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Exam 4
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Gravity
Terms in this set (95)
Somatosensation
Travels up the DORSAL side of the spinal cord or on the LATERAL side of the spinal cord.
dorsal side of spinal cord
touch & proprioception
Lateral side of spinal cord
temperature and pain
The axon of the sensory neuron
travels up a brainstem nucleus before making its way up to the somatosensory cortex
Incoming information
ends up on the contralateral side of the brain.
prefrontal cortex
Selects the appropriate behavior and its target, using a combination of bodily and external information.
Premotor cortex
Combines information needed for movement programming, such as the target being reaching for and its location, which arm to use, and
the arm's location.
Supplementary motor area
Assembles sequences of movements, such as eating or playing the piano; coordinates movements between the two sides of the body
(e.g., task sharing between the hands).
Tract
a bundle of nerve fibers having a common origin, termination, and function and especially one within the spinal cord or brain.
Primary motor cortex
Executes voluntary movements by organizing the activity of unspecialized cells; adds force and direction control.
basal ganglia
Uses information from secondary areas and somatosensory cortex to integrate and smooth movements; apparently involved in learning
movement sequences.
**Primary and secondary motor areas
Cerebellum
Maintains balance, refines movements, controls compensatory eye
movements. Involved in learning motor skills.
first order neuron
detects a stimulus and transmits a signal to the spinal cord or brainstem
second neuron
next in line until the signal reaches its destination
upper motor neurons
first in line, sending the initial signals to move a muscle
lower motor neurons
are second in line in sending a signal to the muscles to move
the command to move a muscle
comes directly from the motor cortex
the axon of these upper motor neurons
crosses the contralateral side of the spinal cord at the level of the medulla
The signal
makes its way down the ventral spinal cord to the next neuron in line, the lower motor neuron
lower motor neuron
has its cell in the ventral side of the spinal cord
Amyotrophic Lateral
Sclerosis (ALS)
degenerative disorder of motor neurons in the spinal cord and brainstem
Dorsal spinal column
is a sensory pathway of the central nervous system that conveys sensations of fine touch, vibration, two-point discrimination, and proprioception (position) from the skin and joints.
Corticospinal tract
Is a white matter motor pathway starting at the cerebral cortex that terminates on lower motor neurons and interneurons in the spinal cord, controlling movements of the limbs and trunk.
Lateral spinal column
a lateral extension of the gray matter in each lateral half of the spinal cord present in the thoracic and upper lumbar regions
Motor homunculus
map showing portion of motor cortex devoted to each body region
Ventral spinal column
carry both ascending information about pain and temperature, and descending motor information.
Sensory information
comes into somatosensory cortex
PPC (posterior parietal cortex)
Prefrontal cortex,
Premotor cortex (PMC)
Supplemental Motor Area
(SMA): Assembles sequences
(step 1, step 2, etc.)
Primary Motor Cortex:
Executes signal to move
PFC (prefrontal cortex)
conscious decision making
Need to integrate
proprioceptive information & other
senses (sight, sound) to coordinate movement
basal ganglia
a group of subcortical structures that directs intentional movements
Dopamine is
the main neurotransmitter produced in
the substantia nigra, a part of the basal ganglia
Here it helps to regulate motor movement (not
reward).
GABA (gamma-aminobutyric acid)
main inhibitory neurotransmitter in the
brain. This transmitter would inhibit certain aspects of muscle activation to smooth movements.
Parkinson's disease
Results from death of DA neurons in the substantia nigra
• Motor tremors, rigidity, loss of balance & coordination, difficulty
initiating movements
• Causes can be genetic but also brain injury
• Being knocked unconscious has greatest correlation
Cerebellum
• It receives sensory information from our muscles
to make us aware of where our limbs are in
space
• It also plays a role in balance
• The cerebellum itself does NOT produce motor
movements!! It simply modifies how the
primary motor cortex sends the signal to the
muscle to actually move.
Thalamus
Fine-tunes information going to
sensory cortex
• ALSO talks to motor cortex to
coordinate movements
Regulates output of motor demands
Cerebellar
hypoplasia
smaller-than-normal cerebellum; seen in cats secondary to feline panleukopenia virus, which leads to incoordination
Pattern generator
the ventral respiratory group of the medulla oblongata
Proprioception
The cumulative sensory input to the central nervous system from all mechanoreceptors that sense body position and limb movement.
Substantia nigra
An area of the midbrain that is involved in motor control and contains a large concentration of dopamine-producing neurons
Thalamus
relays messages between lower brain centers and cerebral cortex
Attention
is vital to survive
Acetylcholine
Released by the
Basal Forebrain to
the cortex
Mediates conscious
attention & learning
• Released by
Brainstem Nuclei to
the cerebellum,
brainstem & spinal
cord
• Mediates attention
related to reflexes
and survival
Alpha brain waves
Brain-wave pattern associated with relaxed wakefulness and drowsiness.
Norepinephrine
• Focuses "neuronal" attention to stimuli
• Decreases "background" noise to be able to more clearly
detect signals
Sharpens neuron respnse
Basal Forebrain
a region, ventral to the basal ganglia, that is the major source of acetylcholine in the brain
Brainstem Nuclei
the nuclei in the brainstem. These include: the cranial nerve nuclei.
Beta brain waves
Brain-wave pattern associated with alert wakefulness.
Delta brain waves
Deepest sleep, lowest frequency & highest amplitude.
Change blindness
perceptual phenomenon that occurs when a change in a visual stimulus is introduced and the observer does not notice it.
Electroencephalogram (EEG)
An amplified recording of the waves of electrical activity that sweep across the brain's surface. These waves are measured by electrodes placed on the scalp.
Endogenous cues
Experience cocktail party effect (requires our internal knowledge to recognize cue)
Exogenous cues
presented outside of the center of focus, usually highlighting the left or right box presented on the screen.
Gamma brain waves
the fastest of brain waves (high frequency, like a flute), and relate to simultaneous processing of information from different brain areas. Gamma brainwaves pass information rapidly and quietly. The most subtle of the brainwave frequencies, the mind has to be quiet to access gamma.
Locus Coeruleus
the principal site for brain synthesis of norepinephrine
Saliency
distinct subjective perceptual quality which makes some items in the world stand out from their neighbors and immediately grab our attention.
Selective attention
the focusing of conscious awareness on a particular stimulus
Theta brain waves
Low frequency, mixture of high and low amplitude brain waves experienced during sleep stage 1 & 2
Memories
are circuits of neurons that are activated
they are not all stored in the same place
are a series of associations & connections
•are made by new connections between neurons
• These neurons connect to other neurons,
creating a circuit
• When you remember something, the entire
circuit is activated.
Amygdala
A limbic system structure involved in memory and emotion, particularly fear and aggression.
Hippocampus
coordinates memories
Part of the limbic
system
• Located right next
to the amygdala
• Associates
emotions with
memories
• Help us to
remember
FEARFUL
experiences
Important in creating associations and coordinating memories
• is one of three brain areas that produces new
neurons throughout a person's lifetime
• New associations are primarily made, however, through new
connections between existing neurons
• The proximity to the amygdala is not accidental- we need to
know the emotional strength of an experience so we can see if
we NEED to remember it or not.
Place Cells
• Increase firing when
individual is in a specific
location in an
environment
• Collectively form a
"spatial map"
• Dependent on
environmental cues and
landmarks
• Also found in humans and
primates
H.M.
an American memory disorder patient who had a bilateral medial temporal lobectomy to surgically resect the anterior two thirds of his hippocampi, parahippocampal cortices, entorhinal cortices, piriform cortices, and amygdalae in an attempt to cure his epilepsy.
Long Term Memory
the relatively permanent and limitless storehouse of the memory system. Includes knowledge, skills, and experiences.
Short term memory
activated memory that holds a few items briefly, such as the seven digits of a phone number while dialing, before the information is stored or forgotten
Spatial memory
memory for the physical environment; it includes things such as location of objects, direction, and cognitive maps
Sensory memory
external events
Working memory
Conscious, active processing of incoming
auditory and visuospatial information, and of information
retrieved from long-term memory.
Explicit Memory
Memory of facts and experiences that one
can consciously know and declare.
Semantic memory
Facts not associated with a particular context.
Episodic memory
Events associated with the spatial-temporal context in which we experienced them
Implicit memory
Memory involving the integration of many
skills, including motor learning, conditioning, visual
discrimination, and priming. This type of learning typically
involves overlapping brain circuits.
Encoding
Code and put into memory
Storage
Maintain in memory
Retrieval
Recover from memory
Types of memory codes
acoustic, visual, semantic
types of long term memory
episodic, semantic, procedural
types of retrieval
recall and recognition
Declarative/Explicit
• Requires hippocampus
• Recalling specific memories into
working memory or consciousness
• Rat with a hippocampal lesion
could not remember which arms it
had visited
Non-declarative/Implicit
• Requires basal ganglia (aka has a
motor component)
• Automatic; requires little or no
thought
Medial Temporal Lobe (MTL)
Involved in recognition memory. This region encodes different features into episodic
representations. This region also aids with associative memories. During retrieval of memories, compares encoded memories to the new sensory information to send known memories to other brain regions for further
processing. You can think of it as a filing cabinet.
Declarative memory
the cognitive information retrieved from explicit memory; knowledge that can be declared
Dorsal stream
a system of interconnected regions of visual cortex involved in the perception of spatial location, beginning with the striate cortex and ending with the posterior parietal cortex
Ventral Stream
a system of interconnected regions of visual cortex involved in the perception of form, beginning with the striate cortex and ending with the inferior temporal cortex
Working memory
a newer understanding of short-term memory that focuses on conscious, active processing of incoming auditory and visual-spatial information, and of information retrieved from long-term memory
mild cognitive impairment
Duration: 7 years
Disease begins in medial temporal lobe
Symptoms: short-term memory loss
Alzheimer's disease
Progressive neurodegenerative disease
Causes dementia
Loss of memory, difficulty maintaining conversations, cognitive decline
Up to 5.1 Million adults over 65 have Alzheimer's
Causes not 100% clear
Genes have been linked to the disorder
Environment can also play a factor
Currently no cure or medication available
Supportive treatments only
Mild Alzheimer's Disease
Duration: 2 years
Disease spreads to lateral temporal and parietal lobes
Symptoms: Reading problems, poor object recognition, poor sense of direction
Moderate Alzheimer's Disease
Duration: 2 years
Disease spreads to frontal lobe
Symptoms: Poor judgement, impulsivity, short attention
Severe Alzheimer's
Duration: 3 years
Disease spreads to occipital lobe
Sympotoms: Visual problems
acetylcholinesterase
the enzyme that breaks down acetylcholine in the synaptic cleft
Amyloid beta plaques
This form of a toxic protein is found in Alzheimer's patients, damaging neural interlays and destroying synapses
Dementia
a slowly progressive decline in mental abilities, including memory, thinking, and judgment, that is often accompanied by personality changes
Neurofibrillary tangles
Twisted protein fibers that form within certain brain cells as people age. People with Alzheimer's disease have an excessive number of such tangles.
Ventricles
the two lower chambers of the heart, and they pump blood out to the lungs and body.
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