What is Neuropsychology?

Lecture Notes

The key systems → Central Nervous System (CNS) and Peripheral Nervous System (PNS)

The Brain

Neurons

basic structure of a neuron/e

neurons are irreplaceable

they have huge metabolic appetites

Glial Cells

support workers; form myelin sheets; form blood-brain barrier

Neurotransmitters

electrical (travel within a neuron) and chemical signals (communicate from one neuron to another)

Excitatory neurotransmitters increase likelihood of neuron firing

Inhibitory neurotransmitters decrease likelihood of neuron firing

Key neurotransmitters in psychology → Dopamine, Serotonin, norepinephrine, GABA

Grey (neuronal cell bodies) vs White Matter (myelinated axons)

there is white matter in the grey matter (the cortex) intracortical (Association fibres).

White matter tracts between the cortices and between the cortex and subcortex.

Projection Fibres

Corticocortical connections

Tools to look at the brain

Electroencephalography (EEG)

Event Related Potentials (ERP)

Computerised Tomography (CT scan)

Positron Emission Tomography (PET) (radioactive glucose)

Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI)

Diffusion Tensor Imaging (DTI) (measures integrity of white matter)

Functional MRI (fMRI)

Basic Neuroanatomy (The Brain)

ways to slice the brain

3 planes; top, bottom, front, back

The Cerebral Cortex

fissures/deep sulci

The Corpus Callosum (split-brain studies, 1970’s)

brain development

Neural plate formulation (neural tube)

Primary Brain Vesicles

Secondary Brain Vesicles (5 vesicles; telencephalon…)

forebrain → telencephalon, diencephalon

midbrain → mesencephalon

hindbrain → metencephalon, myelencephalon

Telencephalon - the cerebral cortex

4 lobes (related to bone + sulcus) → frontal, parietal, temporal, occipital

Dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and orbitofrontal cortex

The Iowa Gambling task (Bechara, 1990’s)

Temporal lobe - medial frontal lobe (hippocampus and amygdala)

hippocampus - memory

amygdala - emotional memory

(Barbra Milner)

Parietal lobe - visuospatial awareness (damage = agnosia; left parietal damage causes dyscalculia and some working memory problems)

Occipital lobe - All visual information (eyes)

Retinotopic mapping → different areas of the brain respond to different areas of the retina

visual field deficits

blindsight - being able to respond to visual stimuli without seeing it

The Olfactory Bulb - smell (nose)

Notes