Week 1 Questions and Answers, this one! Flashcards
What are some of the things that the spinal cord works on?
- Voluntary movements of arms and legs.
2. Homeostasis
What are some of the things that the brainstem works on?
- Voluntary movement of arms and legs.
- Speech
- Hearing
- Homeostasis
What are some of the things that the forebrain works on?
- Voluntary movement of the arms and legs.
- Speech
- Hearing
- Homeostasis
- Memory
What happens with multiple sclerosis?
Demyelination of the central axons.
What are within the arachnoid layer?
The pia, motoneurons, and neurons of the thalamus.
In what way does information travel within a neuron?
Information comes in through the dendrites, goes to the cell body, then goes through the axon to the synaptic terminal.
From the synaptic terminal, where does the information go?
It travels through the dendrite or cell body in a postsynaptic cell.
What makes motoneurons special?
- They have an axon that leaves the CNS.
- Innvernate voluntary muscles such as arm or leg muscles.
- Are needed for voluntary movement.
- Have dendrites.
- Receive synaptic input.
What does myelin do?
- It covers some axons in the peripheral system.
How could a virus or toxin get past the meninges and reach the CNS?
It could be taken by a PNS neuron into the CNS.
What are voluntary movements?
Voluntary movements are self-generated actions driven by the brain. These can be deliberate movements or emotional reactions. It takes place in the spinal cord, brainstem, and forebrain.
What are perceivable stimuli?
Perceivable stimuli are things we are capable of being aware of like seeing or hearing.
What does homeostasis do?
Homeostasis does things like maintain healthy internal conditions, such as body temperature, pH, and blood oxygen levels. The spinal cord, brainstem, and forebrain all contribute to it.
What are the two parts of the brainstem?
The midbrain and hindbrain.
Where is the cerebral cortex?
In the forebrain.
What does the forebrain do?
Abstract functions, contribute to homeostasis, and contain the cell bodies of motoneurons.
What do neurons differ in?
Connectivity Excitability Appearance Location Neurotransmitters
What are the four basic functions of the brain?
- Voluntary movement.
- Perception
- Homeostasis
- Abstracts functions
What is perception?
Perception reaches the conscious level. It includes things like seeing and hearing. The cerebral cortex is needed for perception because information has to go through it.
What are abstract functions?
They are the things like thinking, feeling emotions, motivation, language, memory, learning, how we interact with others. They take place in the forebrain and are an outcome of the cerebral cortex.
Where is the spinal cord contained?
In a separate set of bones called the vertebral column.
What is the cerebral cortex?
All the hills and valleys in the forebrain.
What is sensation?
Sensation is something that is done, but is not consciously acknowledged, like how much Co2 there is in the brain.
What is a motoneuron?
Motoneurons are a specific type of motor neurons. Motoneurons originate in the CNS, and then leave the CNS and synapse onto skeletal muscles that are involved in voluntary movements.
What are the four parts of a neuron?
- The cell body/soma.
- Dendrites.
- Axon
- Synaptic terminal
What does the cell body/soma do?
It gives out all the orders. Proteins and energy are made and processed here. It also makes the material for the entire entirety of a neuron.
Where are the dendrites located?
They branch out from the cell body. They can branch as many as five times.
What do the dendrites do?
The gather information and take it in. The information then travels to the cell body.
What does the cell body do when information reaches it?
It processes, sums the information up, then sends it out through its axon.
What are the four types of glial cells?
- Astrocytes
- Oligodendrocytes
- Schwann cells
- Microglia
What do astrocytes do?
- They pick up the refuse that other neurons have let loose.
- During development, they allow neurons to get where they need to go.
- Provide structural and metabolic support for neurons.
What type of glial cell makes myelin the CNS (central nervous system)?
Oligodendrocytes
What type of glial cell makes myelin in the PNS (peripheral nervous system)?
Schwann cells
Where do neurons come from?
They come from the ectoderm.
What is myelin?
A fatty wrap that goes around some axons.
What is the difference between a myelinated axon and a naked axon?
A myelinated axon has myelin wrapped around it and information can travel along it and go from 2 to 120 meters in a second. A naked axon has no myelin along it and information travels on it at only 0.2 to 1 meters per second.
What is the neural code?
The temporal pattern of 1s.
What are the ones in a temporal pattern?
It is a spike/action potential.
What carries information on an axon?
The timing of a spike.
What removes myelin from an axon and what happens because of this?
Demyelinating diseases. When this happens, spikes will miss bits and go very slowly, and the neuron it is talking to will get a very incoherent message.
What is the fence between the CNS?
Three membranes called the meninges.
What are the three meningeal layers?
- The pia. Is the most weakest and innermost layer.
- The dura. Is the toughest and outermost layer.
- The arachnoid. Is the spidery and middle layer.
