Week 2.6 & 2.7 - Organisation of Brains (Anatomy) & Lab Visit Flashcards
What is the main function of the brainstem?
Basic functions needed for survival: breathing, heart rate, sleep, and eating. It is also involved in the conduction of information to and from the cerebrum and cerebellum.
What is the main function of the cerebellum?
Motor control and motor learning. It coordinates the appropriate contraction of skeletal muscles to produce smooth movements.
What is the main function of the thalamus?
“A relay station”, a processing center for sensory input
What is the main function of the hypothalamus?
Maintaining homeostasis
Integration of somatic and visceral responses
What is the main function of the posterior pituitary?
Release of neurohormones like vasopressin, oxytocin, FSH
Attention
What is the main function of the cerebrum?
The cerebrum can be divided into distinct structures that are responsible for different functions. It is involved in memory, attention, perception, cognitive control…
What is the main function of the corpus callosum?
Corpus callosum is white matter that connects the two hemispheres
What is the main function of the frontal lobe?
Executive control of behavior, complex learning. The primary motor cortex (precentral gyrus) is also located in the frontal lobe.
What is the main function of the parietal lobe?
Integrating sensory information. Involved in spatial perception (the “where pathway” projecting from the visual cortex) - processing the object’s spatial location relative to the viewer.
Also involved in language acquisition.
What is the main function of the occipital lobe?
Processing visual information
What is the main function of the temporal lobe?
Processing emotions, language comprehension (Wernicke’s area). It is also involved in object recognition (the “what” pathway).
Prosencephalon develops into ____
telencephalon and diencephalon
(image source: https://www.wikiwand.com/nl/Prosencephalon)
The mesencephalon develops into ____
mesencephalon (the mesencephalon stays the mesencephalon)
(Image source: https://www.wikiwand.com/nl/Prosencephalon)
The rhombencephalon develops into ____
metencephalon and myelencephalon
(Image source: https://www.wikiwand.com/nl/Prosencephalon)
Name the 3 meninges
dura mater, arachnoid mater, pia mater
Image source: https://www.neuroscientificallychallenged.com/blog/know-your-brain-meninges
How does a Functional CT scan (a.k.a. PET) work?
A radioactive glucose-tracer is introduced to the body to measure the metabolic activity of the tissue.
This can be used to detect cancer and strokes.
Which signal is read by fMRI?
The BOLD signal (Blood oxygenation levels) is used to track the oxygenated blood flow in the brain.
How do delay conditioning and trace conditioning differ?
In delay conditioning, the sound is continuously presented for a certain duration (delay) until the unconditioned stimulus.
In trace conditioning, the sound presentation is short, and thereafter there is an interval until the conditioned stimulus appears.
They require different neural tracks. In delay conditioning, the conditioned stimulus will be presented before and during the presentation of the unconditioned stimulus.
For example: in the Eye-blink conditioning experiment, delay conditioning means that the light turns on before the air puff and stays on until the puff is delivered. In trace conditioning, the conditioned stimulus begins and ends before the unconditioned stimulus is presented. The memory of the stimulus is involved in trace conditioning, whereas in delay conditioning we talk about measuring an interval.