Week 1 Review Flashcards
CNS (Central Nervous System)
brain & spinal cord, retina.
PNS (Peripheral Nervous System)
axons & neurons outside CNS, including most sense organs & nerves, large parts but not all of ANS & enteric nervous system
ventral
from “venter”, meaning “abdomen”
dorsal
from “dorsum” meaning “back”
medial
towards the organism’s midline (defined as plane that bisects organism into left & right halves)
lateral
away from the midsagittal plane (the midline)
superior
toward the top of the head
inferior
toward the neck
coronal
one of several planes that cut through human body transversely, at right angles to body’s long axis; for the brain: plane that is parallel to face& perpendicular to midsaggital & horizontal planes
ipsilateral
on or to the same side
contralateral
on or to the opposite side
Why do neuroscientists use the terms “superior” & “inferior” to describe the location of structures in human (not non-human) brains?
humans are bipedal & stand up right, top of head not positioned dorsally (toward the back) as in animals; terms “dorsal” & “ventral” replaced by “superior” & “inferior” in regards to human brain
gyrus/gyri (plural)
outward fold (or ridge) of cerebral cortex (hill)
sulcus/sulci (plural)
inward fold (or groove) of cerebral cortex (valley)
what are the four major lobes?
frontal, parietal, temporal, & occipital
The formation of cortical folds saves space compared to a smooth cortex. Why is this important to the organism?
large, ballooning brain requires large head, harder to pass thru mother’s birth canal & difficult to carry on neck. axonal connections between cortical areas, & between cortex & rest of brain, would have to be longer in a non-folded, ballooning cortex
dendrites
highly branched, tapering processes that extend away from cell body
axon
long, thin process
glial cell
one of several non-neuronal cell types that are prominent components of nervous system; include astrocytes, microglia, oligodendrocytes, & Schwann cells
basic components of the nervous system
cerebral cortex, corpus callosum, thalamus, midbrain, cerebellum, pons, medulla, spinal cord
what structure is located between the frontal lobe & parietal lobe of the human brain?
central sulcus
cutting a brain into several coronal sections can be done from_________.
rostral to caudal
Why do you think Meynert & James used the example of a child seeing a flame to illustrate their dual reflex arc model?
They used a child because they needed a “naive” brain to illustrate how learning works. They used the flame touching behavior bc they needed 2 reflexes that a child might exhibit: reaching for the flame & withdrawing from pain.
Why do you think so few genes are uniquely expressed in brain tissue?
Neurons must carry out a lot of functions that are common to all cells. Most importantly, what makes neurons special (& often different from one another) is the combination of genes they express, & the timing of which genes are expressed at what time in development.
What kind of circuits do neurons form?
Neural circuits tend to be replete with diverging, converging, & reciprocal connections. Although neural circuits may look as if everything is connected to everything else, this is rarely the case.
How do neuroscientists study the brain?
A major goal of neuroscience research is to discover general principles of brain organization. The search for these principles combines anatomical (neuroanatomical technique), physiological, & evolutionary (opto and chemogenetic techniques to study neuron function) perspectives.
human neocortex divisible into which five lobes?
frontal, parietal, occipital, temporal, & the insula (buried beneath the frontal & temporal lobes)
spinal cord
slender structure that weighs about 35 grams & extends halfway down vertebral canal
brain
weighs about 3 lbs & sits atop the spinal cord
