Brain & Cognition sem 1 part 1

Cognitive Neuroscience; the biology of the mind

Who was the founder of clinical neuroscience and how?

Thomas Willis;

• observing patients throughout life

• examining brain after death

• linked brain damage to specific deficits

Circle of Willis

a ring at the bottom of the brain that connects major arteries

Monism vs Dualism

• Monism; mind and body are intertwined (brain produces thoughts)

• Dualism; mind (non-material) and body (material) are separate; interaction at pineal gland

What is phrenology and who founded it?

• Phrenology; personality is based on shape of skull

• Gall and Spurzheim; if a personality trait is more frequent, it’s associated brain area will grow, causing a bump on the skull

What was the problem with phrenology?

It was not falsifiable; there was no way to disprove it (confirmation bias was used)

What idea did Marie-Jean-Pierre Flourens support?

Aggregate field theory; behaviour depends on the whole brain working together

Gall vs Flourens

Gall; localizationism (functions depend on specific brain regions)

Flourens; aggregate field theory (functions depend on the cerebral hemispheres working together)

Which view did John Hughlings Jackson support?

Localizationist view; specific brain area’s are linked to specific functions, but behavior involves regions working together

Jacksonian march

When people with epilepsy have a seizure there is a certain order of movements (supports later studies on the motor cortex)

Broca vs Wernicke’s area

• Broca’s (B); non-fluent speech

• Wernicke’s (A/Pc); no speech comprehension

How was the motor cortex discovered?

Fritsch and Hitzig used deep brain stimulation to activate regions, that produced different movements in dogs (localization).

What is cytoarchitectonics and who studied it?

• Cytoarchitectonics; how braincells differ between regions

• Brodmann, who stained the cortex and divided it into area’s

What technique did Camillo Golgi develop?

‘‘The black reaction’’; stain technique to make neurons visible

Neuron doctrine vs syncytium

• Neuron doctrine; Cajal, the nervous sytem is made up of individual cells that do not fuse

• Synctium; Golgi, the brain is one fused network

What did Ramon y Cajal discover about neurons?

The transmission of electrical information goes in only one direction, from the dendrites down to the axon

What machine did Hermann Ludwig von Helmholtz make?

Who was the first to describe a nerve cell?

Purkinje (czech!); largest neuron in the brain (=Purkinje cell)

1.3 The psychological story

Rationalism vs Empiricism

What is associationism and who studied it?

What does the forgetting curve of Ebbinghaus entail?

What does the law of effect of Thorndike entail?

What took place in the cognitive revolution?

Deductive-nomological model

Who is the founder of behaviorism?

Whta is the Montreal procedure and who invented it?

1.4 The instruments of neuroscience

What are the 6 ways to measure the brain in neuroscience?

Electroencephalography

Computerized Axial Tomography

Why were the ancient Greeks important to science?

• Saw the natural world as an object that needed to be observed

• Rejected supernatural expalantions of phenomena; every event had a natural cause

What historical evidence suggested that the brain’s activities produce the mind?

1) Broca’s patients; aphasia due to brain damage

2) Flouren’s animal experiments; removing hemipshere disrupted functions

3) Jackson’s seizure observations; order of movement linked to cortical body map

4) Fritsch/Hitzig stimulation experiments; stimulating area’s produced certain movements

Ch 2

Glial cells vs neurons

• glial cells; glue (insulate/clean up)

• neurons; signalling units

What are the three types of transmission of neurons?

What are the steps in synaptic transmission?

What are the two components of the nervous system?

What are the two components of the autonomic nervous system?

What are the two components of the central nervous system?

What are the structures of the brainstem?

What are the structures of the Diencephalon?

What are the structures of the Telencephalon?

What are the surface features of the cortex?

What is the cell architecture of the cortex?

What are the functions of the cortex?

What are the steps in the early development of the nervous system?

Do you get new neurons throughout your life?

What are the three main types of glial cells in the brain?

1) astrocytes; form blood-brain barrier

2) oligodendrocytes/schwann cells; make myelin

3) microglial cells; remove damaged cells/debris

4) radial glia; structure for migrating neurons

Blood-brain barrier

Makes sure that nothing harmfull comes into contact with neurons in the brain

Axon collaterals

branches on an axon that connect with other cells

Permeability

the extent to which ions can cross a neuronal celmembrane

Electrical vs concentration gradient

• electrical; assymetrical distribution of the voltage of ions in and out the cell (ions go toward the opposite charge)

• concentration; distribution of the amount of ions in and out the cell (high to low)

Electrochemical equilibrium

the electrical and concentration gradient are even; the amount of ions going in and out of the cell is the same

Excitatory postsynaptic potentials (EPSPs)

Depolarization due to neurotransmitter (glutamate) binding; postsynaptic action potential closer to threshold

Electrotonic vs saltatory conduction

• electrotonic; no regeneration, in dendrites/cell body/between nodes

• saltatory; electronic conduction between nodes plus regenaration of action potentials in nodes in axon

Spike-triggering zone in the axon hillock

Zone between axon and soma, if sum of membrane potentials reaches threshold it cause an action potential

What are the fases of electrical transmission in the axon?

• resting potential (-70 mV, more K+ in cell)

• depolarization (over -55 mV, Na+ in cell)

• action potential (more Na+ in cell)

• repolarization (K+ out cell)

• hyperpolarization (more K+ out cell)

• refractory period ?????

Neural oscillations

Brain waves on EEG

What are the two types of ion channels?

• non-gatedl let eve

• gated;

Second messenger

What are the types of neurotransmitters?

Conditional neurotransmitters

What are the two types of transmembrane proteins?

• ion channels; move ions against their gradients, using ATP (active transport)

• ion pumps; pores that let specific ions flow down their gradients (Na/K pump)

Absolute vs relative refractory period

• absolute; no action potentials possible

• relative; higher depolarization needed for action potential (comes after absolute)

What are the two types of postsynaptic receptors?

no clue bro

EPSP vs IPSP

• EPSP;

• IPSP;

Equilibrium potential

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What does it mean when two neurons are isopotential?

ehhhhhh isa me marioh~

Microcircuit vs macrocircuit in the brain

What are the three types of conenctions in the brain?

Rostral vs caudal

What are three protective membranes of the brain and spinal cord?

What are the four ventricles?

What is CSF and what is its relation to the arachnoid villi?

Grey vs white matter

What are tracts and its two types?

What are comminssures and what is the largest one called?

What is the location and function of the medulla?

What is the location and function of the pons?

What is the location and function of the cerebellum?

What is the location and function of the midbrain?

What is the location and function of the thalamus?

What is the location and function of hypothalamus?

What structures are part of the cerebrum?

What structures are part of the limbic system?

What structures are part of the basal ganglia?

Sulci vs gyri

What is a fissure and what are its types?

What are the different types of cortex?

What are the two types of neural colums?

What are the three layers of the blastula?

Neurulation

Neural proliferation

Precursor cells

Synaptogenesis

Pruning

If action potentials are all or none, how does the nervous system code differences in sensory stimulus amplitudes?