Week 5 - Intro to the brain

Question 1

EVOLUTION:

Until 200 years ago, it was believed species were created seperatetly. What did NATURALISTS do?

Answer 1

• Doubted the initial theory
• Fossils of extinct species provided evidence for evolution

evolution: gradual change of a species

Question 2

What is homology?

Answer 2

A similarity based on common ancestry, as with forelimbs.

Question 3

What is phrenology

Answer 3

The detailed study of the shape and size of the cranium.

Developed ny Franz Josef Gall

Now seen as a pseudoscience

Question 4

What is the anatomical term for ‘‘Broca’s Area’’

Answer 4

INFERIOR FRONTAL GYRUS

Question 5

What are Gyri and Sulci?

Answer 5

Gyri = bumps
Sulci = folds

Question 7

terms for positioning of the brain:

Answer 7

Dorsal: upper brain
Ventral: lower brain
Anterior: front of the brain
Posterior: back of the brain
Superior: towards the top of the brain
Inferior: towards the bottom of the brain

Question 8

What is the Frontal Lobe

Answer 8

Seperated from:
Parietal lobe by central sulcus
Temporal lobe by lateral sulcus
- It is the largest lobe, it makes us human and grown up

Question 9

What are the functions of the Frontal lobe?

Answer 9

• Movement
• Impulse control
• judgement
• language production
• memory
• problem solving
• sexual behaviour
• involved in planning, coordinating, controling and executing behaviour

Question 10

What is the occipital lobe?

Answer 10

The smallest of the four lobes
- exclusively concerned with visual processing
- seperated from the parietal lobe by parieto-occipital sulcus
- calcarine sulcus = primary visual cortex

Question 11

What is the temporal lobe?

Answer 11

• Superior temporal gyrus = Primary auditory cortex
• Inferior temporal gyrus = high-level visual provessing, object recognition, face recognition

Question 12

What is the Parietal Lobe?

Answer 12

Seperated from the frontal lobe by central sulcus.
It is important for:
- Somatosensory perception
- Intersensory intergration
- Spatial vision
- Spatial attention
- If lesioned = visual neglect.

Question 13

What are the two main functions of the Meninges and Ventricular system?

Answer 13

1. Protect: act as a shock absorber
2. Nourish: Provides an exchange medium between blood and brain

Question 14

The limbic system includes structures important for learning and memory, they are:

Answer 14

Amygdala: emotional regulation and perception of odor
Hippocampus: Some forms of learning and memory
Olfactory bulb: sense of smell

Question 15

What are golgi stains

Answer 15

show complexities and varieties of neurons

The brain has about 86 millions neurons

Question 16

What are the four zones of a neuron?

Answer 16

1. input zone - receives information from other cells through dendrites
2. Integration zone/cell body or soma - region where imputs are combined and transformed
3. Conduction zone - single axon leads away from the cell body and transmits the electrical impulse
4. Output zone - axon terminals at the end of the axon communicated activity to other cells

Question 17

Describe synapitc inmput

Answer 17

1. Neurons perform information processing to integrate synaptic input
2. A postsynaptic neuron will fire an action potential if a depolarization that exceeds threshold reaches its axon hillock
3. Resulting in spatial and temporal summation