Active recall Activity Neuroscience midterm - Marline Acosta

High yield information or information that sounds interesting from the presentations

A patient has a lesion of the internal acoustic meatus. Which cranial nerves are at risk?

CN VII and CN VIII.

Source: Gray’s Anatomy for Student; Netter, Atlas of Human Anatomy, #SkullandSpine

A patient ignores objects on the left side of space despite intact primary vision. Which cortical lesion is classic?

Right parietal cortex → left hemi spatial neglect. Neuroanatomy for the Neuroscientist; Theibert et al. #Functionalanatomy

Failure of neural tube closure causes which major category of congenital disorders?

Neural tube defects, including anencephaly and rachischisis/spina bifida spectrum.

Source: Langman’s Medical EmbryologyT. W. Sadler, Chapter 18., #Functionalanatomy #CNS/ PNS

A newborn has congenital megacolon due to absent enteric ganglia. What embryologic error explains this?

Failure of neural crest cell migration → absent parasympathetic enteric ganglia (Hirschsprung disease).

Source: Langman’s Medical Embryology, T. W. Sadler, Chapter 18. #CNS/ PNS

An axon is injured. Nissl substance disperses from the soma and the cell body swells. What is this response called?

Chromatolysis. Source: Per Brodal, Neuroscience: Neurons & Glia, Chapters 1–2.#cellsofNS

A neurotropic virus travels from a peripheral nerve toward the neuronal soma. Which motor protein mediates this transport?

Dynein → retrograde axonal transport(Herpes regeneration). Source: Per Brodal, Neuroscience: Neurons & Glia, Chapters 1–2.

A small brainstem lesion causes ipsilateral cranial-nerve findings plus contralateral body weakness. What principle does this demonstrate?

Dense brainstem packing: cranial nuclei/tracts and long tracts produce alternating (crossed) deficits.

Source: Charles Clarke, Neurology: Brainstem Syndromes, p. 59 #Brainstem

A lesion of the ventral pons damages corticospinal fibers and corticobulbar pathways but spares consciousness. What syndrome is classic?

Locked-in syndrome.

Source: Charles Clarke, Neurology: Brainstem Syndromes. #brainstem

A CN III lesion causes a down-and-out eye, ptosis, and a dilated pupil. Why is the pupil enlarged?

Parasympathetic fibers traveling with CN III are affected → unopposed sympathetic dilation.

Source: Radiología, 2019;61(2):99–123; AMBOSS; USMLERx. #CN

In the gag reflex, which cranial nerve is afferent and which is efferent?

CN IX = afferent; CN X = efferent.

Source: Radiología, 2019;61(2):99–123; AMBOSS; USMLERx. #CN

A mass at the internal acoustic meatus causes facial weakness plus sensorineural hearing loss. Which nerves are involved?

CN VII and CN VIII.

Source; AMBOSS; USMLERx. #CN

In acute continuous vertigo, which HINTS head-impulse finding raises concern for a central lesion?

A normal head impulse test (no corrective saccade) is concerning for a central cause. Source: AMBOSS #Vertigo

Which nystagmus pattern is especially concerning for central vertigo?

Direction-changing or vertical nystagmus. tigo

A patient has acute continuous vertigo with a normal head impulse test and another central neurologic sign. What diagnosis must be urgently considered?

Posterior-circulation stroke/central vertigo.

Source: AMBOSS; #vertigo.

A spinal cord lesion causes ipsilateral loss of vibration/proprioception and contralateral loss of pain/temperature below the lesion. Which syndrome is this pattern?

Brown-Séquard pattern: dorsal-column loss ipsilateral; spinothalamic loss contralateral. Source: Costanzo, Physiology, Ch. 3, pp. 66–100; #Ascending

A central spinal cord lesion selectively damages crossing spinothalamic fibers. Where are these fibers crossing?

Anterior white commissure near their entry level.

Source: Costanzo, Physiology, Ch. 3; #ascending

Which thalamic nucleus receives somatosensory information from the body in the DCML pathway?

VPL; facial somatosensation projects to VPM. Source: Costanzo, Physiology, Ch. 3; Clinical Neuroanatomy and Neuroscience, #ascending

A corticospinal tract lesion above the pyramidal decussation produces weakness on which side?

Contralateral to the lesion; below the decussation, weakness is ipsilateral. Source: Amboss. #descending

A patient has contralateral lower-face weakness but can wrinkle the forehead. What lesion pattern is this?

UMN corticobulbar lesion with forehead sparing

#decending, Chapter 39; AMBOSS.

Progressive weakness is accompanied by spasticity, hyperreflexia, Babinski sign, fasciculations, and atrophy. What pattern is classic?

Combined UMN + LMN signs → ALS pattern. Source: Purves, Neuroanatomy, Chapters 16–17; Afifi, Chapter 31; Harrison’s Neurology, Chapter 39; AMBOSS.

What is the relationship between cerebral perfusion pressure, mean arterial pressure, and intracranial pressure?

CPP = MAP − ICP. Source: Cerebral Blood Flow lecture; no separate textbook/bibliography entry was identified.

If intracranial pressure rises while MAP stays constant, what happens to CPP?

CPP falls, potentially reducing cerebral blood flow. Source: Cerebral Blood Flow lecture; no separate textbook/bibliography entry was identified.

What does the Monro–Kellie doctrine imply about a fixed skull containing brain, blood, and CSF?

An increase in one intracranial component must be offset by a decrease in another or ICP rises. Source: Cerebral Blood Flow lecture; #CBF

Before giving IV thrombolysis to a patient with suspected acute stroke, what imaging is essential to exclude intracranial hemorrhage?

Noncontrast head CT. Source: Harrison’s Neurology, Ch. 32: Cerebrovascular Disease; UpToDate, Ischemic Stroke; #Stroke

A dominant-hemisphere MCA stroke classically produces face/arm-predominant weakness plus what cortical deficit?

Aphasia. Source: Harrison’s Neurology, Ch. 32; #Stroke

A young adult has episodes of optic neuritis and neurologic deficits separated in time and space. What disease is classically suggested?

Multiple sclerosis. Source: Harrison’s Neurology, Ch. 45, pp. 513–532; AMBOSS; Neurology, # MS

What are Dawson’s fingers on MRI?

Periventricular demyelinating plaques oriented along medullary veins, classically associated with MS. Source: Harrison’s Neurology, Ch. 45; AMBOSS; Neurology, 2025. #MS

CSF oligoclonal bands in MS indicate what process?

Intrathecal IgG production, supporting CNS-restricted immune activity. Source: Harrison’s Neurology, Ch. 45; AMBOSS; Neurology, 2025. #MS

A patient has a rising epigastric sensation followed by impaired awareness and automatisms. How should this seizure be localized/classified?

Focal-onset seizure with impaired awareness, often involving temporal-lobe networks. Source: Shih, Epilepsy & Seizures, CURRENT Diagnosis & Treatment: Neurology # epilepsy

A child has brief staring spells with no postictal confusion; EEG shows a classic generalized pattern. What seizure type is most likely?

Absence seizure; classically associated with 3-Hz spike-and-wave activity. Source: Shih, CURRENT Diagnosis & Treatment: Neurology, #epilepsy