Week 2.6 & 2.7 - Organisation of Brains (Anatomy) & Lab Visit

Question 1

What is the main function of the brainstem?

Answer 1

controlling breathing pattern, blood circulation and digestion

Question 2

What is the main function of the cerebellum?

Answer 2

Motor control and motor learning.

Question 3

What is the main function of the thalamus?

Answer 3

Sorting data and directing it to the ‘correct’ region in rest of the brain

Question 4

What is the main function of the hypothalamus?

Answer 4

Maintaining homeostasis

Question 5

What is the main function of the posterior pituitary?

Answer 5

Hormone distribution

Question 6

What is the main function of the cerebrum?

Answer 6

integrating all information

Question 7

What is the main function of the corpus callosum?

Answer 7

connecting the hemispheres

Question 8

What is the main function of the frontal lobe?

Answer 8

processing and producing executive functions

Question 9

What is the main function of the parietal lobe?

Answer 9

processing sensations into a representation of the location of things and the self in the world (spatial).

Question 10

What is the main function of the occipital lobe?

Answer 10

Processing visual stimuli by extracting features.

Question 11

What is the main function of the temporal lobe?

Answer 11

Interpreting sounds into meaning (hearing) and in humans, interpreting and producing language (the ‘what’ pathway).

Question 12

The prosencephalon develops into the ____ ?

Answer 12

telencephalon and diencephalon

Question 13

The mesencephalon develops into the ____ ?

Answer 13

mesencephalon (the mesencephalon stays the mesencephalon)

Question 14

The rhombencephalon develops into the…?

Answer 14

metencephalon and myelencephalon

Question 15

Name the 3 meninges

Answer 15

dura mater, pia mater and arachnoid mater

Question 16

How does a Functional CT scan aka PET scan work?

Answer 16

A radioactive glucose-tracer is introduced to the body to measure the metabolic activity of a tissue. This can be used to determining cancer and strokes.

Question 17

Which signal is read by fMRI?

Answer 17

The BOLD signal (Blood oxygenation levels) is used to track the oxygenated blood flow in the brain.

Question 18

How do delay conditioning and trace conditioning differ?

Answer 18

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 airpuff and stays on until the puff is delivered. In trace conditioning, the conditioned stimulus begins and ends before the unconditioned stimulus is presented. Memory of the stimulus is involved in trace conditioning, whereas in delay conditioning we talk about measuring an interval.

Question 19

What are grid cells?

Answer 19

Pyramidal neurons in the Entorhinal cortex in the hippocampus that create a cognitive map of space. They are thought to represent a metric of space useful in navigation.