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Models of Brain Function > Week 2: Biological Brains and Neurons = CHECKED > Flashcards

Week 2: Biological Brains and Neurons = CHECKED Flashcards

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1
Q

Large scale anatomy of the brain diagram = major subdivisions of brain

A

(not spinal cord)

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2
Q

The telencephalon consists of: (2)

A

the olfactory bulb

subcortical structures (e.g., basal ganglia)

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3
Q

The telecephalon is also called as

A

the cerebum

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4
Q

The diencephalon contains (4)

A

thalamus

hypothalamus

epithalamus

subthalamus

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5
Q

The mesencephalon contains

A

tectum and tegmentum

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6
Q

The mesencephalon is the

A

front portion of the brain stem

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7
Q

The rhombencephalon is the

A

lower part of the brain stem (i.e., hindbrain)

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8
Q

The rhombencephalon contains the (3)

A

medulla oblongata
pons
cerebellum

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9
Q

The cerebrum is for

A

higher (cortical) function

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10
Q

The basal ganglia is important for (6)

A

Action selection
Attention
Procedural learning
Habit learning
Conditional learning
Eye movements

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11
Q

The thalamus is the

A

main relay station for the brain between the telencephalon (cerebral cortex) and the brainstem/spinal cord for sensory information

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12
Q

Epithalamus function

A

Helps to regulate circadian rhythms

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13
Q

Subthalamus function

A

regulates and coordinates motor function

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14
Q

Hypothalamus function: it regulates (4)

A
  • body temperature
  • blood pressure
  • caloric intake/expenditure
  • water balance
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15
Q

The main function of hypothalamus is to

A

maintain your body’s internal balance, which is known as homeostasis.

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16
Q

Mesencephalon function (5)

A

Controls auditory processing (superior colliculus)
Pupil dilation
Eye movement
Hearing
Regulates muscle movement

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17
Q

Rhombencephalon (hindbrain) mostly deals with autonomic functions such as: (5)

A

breathing
alertness
arousal
digestion
perspiration (Sweating) etc…

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18
Q

Spinal cord function

A

Transmits nerve signals to the muscles

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19
Q

Spinal cord is not a mere relay as it can produce

A

complex activity patterns for locomotion based on simple inputs

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20
Q

There are commonalities between the brains of humans and other animals (e.g., cat, pigeon) but…

A

there is differences in organisation and extent and differences in mental abilities/makeup

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21
Q

Functions of large subdivisions of brain can fit within our brain-enviroment loop

A
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22
Q

In the human brain, finer subdivisions can be mapped out (compared to higher-level overview of brain - telencephalon etc…)

such as using

A

Brodman areas (1909)

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23
Q

Brodman areas map out smaller areas of brain based on: (3)

A
  1. Connectivity (intrinsic, afference, efferent)
  2. Cell types (based on cytoarchituere)
  3. Structure (i.e., are the neurons grouped together?)
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24
Q

afferent neurons

A

Nerve cells that carry impulses towards the central nervous system

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25
Q

efferent neurons

A

Nerve cells that conduct impulses away from the central nervous system

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26
Q

Instrinsic Neuron

A

cell whose axons and dendrites are all confined within a given structure

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27
Q

extrinsic neurons

A

are autonomic neurons that bring signals from CNS to digestive system

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28
Q

More modern methods of finding finer subdivisions of brain are

A

gene expression

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29
Q

Sensory organs are neuron interfaces with the exterior environment e.g., hearing (2)

A

When sound impacts your ear it will excite the hair cells in the inner ear which will translate that into electrical signals

30
Q

Neurons can form networks either:

A

locally (local connections) and across the brain (long-range connections)

31
Q

Grey matter in the brain is

A

contains the majority of neuron somas (cell body)

32
Q

White matter in the brain is

A

fibre tracts connecting the neurons in the brain

33
Q

White matter can make long-range connections as they have

A

have fibre tracts connecting neurons from one cortical regions to another

34
Q

There is also local connections within parts of the brain and this defines a so-called

A

circuits or microcircuits that are committed/serve one or more particular functions

35
Q

There is also local connections within parts of the brain and this defines a so-called circuits or microcircuits that are committed/serve one or more particular functions

e.g., parts of brain (2)

A

cerebellum
hippocampus

36
Q

Hippocampus circuit (3)

A

inputs from the EC are processed at successive levels, from the EC layer 2 spiny stellate cells to dentate gyrus (DG) granule cells,

to recurrently connected CA3 pyramidal neurons, onto CA1 and subicular pyramidal cells (along with a direct projection from EC layer 3),

and fed back to the EC layer 5.

37
Q

The hippocampus is important for memory as in HM they took out his hippocampus and so (2)

A

could not form any new memories

This puts forward the idea that this circuit is important for memory

38
Q

Diagram of circuit motifs = different types of artifical neural networks

A
39
Q

Feed-forward neural network:

A

We have a group of neurons that project directly (have excitatory network connections) to another group of neurons

40
Q

Feed-forward neural network is the simplest

A

artificial neural network devised

41
Q

Feedback inhbition neural network

A

During feedback inhibition, excitatory principal neurons synapse with inhibitory interneurons, which then inhibit those neurons by feeding back to them (negative feedback loop) - Carl & Jong , 2017

42
Q

Recurrent Neural Networks

A

neurons inside interconnected circuits send feedback signals to one another

43
Q

Lateral inhibition network

A

In lateral inhibition, active neurons suppress neighbouring neurons’ activity through inhibitory synaptic connections - Cao et al., (2018)

44
Q

Neurons come in all shapes and varieties but the most common types are the

A

cortical pyramidal neurons

45
Q

Neurons (cortical pyramidal neurons) have a long axon where

A

electrical impulses from the neuron travel away to be received by other neurons.

46
Q

Neurons (cortical pyramidal neurons) have dendrites where it receives

A

nput (incoming electrical impulses) from other neurons via synaptic connection

47
Q

Neurons interact with each other via synapses steps (4)

A

AP travels down the axon of the pre synaptic terminal

This causes vesicles of the pre-synaptic neuron to release NT

The NT diffuses across the synaptic cleft.

The NT is released across the synaptic cleft and binds onto the receptor molecules of the post synaptic terminal of the receving neuron

48
Q

Neurons interact with each other via synapses

After NT bind to receptor on receiving neuron

If NT is excitatory then (e.g.., noradrenaline)

A

the post-synaptic neuron is more likely to fire an electrical impulse (i.e., action potential)

49
Q

Neurons interact with each other via synapses

After NT bind to receptor on receiving neuron

If NT is inhibitory (e.g., serotonin)

A

post-synaptic neuron is less likely to fire an impulse (i.e., action potential)

50
Q

What are neurons?

A

Neurons are cells that
maintain a difference
in electric potential between
the inside of the neuron
and the outside!

51
Q

In the membrane of neuron (4)

A

ion-pumps exchange electrically charged atoms (ions) with the
extra-cellular medium.

Some ion pumped in and some pumped out

This charge distribution
generates the membrane potential (or transmembrane potential).

Approximately -80 to -70 mV

52
Q

The type of ion channels( e.g., Na+ channel, K+ ion channel) and ion pumps a neuron has isbased on the

A

gene expression of the neuron

53
Q

Many ion-conducting channels are embedded

A

within the cell membrane (Dayan et al., 2001)

54
Q

The ion channels reduce the membrane resistance for ions to flow

what is the membrane resistance

A

It is a measure of the impediment to the flow of ions across a membrane (Binder et al., 2009)

55
Q

Most ion channels are highly selective meaning

A

they only let one single type of ion to pass through them

(Dayan et al., 2001)

56
Q

The membrane of a neuron has ion pumps and ion channels

Ion pumps are.. (2)

A

It exchanges ions (i.e., pumping some ions inside and some pumping outside) within the extra-cellular medium

Pumps maintain the separation of charge which generates the resting membrane potential and maintains it

57
Q

The membrane of a neuron has ion pumps and ion channels

Ion channels are:

A

Channels are specific to a given type of ion (e.g.. Na+, K-channels)

58
Q

The resting membrane potential is when the (2)

A

flow of ions into the cell equals that going out

(Dayan et al., 2001)

59
Q

The membrane potential can fluctuate if there is an unbalance of ions flowing into and out of the cell due to (2)

A

opening and closing of ion channels

(Dayan et al., 2001)

60
Q

Hyperpolarisation is

A

when there is more positively charged ions outside than inside the cell which causes a change in the membrane potential to be more negative.

61
Q

resting membrane potential (2) is.. and it is usually…

A

he electrical charge of a neuron when it is not active

usually around -70 to -80 mV

62
Q

voltage gated channels are those ion channels that

A

open (conduct many more ions) and close in response to changes in membrane potential

63
Q

A lot of charged atoms moving inside or outside of a voltage gated channels this means

A

a current flows in or out (like Na+ flows in)

64
Q

The opening and closing of different ionic channels generates a fast change in membrane potential

A

AP

65
Q

Action potential generation (8)

A
  • A neuron at rest will typically have a membrane potential of around -70 millivolts.
  • An action potential is produced at a particular part of the neuron’s cell membrane when an external stimulus with sufficient electrical value changes the resting membrane potential of the neuron to the neuron’s action potential threshold (also known as threshold potential).
  • The threshold potential of a neuron is usually -55 mV.
  • The threshold potential activates the voltage-gated Na+ ion channels to open which allows a rapid influx of Na+ ions to enter inside the neuron and causing an increase in the membrane potential towards +40 mV.
  • This causes the depolarisation of a small region of the cell membrane.
  • The voltage-gated Na+ ion channel begin to close and the influx of Na+ inside the neurons stops.
  • The voltage-gated K+ ion channels open with a slight delay and causes an efflux of K+ to move out of the cell which causes the membrane potential to decrease to -90 mV) and causing the neuron to become hyperpolarised.
  • Eventually, the voltage-gated K+ ion channels close and eventually the voltage returns back to the resting membrane potential. This is called the refractory period.
66
Q

How does the AP progagate to other neurons? (5)

A
  • Once the action potential is produced at a particular part of the neuron’s cell membrane it is propagated through the neuron’s axon and every part of the cell membrane becomes sequentially depolarised to initiate synaptic transmission to communicate with other neurons.
  • In synaptic transmission, the action potential will travel all the way down to the axon of the neuron’s pre synaptic terminal.
  • This will cause the vesicles to form and release a neurotransmitter that will diffuse across a synaptic cleft which will bind to the receptor molecules of the post synaptic terminal of a receiving neuron.
  • If the neurotransmitter is excitatory (e.g., noradrenaline) then the post-synaptic neuron is more likely to fire an action potential.
  • If the neurotransmitter is inhibitory, then the post synaptic neuron is less likely to fire an action potential.
67
Q

Ion channels are important because (2)

A

Several diseases/disorders manifest as a consequence of ion channels disruptions with massive consequences!

Their variety allows for a variety of firing patterns that are important for specific functions

68
Q

There are many different ion channels and subtypes that

A

vary in their properties (e.g. time course of opening and closing)

69
Q

There is a vast zoo of different types of neurons. Differences manifest in (2)

A

in their firing properties (the number and distribution of action potentials across time).

The different neuronal properties enable information processing specific to a brain area, micro-circuit, or even individual neuron!

70
Q

The other major factors are synaptic inputs (4) shaping activity pattern of neurons

A

Different types of neuro-transmitters have different effects on spiking

Changes in synapses are believed to implement learning!

Excitatory neurotransmitters raise the membrane potential(examples: glutamate, NMDA)

Inhibitory neurotransmitters lower the membrane potential(examples: glycine, gaba)

Models of Brain Function (23 decks)

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