Week 5 Flashcards
What are the four domains of attention?
- Arousal
- Vigilance
- Divided attention
- selective attention
What does the 4-AT test do?
It assesses:
- Alertness
- Attention
- Acute change
- Abbreviated mental test
What are the four steps in learning?
- Registration
- Encoding
- Retrieval
- Consolidation
Define short term memory
The hold of information temporarily
Define working memory
The active maintanence and manipulation of short term memory which strengthens synapses and leads to long term memory
What are the 2 types of long term memory?
Implicit memory (procedural)
Explicit memory (declarative)
What are the types of explicit memory?
Episodic
- memories of personal events and experiences
Sematic
- Hard facts
What is the significance of the amygdala in memory?
The amygdala is involved in emotions, and memories associated with strong emotions are recalled better
What regions of the brain are involved in episodic memory?
The extended limbic system
- Diencephalon
- medial temporal lobe
what can be the result of impairment of our language centres?
- Apashia/dysphasia (speech)
- Anomia (naming)
- Agraphia (writting)
- Alexia (reading)
How is language tested?
Show a patient a picture and ask them to describe it
There is also a language specific section of the ACE-III
What are the domains of behaviour?
- Executive functions?
- Social cognition
- Motivation
What aspects make up executive functions?
- Sequencing
- Organisation
- Abstraction
- Planning
What aspects make up social cognition?
- Social interactions
- Behaviour
- Insight
- Ambition
which parts of the prefrontal cortex control which aspects of behaviour?
Dorsolateral
- Executive functions
Orbitofrontal
- Social cognition
Ventromedial
- Motivation
Describe Tauopathies
Tau is a protein involved with microtubule structure in axons
If tau is hyperphosphorylated it can form tangles
What can cause tauopathies?
Age, Genetics, repeated head injuries
What is the pathology of alzheimers?
beta-amyloid plaques and intracellular neurofibrillary tangles composed of tau accumulate. This causes neural loss and brain atrophy
What is the clinical presentation of alzheimers
- Progressive memory loss
- Loss of social/occupational functioning
- Executive dysfunctions
- Personality changes
What is the pathology of frontotemporal dementia
Intra-neuronal and glial tau deposition
What is the clinical presentation of frontotemporal dementia?
- Behavioural changes
- Language and memory difficulties
- Parkinsonism in 50% of cases
What is the pathology of progressive supranuclear palsy?
Intraneuronal and glial cell tau deposition within the basal ganglia, brainstem, and cortex
What is the clinical presentation of progressive supranuclear palsy?
- Parkinsonism
- Dementia
- Postural instability (falls)
Explain Alpha-synucleinopathies
Alpha-synuclein is a protein involved in DNA repair.
Misfolded alpha-synuclein form Lewy bodies which accumulate in cytoplasm and lead to cell death
What is the pathology of Parkinson’s disease?
Lewy body pathology starts in the gut and ascends to the brainstem and substantia nigra
What is the clinical presentation of Parkinson’s disease?
Motor
- Rigidity
- tremor
- bradykinesia
Non-motor
- Mood disturbance
- Sleep disorder
Pathology of dementia with Lewy bodies?
Lewy bodies deposit in the brainstem and cortex
Clinical presentation of dementia with Lewy bodies
- Parkinsonism
- Progressive cognitive difficulties
- visual hallucinations
- Fluctuation in cognition
- sensitivity to antipsychotics
Pathology of multiple systems atrophy?
Lewy body deposition in oligodendrocytes within the brainstem, striatum and cerebellum
Clinical features of Multiple systems atrophy?
- Parkinsonism
- Cerebllar/autonomic features (postural hypotension, genitourinary dysfunction, etc)
Pathology of Creutzfeldt Jakob disease?
Prions leading to
- Spongiform vaculation in grey matter
- Neuronal loss
- Reactive proliferation of astrocytes and microglia
Clinical presentation of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease?
- Rapid onset dementia
- Behavioural change
- Visual disturbance
- myoclonic jerks
- Ataxia
Pathology of Motor neuron disease?
Pathological TDP-43 (protein involved with dna repair, transcription repression, rna metabolism) leads to neuronal inclusion bodies
What are the intrinsic muscles of the tongue and what do they do?
- Longitudinal
- Transverse
- Vertical
They change the shape of the tongue
Describe the innervation of the tongue
Anterior 2/3rds supplied by lingual nerve => chorda tympani => Facial nerve
Posterior 1/3rd supplied by glossopharyngeal nerve
Where do the glossopharyngeal nerve and facial nerve insert into the brainstem?
Solitary tract nucleus
What is the taste centre for the brain?
Gustatory cortex
What is the structure in the eye responisble for detailed central vision?
The Macula
