Neuroscience Unit 1

UNH Neuroscience 503 with Elizabeth Caldwell

What are neurotransmitters

Chemical messengers that transmit signals between neurons across synapses

What are the main neurotransmitters

Monoamines, acetylcholine, amino acids, neuropeptides

What are the two groups of monoamines

catecholamines and indolamines

What NT’s are part of the subgroup catecholamines

dopamine, norepinephrine, epinephrine

What is dopamine

a mostly excitatory NT that binds with D1-D5 receptors (ionotropic and metabotropic) to control reward and pleasure- encourages more signals

What is norepinephrine

a mostly excitatory NT that binds with alpha and beta receptors (metabotropic) to control vascular activity and fear/panic

What is epinephrine

a mostly excitatory NT that binds with alpha and beta receptors (metabotropic) to control stress responses- fight or flight

Which NT is also known as adrenaline

epinephrine

What NT is part of the subgroup indolamines

serotonin

What is serotonin

a mostly inhibitory NT that binds to 5-HT (mostly metabotropic) receptors to control mood and pain regulation

What metabolizes most monoamines

MAO’s

Which group of NT’s is recycled and not metabolized

amino acids

What are the NT’s belonging to amino acids

glutamate and GABA

What is glutamate

a strictly excitatory NT that binds to NMDA and AMPA (ionotropic) receptors to control high-order cognitive function, learning and memory

What is GABA

a strictly inhibitory NT that binds to GABA-A/B (ionotropic and metabotropic) to control neuron activity and prevent seizures

What is acetylcholine

an excitatory NT that binds to nicotinic (ionotropic) and muscarinic (metabotropic) receptors to control muscle movement of the brain, heart and general muscles

What are ionotropic receptors

immediate and direct opening of ion channels

Which receptors are also known as ligand-gated ion channels

ionotropic receptors

Which receptors are also known as g-protein coupled receptors

metabotropic receptors

What are metabotropic receptors

slower and indirect, linked to g-proteins that trigger a cascade of signals

What is a second messenger

an enzyme triggered by the g-protein between the binding of the NT and the cascade of signals

Where is acetylcholine synthesized

midbrain and basal forebrain

Wehre is dopamine synthesized

substantia nigra

Where is norepinephrine synthesized

locus coreuleus of the brain stem

Where is epinephrine synthesized

adrenal glands or CNS

Where is serotonin synthesized

raphe nuclei in the brain stem

Where is GABA synthesized

everywhere in the body

Where is glutamate synthesized

everywhere in the body

What is brocas area

a region of the frontal lobe responsible for the production of articulate speech

Who is Paul Broca

a physician who found lesions to the left frontal lobe during an autopsy of a patient who could not produce speech

Brocas Aphasia

the inability to produce fluent speech, broken sentences (walk and dog instead of I’m taking the dog for a walk)

Who is Johannes Borgstein

an ENT who documented a child living and functioning normally with half a brain

What did Johanne discover

despite having a hemispherectomy of the left brain that normally houses brocas area, the child was able to produce fluent speech and was bilingual

What did Johannes discovery mean

that damage/loss of one side of the brain before or during the critical period of a child development makes them less likely to experience permanent aphasia because of the extreme plasticity, the brain can allot different parts to take over for the damaged area

What part of a neuron generates an action potential

axon hillock

What threshold does the action potential have to reach to be successful

-55mV

What are the types of synapses

axosomatic, axodendritic, axoaxonic

What are the processes that occur during conduction of an action potential across a myelinated axon

saltatory and decremental

What is saltatory conduction

the recharging of voltage at the nodes of ranvier

What is decremental conduction

the fading of the voltage under the myelin

What part of the protein synthesis process creates a temporary copy of a DNA strand

transcription

When does the mRNA leave the nucleus

after transcription

What organelle uses amino acids to read the mRNA and create a protein strand

ribosomes

What organelle produces a membrane and lysosomes

Golgi apparatus

What glial cell is apart of the PNS

Schwann cells

What are Schwann cells

insulation cells that attach to one axon and wrap around it, creating myelin sheaths- aids regrowth

What glial cell is part of the CNS

Oligodendrocyte

What are oligodendrocytes

insulation cells that attach and wrap around multiple axons at once and - inhibits regrowth

What are astrocytes

support cells that transport nutrients, and protect blood vessels of the BBB to decide what goes in and out

What are microglia

support cells that perform phagocytosis to protect the brain from viruses and bacteria

What is the Blood Brain Barrier (BBB)

the layers found int he capillaries of the brain and spinal cord- these protect the brain and blood from infection

What are the weak areas of the BBB

Median eminence and area postrema

Why is the median eminence a weak spot of the BBB

the lack of tight junctions to release hormones into the blood increases the likelihood of a barrier breach

Why is the area postrema a weak spot of the BBB

the lack of tight junctions to allow the detection toxins increases the likelihood of a barrier breach

What are the structures of the limbic system

Hippocampus, Amygdala, Thalamus, Cingulate Gyrus, Mammillary Bodies, Fornix (F- MATCH)

What part of the limbic system controls fear and aggression

amygdala

What part of the limbic system controls learning

hippocampus

What part of the limbic system controls emotions

cingulate gyrus

What part of the limbic system controls memory

fornix and mammilary bodies

What is the choroid plexus

a network of blood vessels in the brain

Which part of the brain produces CSF

choroid plexus

What brain structure is made of white matter (axons) and connects the two hemispheres to allow for fluent communication

corpus callous

What structures is the basal ganglia composed of

caudate, putamen, nucleus accumbens, globus pallidus, substantia nigra, ventral tegmental area

What part of the basal ganglia looks like bulls horns

caudate nucleus

Which part of the basal ganglia looks like auditory padding and is attached to the caudate nucleus

putamen

Which part of the basal ganglia consists of the caudate nucleus and the putamen

striatum

Which part of the basal ganglia layers the inside of the cerebral peduncles

ventral tegmental area

Which part of the basal ganglia is layered below the putamen

globus pallidus

Which part of the basal ganglia looks like it straps over the front of the caudate nucleus, putamen and the globes pallidus

nucleus accumbens

Which part of the basal ganglia sits inside the cerebral peduncles like a crown

substantia nigra

What are the main functions of the brain stem

breathing, pulse, arousal

What two structures are the synthesis sites for norepinephrine and serotonin

locus coruleus and raphe nuclei

What perception concept relies on the brains saved data to interpret the environment and tell your body what you are seeing

top-down processing

What perception concept relies on the body to tell the brain what you are seeing and what stimuli you’re picking up

bottom-up processing

Which concept (bottom-up or top-down) occurs when you touch something hot and your body tells your brain that something was painful

bottom-up processing

Which concept (bottom-up or top-down) occurs when you see a dark shadow in the woods and your brain tells your body what it might be based on its data

top-down processing

What orientation sensitive neuron uses the on/off system to fire exactly when a line in its receptive field is 90 degrees, 45 degrees, etc.

simple

What orientation specific neuron

what orientation specific neuron

How are the basal ganglia structures oriented- dorsal to ventral

caudate nucleus, putamen, globus pallidus, nucleus accumbens, substantia nigra, ventral tegmental area

How are the limbic system structures oriented- dorsal to ventral

cingulate gyrus, fornix, amygdala, mammillary bodies, hippocampus

What processes does the brain stem control

Heart rate, bronchial movement, pain, reticular activation (arousal), NT synthesis- 5-HT, norepinephrine

Which cells are referred to as the blank slate cells

stem cells

What process triggers a stem cell to become- in this case- a young neuron

differentiation

What role does differentiation play in critical periods

it gives a stem cell its orders, and it tells the cell to stop and connect to other cells (specifically in young neurons) when it gets to the right place

What are the critical points in brain plasticity

stem cells, young neurons

Which perceptual adaptation gives the ability to differentiate similar objects- two sets of keys, two similar experiences

pattern separation

Which perceptual adaptation gives the ability to connect similar things into a category/group- a group of dogs (ears, tails, barks)

pattern recognition

Which perceptual adaptation gives the ability to respond to stimuli in a similar fashion- uses past learning for new situations

generalization

Which perceptual adaptation gives the ability to respond differently to different stimuli

discrimination

Which perceptual adaptation describes how narrow a rule applies to similar stimuli- phobia of bees vs wasps

specificity (phobia only applies to wasps)

Which perceptual adaptation describes how broad a rule applies to similar stimuli

generality (phobia to any insect with wings)

Who is the owner of the principles of perception

gestalt

Which gestalt principle pulls a whole image/object from a large array of stimuli

emergence

Which gestalt principle uses the brains memory and experience to close gaps and perceive a complete object

closure

Which gestalt principle defines clear boundaries, forcing our brains to group objects within those boundaries and separate those outside

common region

Which gestalt principle forces your brain to see things in smooth continuous paths rather than jagged and sharp turns and corners

continuity

Which gestalt principle determines outliers using physical distance- one group of friends, a straggler 30 feet away is perceived as not a part of the group

proximity

Which gestalt principle perceives one group moving in the same direction as all ending up in the same place - flock of birds

common fate

Which gestalt principle forces your brain to toggle between the background of an object and the object itself, because they both are perceived as images - vase vs two face

figure ground