memory were all functions of the brain
  • Discovery of ventricles fitted with Hippocrates’ theory of humourism
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11
Q

The dark ages (~500-1000 AD)

A
  • Nothing documented
    Beginning of christianity in western world
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12
Q

The Renaissance (3 significant people)

A
  • Leonardo Da Vinci
  • Andreas Vesalius
  • Rene Descartes
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13
Q

Da Vinci (1452-1519)

A
  • Sensation, cognition and memory attributed to the “3” ventricles
    • Drawings of the brain, nervous system
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14
Q

Vesalius (1514-1564)

A
  • Added more detail to the understanding of brain structure
    Found errors in Galen’s anatomy (e.g. blood does not flow from the left to the right side of the heart)
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15
Q

Descartes (1596-1650)

A
  • Fluid-mechanical theory of brain function
    • Reflexive theory (realised reflex was not controlled by the brain)
    • Dualism (the mind and the body are one, pineal gland - communicating with the ‘spirits and gods’ which then control the body)
      ‘ I think therefore I am’
16
Q

The 19th Century: 4 key insights…

A

1) Nerves and Wires

2) Localisation of specific brain functions

3) the neuron

4) Evolution of the brain

17
Q

Nerves are wires: Luigi Galvani (1737-1798)

A
  • Stimulation of nerves in frogs caused muscle contractions
    Major finding - an electrical process
18
Q

Nerves are wires: Hermann von Helmholtz (1821-1894)

A
  • Human physiology is subject to the laws of nature
    • Measured the speed of nerve conduction
      ○ * ~90 ft/sec
      ○ * Slow – not just electrical, but physiological
      e,g, used eals
19
Q

Localisation of specific brain functions: Johannes Müller (1801-1858)

A
  • Proposed the “law of specific nerve energies”
    • Neurones are the same but they go to different parts of the brain (e.g. optical vs auditory nerves)
20
Q

Localisation: Marie-Jean-Pierre Flourens (1794 1867)

A
  • Experimental ablations (electrical stimulation = knock out part of the brain)
    = different effects all over the body of animals
      • Intellect = cerebral cortex
      • Lower brain = vital bodily functions
  • Cerebellum = coordination and motor control
21
Q

Localisation: Paul Broca (1824-1880)

A
  • Damage to left frontal cortex = difficulties in language production
    • Broca’s region - language production
22
Q

Localisation: Gustav Fritsch & Eduard Hitzig

A
  • Muscle contractions contralateral to brain hemisphere
    Nailed down & confirmed the contralateral workings of the brain - the left hemisphere controls the motor functioning of the right side of the body…)
23
Q
  1. The neuron
A
  • The basic functional unit of the brain

Camillo Golgi (1843-1926)
- Invented a new staining technique
-  Propose “reticular theory”
○ Golgi staining/ golgi cell….

Santiago Ramón y Cajal (1852-1934)
- Worked out neural circuitry of many brain regions
- Propose the “neuron doctrine” - building blocks
- The basic functional unit of the brain, interconnected by chemical synapses (NTS)

24
Q

Evolution: What is evolution? Darwin & Wallace

A

Charles Darwin (1809-1882)
“On the origin of species” (1859) considered the foundation of evolutionary biology
 Natural selection - different genomes & then mutations = ^ survival
 Evolution: Gradual change in structure of physiology of a species
– generally producing more complex organisms
– as a result of natural selection

Natural selection theory can be attributed to Charles Darwin AND Alfred Russel Wallace
 Wallace had the idea during a fever in 1858
 However, Darwin had been working on it for 20 years in private

e.g. the pepper moth

25
Q

Brain evolution: Vertebrate brains

A
  • Vertebrate brains are similar in organization (frogs, crocodiles, sharks…)
    • All vertebrates have a forebrain, midbrain & hindbrain (but do have other nuances)
    •  Brain areas may be specialised in distinct ways in response to environmental constraints
  • e.g., crocodiles have huge olfactory bulbs (brain area for smell)
26
Q

How have human brain size incrreased?

A

 Proportion of the different areas changed (e.g. prefrontal cortex to accommodate more complex interactions)

 Folding of cerebral cortex increased

27
Q

Bigger brain = higher behavioural complexity?

A

there is no link between brain size and behavioural complexity (e.g. how elephants have bigger brains)

BODY SIZE PROPORTIONS MATTER.

-  There is a relationship between proportional brain size and complexity of behaviour   Human brain is proportionally larger than any other large animal

(although Shrew’s have 3.3% of their body as brains…)

28
Q

Evolution of Hominids (See image)

A

○ 1. Australopithecus robustus

 2. Homo habilis 

 3. Homo erectus 

 4. Homo sapiens neanderthalensis

 5. Homo sapiens sapiens

The high, straight forehead of modern humans superseded the prominent brow ridges of ancestors due to expansion of cortex, especially prefrontal cortex, in our species

29
Q

The neocortex (most changes here)

A
  • Size increased in primates
    •  Is flexible & has almost infinite learning abilities
    •  Reflects growing complexity of social lives
       Growth of certain parts of cortex responsible for social skills (e.g., language) because they improved this ability
      (includes all the lobes)
30
Q

The prefrontal cortex

A
  • Developed greatly in primates
    •  In other species it is primarily for voluntary motor control
    •  In humans: Responsible for unequalled planning & abstract reasoning abilities

MODERN RESEARCH:
 Humans’ superior abilities are attributable to other specialized cortical regions & denser inter-connections between prefrontal cortex & rest of brain

31
Q

Why is our prefrontal cortex so big compared to other primates?

A

Humans have larger volume of white matter in PFC

White matter provides greater connectivity between PFC & rest of brain (compared to other species)

Connectivity is vital for working memory functioning

32
Q

Increased folding of cerebral cortex

A

Increase in cortex folding has been a major factor in brain evolution

Folding = cortical surface area to fit inside the skull

Allows better organization of complex behaviours

33
Q

Reading: Epigenetics

A

Changes to gene expression induced by environmental factors.

34
Q

Reading: Functionalism

A

The principle that the best way to understand a biological phenomenon (a behavior or a physiological structure) is to try to understand its useful functions for the organism.

35
Q

Reading: Natural selection

A

The process by which inherited traits that confer a selective advantage (increase an animal’s likelihood to live and reproduce) become more prevalent in a population.

36
Q

Reading: Mutations

A

Can be beneficial - variety is an advantage for species; adaptation

37
Q

Reading: What percentage of the human body is the brain?

A

human - 2.3%

Elephant - 0.2%

Shrew - 3.3%

What counts, as far as intellectual ability goes, is having a brain with plenty of neurons that are available

38
Q

Reading: neoteny

A

A slowing of the process of maturation, allowing more time for growth; an important factor in the development of large brains.

Neuroscience (22 decks)

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