Neuropsych Test 1 - Terms and Concepts

Egyptian thoughts on the mind

mind was the seat of all behaviour

trephination

drilling into skulls to expel demons

phineas gage

case study, accident caused impaired decision making, impulsivity, irrational behaviour

encephalocentric

hippocrates - soul is in the brain

cardiac centric theory

soul is in the heart - Aristotle

dualism

descartes, mind and body and distinct - connected by pineal gland

monism

mind and body are one entity

psychic pneuma

soul is like a light, invisible, pure

ventricular hypothesis

DaVinci proposed that the brain was separated into 3 ventricles

• anterior

• middle

• posterior

phrenology

franz gall, shape of skull determined personality and location of mental faculties

cytoarchitechtonips

brodmann, label brain slices based on function and differentiate with numbers

modularity of function

when each part of the brain is assigned one specific function and not connected to another

ex. Broca’s and wernickes area

reticular theory - black reaction staining

looks at structure differences in neurons

purkinje neurons - inhibitory function

broca’s area

frontal lobe

leads to Broca’s aphasia - speech production deficits

wernicke’s area

temporal lobe

leads to wernicke’s aphasia - speech comprehension deficits

double dissociation

damage to one area of the brain doesn’t impair function in another area

Santiago ramon y Cajal

discovered synapses and synaptic junction using gold stain

wilder penfield

discovered homunculus

treatment for psychosis

frontal lobotomy - lead to a dull personality

fathers of neuropsych and early work

luria, Jackson - assessments of immigrants and soldiers during war time

grey matter

neurons, cell bodies

white matter

myelinated axons - glia cells - oligodendrocytes

gyrus

fold in cortex

sulcus

groove/space in cortex between gyri

fissure

deep sulcus

3 types of neurons

sensory neuron, interneuron, motor neuron

4 types of glia cells

Schwann, oligodendrocytes, astrocytes, microglia

schwann cells

myelinate the PNS

oligodendrocytes

myelinate the CNS

microglia

“clean up crew”

astrocytes

blood brain barrier - star shaped

multipolar neuron

have more than 2 stalks coming from cell body

2 types of multipolar neurons

purkinje (inhibitory), pyramidal (motor)

unipolar neuron

one stalk from cell body

efferent signal

signal from brain to body - cause effect

afferent signal

signal from stimulus and body to brain

dorsal

top layer of brain

lateral

sides of brain

posterior

back of brain

anterior

front of brain

medial

middle of brain

inferior

bottom of brain

L-dopa regions of brain

high in dopamine, near lateral ventricles

primary cortices of brain

primary occipital (V1), primary auditory, primary motor, primary somatosensory

longitudinal fissure

divides hemispheres

cingulate sulcus

separates limbic and frontal/parietal

lateral (Sylvian) fissure

separates temporal from parietal

central sulcus

separates motor and sensory area

premotor cortex

fine motor movements, mirror neurons

supplementary motor area

fixes details of movement

primary motor area

where movement info is sent from brain to body

roles of frontal lobe

decision making, planning, goal behaviour, emotion regulation

location of crossing over

decussation, in medulla

• lesion above decussation - contralateral impact

• lesion below decussation - impact on same side as lesion

pyramidal cell

long motor fibre

temporal lobe

memory, sensory relay station, wernicke’s area

parietal lobe

sensory integration, somatosensory cortex

occipital lobe

primary visual cortex (V1)

cuneus

location of inversion of image from retina

lesion in parietal lobe + occipital causes

spatial neglect

limbic lobe

hippocampus, hypothalamus, thalamus, amygdala, pineal gland - eye movement, attention, memory, pain

midbrain

tectum, tegmentum

tectum

superior colliculus (visual) + inferior colliculus (auditory)

tegmentum

reward, pain, motivation, red nucleus

red nucleus

connects spinal cord and nerves

hindbrain

pons, medulla, cerebellum - automatic processes

basal ganglia

motor + reward processing, areas are high in dopamine - caudate nucleus, putamen

hypothalamus

hormonal

• appetite

• sex behaviour

• hormone secretion

thalamus

sensory relay station

parkinsons

dopamine deficiency

huntingtons

degeneration of caudate nucleus and putamen nucleus

lesion studies

single case - one patient study - issue since brain function is modular

animal lesion model: Sherrington - dogs - motor control - lesions alter behaviour

human lesion model: differences occur between individuals and need a control of people without lessons and people with different lesions

neural stimulation

activate/shock parts of brain to look at impacts

ct

x-rays pass through brain tissue - poor for lesioning and grey matter, poor spatial resolution

MRI

good spatial resolution, detailed image, good for lesion detection

ERP

detect stimulated brain area in response to stimulus in real time

EEG

electrodes placed on brain - average area of activation - cannot pinpoint location of activation

TMS

increase or decrease brain activity to monitor function - good timing and capacity to disrupt processes - not localized

PET

radioactive isotope injected - photon detected after and radioactive trace

PET subtraction method

average (increased brain levels - baseline base levels)

fMRI

blood-oxygen level

more activity = more oxygen

diffusion tensor imaging

measure water level in brain and white matter

single cell neurophysiology

infer info about human brain from animal studies

• record responses of 1+ neurons - stimulate one neuron to examine another

orientation tuning

certain visual cells prefer one orientation or presentation over another - damage prevents view at that orientation

disconnection syndrome

cognitive impairment caused by severing of corpus callosum

groups in research

lesioned group (patients), group without damage, lesions in another area of brain

lateralization

function is specific to 1 hemisphere

• language - left

  • left handed people - can be lateralized in both hemispheres

• visual-spatial - right

structural differences - right hemisphere

right frontal pole extends further forward

dorsal parietal lobe is larger

structural differences - left hemisphere

left occipital lobe extends further back

brodmann area 39 is bigger in left

planum temporale 10 bigger

female corpus callosum is less lateralized than in males

cerebral dominance

modality - 1 region is more dominant in a task across a species

right lobectomy impact

visual memory deficit

left lobectomy impat

verbal memory deficit

who looked at impact of lobectomy

Brenda milner

chimaeric faces

split brain patients see 2 separate faces rather than 1 combined

caveat of split brain studies

atypical brain is seen in split brain patients due to long term epilepsy or cerebral plasticity

alien hand syndrome

effect of split brain patients - when one hand acts in opposition of the other or the brain

frequency hypothesis

right hemisphere detects low frequency (global) and left hemisphere detects high frequency (local)

global processing

being able to perceive big picture

local processing

being able to perceive fine details

direct access theory

hemispheres that receives info will interpret it

callosal relay theory

brain will relay information to the hemisphere that is suited for the task