HSC 476 exam 5

forebrain cholinergic pathways:

play major role in some forms of learning, memory, and sleep wake cycles

the lateral geniculate nuclei in the thalamus is what?

a visual nuclei

the medial geniculate nuclei in the thalamus is what?

an auditory nuclei

the medial and lateral geniculate nuclei are found where?

in the thalamus

nigrostriatal system:

involved primarily in the initiation and planning of motor behavior

ventral tegmental area of tsai contains what?

dopamine and mesolimbic-mesocortical fibers

ventral basal nuclei:

\-part of thalamus 

\-project to the post-central gyrus for pinpoint conscious sensory localization 

pulvinar nucleus:

\-part of the thalamus 

\-integrates multisensory information for the parietal lobes

where is DMT found?

\-found/manufactures in the pineal gland 

\-a derivative of serotonin acting on NMDA receptors 

ventral anterior and lateral nuclei of the thalamus:

coordinate pyramidal and extrapyramidal motor function

periods of light, when there’s a lot of light in the environment, causes what?

a decline in pineal gland secretions

long periods of darkness produce what?

an increase in pineal gland secretion

pineal gland:

\-also called epiphysis cerebri

\-an endocrine gland

\-secretes melatonin

\-shaped like tiny pinecone 

melatonin:

\-main product of pineal gland

\-antigonadotropic effects

\-can disrupt seasonal reproductive cycles and sleep/wake/estrus cycles

anterior and dorsal medial nuclei:

\-part of thalamus 

\-process affective crude limbic system related information

\-are related to limbic system 

what is the area where the head of caudate merges with the putamen?

the nucleus accumbens, also called the ventral striatum

lenticular nucleus:

\-consists of lateral putamen and medial globus palidus 

\-also called the lentiform nucleus

define akinesia

a poverty of movement

where is the amygdala located?

\-at the anterior ventral tip of the limbic system 

\-buried beneath the lateral temporal lobes

basal ganglia:

\-organizes the stereotypical instinctual motor behaviors (hardwired) that occur during illumination, courtship ritual, aggressive, and submissive behaviors

\-the extrapyramidal motor system

the hypophyseal fossa is a deep depression located where?

\-in the sphenoid bone

\-houses the pituitary gland

the ventromedial nucleus of hypothalamus regulates what?

\-satiety 

\-levels of behavioral reactivity and sensitivity to the environment 

\-long term energy balance 

\-a lesion here produces a very aggressive and overweight rat

lesions in the subthalamic nuclei produce what?

behaviors like violence and forceful abnormal involuntary motor behaviors (hemiballism)

arcuate nucleus:

\-monitors stomach distention

\-promotes wakefulness and feeding 

\-conveys releasing and inhibiting factors (hormones) to the anterior pituitary 

Which hormones are carried by axoplasmic transport to the posterior pituitary (neurohypophysis)?

\-oxytocin

\-ADH

lesions to the ventromedial nuclei of hypothalamus (VMH) produce what?

\-hyperphagia

\-hyperdipsia

lesions to the lateral hypothalamus (LH) produce what?

\-aphagia

\-adipsia

dorsal medial nucleus:

\-part of hypothalamus

\-increases vagal and sacral parasympathetic activity

\-regulates dietary nutrients

\-promotes increased gastric motility, vasodilation, and decreases heart rate

the parvocellular hypothalamic neurosecretory system utilizes what?

\-blood capillaries for transporting endocrine peptides into the hypophysis 

\-blood portal system for transporting endocrine peptides to the hypothalamus: tuberoinfundibular system

if you stimulate the lateral hypothalamus, what happens?

\-feeding

\-male sexual behavior if estrus cycle is near

\-aggression if increased stimulation and opportunity is present

Vasopressin is released in response to what?

\-decreased blood volume

\-drop in blood pressure

\-during times of water shortage

release of prolactin is stimulated by what?

thyrotropin releasing hormone

what is prolactin inhibited by?

dopamine

what do hypothalamic nuclei regulate?

\-water balance

\-blood pressure

\-blood temperature

\-sleep/wake cycles

\-food intake

\-metabolism

\-all autonomic functions

the main control over basal ganglia occurs where?

\-through the mesotriatal dopaminergic pathway

\-main power switch is dopamine

what does stimulation of the ventromedial nuclei of hypothalamus (VMH) produce?

\-aphagia

\-adipsia

oxytocin:

promotes smooth muscle contraction, milk letdown, fetal birth, and reduces aggression

what does the reptilian brain refer to?

limbic system

what does the diencephalon include?

includes the thalamus, sub thalamus, epithalamus, hypothalamus, pineal gland habenula, and stria medullaris 

corpus striatum

\-where the internal capsule courses through the lentiform and caudate nuclei 

\-given a striped appearance 

what to do we expect to see in parkinson’s disease?

\-flat or reduced emotional response

\-reduces affective posture

\-resting tremors

\-peel rolling

\-akinesia

\-shuffling gait

stimulation of the amygdala in any part of it produces what?

an arrest reaction (freezing response)

stimulation of the septal nuclei produces what?

\-pleasure

\-sexual arousal

stimulation of the central lateral amygdala produces what?

\-fear

\-higher levels of stimulation will produce flight 

what is the prominent and most important pathway from the amygdala?

\-stria terminalis

\-terminates in the ventromedial hypothalamus and in the septal nucleus

what do lesions in the amygdala produce?

\-psychic blindness

\-hyper oral behavior

\-submissive behavior

\-hypersexuality

what do lesions in the septal nuclei produce?

exaggerated responses to the environment, including rage, but the rage will subside 

what does dyskinesia refer to?

\-abnormal involuntary movements (exam says voluntary)

\-can also refer to athetosis, chorea, ballism

excessive dopamine in the dorsal and ventral striatum can produce what?

\-delusions

\-paranoid schizophrenia

depleted dopamine levels leads to what?

symptoms of Parkinson’s disease

Huntingtons chorea:

\-does not occur bc of a loss of dopamine producing neurons 

\-onset at 35-45 years

\-produces choreiform movements and progressive dementia

what do lesions of the premotor cortical region produce?

apraxia characterized by problems with planning and programming of behavior 

the magnocellular hypothalamic neurosecretory system includes what?

supraoptic and paraventricular nuclei

the parvocellular hypothalamic neurosecretory system includes what?

arcuate nucleus

what does the most violent form of dyskinesia result in?

subthalamic lesions that produce ballism and hemiballism

stimulation of the lateral hypothalamic and ventral tegmental nucleus accumbens produces what?

energized and excited, foraging, seeking, and exploratory behavior (highly motivated behavior)

basal ganglia:

\-spread out and rather diffuse

\-contains many non-telecephalix structures like red nucleus, substantia nigra, ventral tegmental area of tsai, and sub thalamic nuclei

amygdala:

\-regulates the level of fear and confusion in an organism 

\-closely linked to olfactory capabilities (smells)

lesions in the amygdala will lead to what?

\-aggression

\-male dominance 

lesions of the ventromedial nuclei of hypothalamus (VMH) produce what?

uncontrolled, unwavering, unrestrained rage and aggression

parkinson’s patients:

exhibit hypokinetic dysarthria or akinesia of speech 

huntington’s patients:

exhibit hyperkinetic dysarthria/spastic speech

the nucleus accumbens functionally links what?

\-the limbic system with the basal ganglia

\-a part of a foraging exploration and seeking circuit in the brain in combination with the LH

the nucleus accumbens receives input from what?

the basal lateral amygdala

the parvocellular hypothalamic neurosecretory system is associated with what?

tuberoinfundibular fiber tracts

POMC:

\-stands for pro-opiomelanocortin

\-the precursor hormone for ACTH, MSH, and alpha/beta/gamma endorphins

LHRH:

\-stands for luteinizing hormone releasing hormone

\-mediated female sexual arousal

ADH:

\-mediates male sexual arousal 

\-stands for anti diuretic hormone 

methionine and leucine cephalin mediate what?

\-pain

\-pleasure

what do dynorphins mediate?

\-dysphoria (negative internal emotional state associated with addictive behaviors or withdrawal from addictive substances)

\-hunger

Morris water maze:

hippocampal damage severely disrupts learning and performance on the "place" task but no effect on learning and performance on the “queued platform” task

what is the hippocampus responsible for?

the creation of internal maps

vasopressin:

\-helps the body retain water/spares water

\-lessen urine output

\-makes urine more concentrated

\-increases blood pressure 

anterior nucleus of the hypothalamus:

activates mechanisms for dissipating excessive amounts of body heat

hippocampus:

\-has no direct autonomic or olfactory function

\-has low threshold for seizure activity

\-consolidates new memory 

\-has many cells that exhibit morphological plasticity 

what does the perferent pathway connect?

\-the entorhinal cortex to the dentate gyrus 

\-can be electrically stimulated 

what does the entorhinal cortex cover?

the postrhinal cortex

what does the parahippocampal gyrus support?

spatial memory

regarding the process of learning, vygotsky said:

a task should be challenging but it should be doable 

nondeclerative memory:

\-memory or likes and dislikes for people, food, and objects

\-procedural motor skeletal skills and emotional memories

what is the Yerkes-Dodson Law?

\-arousal that is between extreme highs and lows is the best kind to use to facilitate learning

\-the inverted U-shaped function

define semantic memory

explicit memory that supports facts

define episodic memory

explicit memory that supports events

semantic and episodic memory are both:

explicit

Brenda Milner:

\-1970

\-discovered that medial temporal lobe lesions produce anterograde and retrograde amnesia

O'keefe and Nadel:

\-1970

\-proposed that the hippocampus stores maps of the world 

\-developed Morris water maze 

what can we say about retrograde amnesia that typically follows a traumatic incident?

this type of amnesia allows only memories of the distant past to be recalled, and memories up to the time of the trauma usually cannot be recalled

what can we say about anterograde amnesia that typically follows a traumatic incident?

this type of amnesia allows all memories before the incident to be intact but new memories cannot be formed post trauma 

what does declarative memory depend on?

\-the hippocampus

\-internal cortex

\-perirhinal cortex 

Bliss and Lomo:

\-1973

\-discovered LTP (long term potentiation) in the dentate gyrus

long-term potentiation (ltp):

\-reflects neuroplasticity and memory storage 

\-reflects changes in the synaptic connection 

\-has been a valuable tool for neuroscientists to study 

postrhinal cortex:

\-also called the parahippocampal gyrus

\-lesions impair visual recognition memory

\-helps endow object with meaning

\-the entorhinal cortex borders it

D. Hebb:

\-1949

\-neurons that fire together wire together 

\-brain consists of reverberating cell assemblies 

\-connections in the brain strengthen with use 

epiphysis secretes:

\-serotonin

\-norepinephrine

\-TRH

\-LHRH

\-somatostatin

\-also is the pineal gland

what is the ventral striatum (nucleus accumbens) involved in?

repetitive, motivational, foraging, and seeking behaviors

what does the anterior pituitary manufacture?

1\. growth hormone (GRH)

2\. ACTH

3\. MSH

4\. thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH)

5\. follicle stimulating hormone (FSH)

6\. MSH

7\. luteinizing hormone (LH)

mamillary milk production is stimulated by what?

release of prolactin

milk ejection or milk let down is promoted by release of what?

oxytocin

what structures are part of the basal ganglia?

\-amygdala

\-caudate

\-putamen

\-globus pallidus

\-nucleus accumbens

In huntington’s chorea, the loss of GABA from the putamen leads to what?

an excessive inhibition of the sub thalamic nuclei by the globus palidus and too much excitation of the thalamic motor nuclei followed by too much excitation of the cortex and corticospinal tract