Unit 1: History of Neuropsychology Flashcards
“Brain Theory”/cerebrocentric
The brain is the source of behavior
Mentalism
The mind is responsible for behavior. This metaphysical construct leads to the mind-body problem.
“Mind-body problem”
How can an immaterial mind control a material body?
Monism
The brain creates the mind.
Dualism
Mind and body are separate but can interact and influence each other.
Rationalism
All knowledge could be gained through the use of reason alone. Truth is thought of as intellectual and not sensory.
Empiricism
The brain starts as a blank slate and knowledge comes from a sensory experience.
Materialism
Rational behavior can be explained by the workings of the nervous system.
Localism
Each section of the brain specializes in a different function.
Holism
The brain is one whole that is highly interactive and you can’t divide it into piecemeal pieces
Phrenology
A method to determine an individual’s character, personality traits, and intellectual abilities based on the shape and size of various areas of the skull.
Engram
The enduring offline physical and/or chemical changes that were elicited by learning and underlie the newly formed memory associations / the biological basis for memory storage within neural circuits.
Mass action (Lashley)
The amount of function loss is proportional to the amount of cortex destroyed / more brain area, more functions.
Equipotentiality (Lashley)
All parts of the brain can perform the same memories. If a little bit is left, you can still do the function.
Spontaneous recovery
Recovery without intervention, tissue adapts to lesions, happens early after injury (~3 months)
Representational remodeling
Use of specific somatosensory areas to show greater representation with use (phantom limb phenomenon good evidence for remapping)
Intermodal plasticity
Brain regions normally associated with one modality being used for a different modality (e.g. visual cortex in blind patients used for auditory processing instead)
Kennard principle
Younger animals recovered better motor functions.
This applies to humans in language areas but there is evidence that brain damage earlier on to other functions does not lead to better outcomes as the brain is still developing.
Clinical neuropsychology
An applied science concerned with the behavioral expression of brain dysfunction.
Psychologists
Study behavior, PhD or PsyD
Neuropsychologists
Psychologists who study brain-behavior relationships
Neurologists
Identify/treat clinical disorders of the nervous system, emphasize anatomic correlations of disease
Neuropsychiatrists
MDs who focus on organic aspects of mental disorders
Neurosurgeons
Surgeons of nervous structures; nerves, brain, spinal cord
Neuroscientists
Researchers interested in molecular composition, functioning, and cognitive basis of the nervous system
Why is neuropsychological assessment still valuable?
Neuropsychological assessment can provide more detailed information for rehabilitative staff than a neuroimaging result.
Neuropsychological assessments have the capacity to be more flexible and respond to the patient’s needs.
The neuropsychologist can also break down the result and aid the patient and their families in understanding the diagnosis and prognosis more than a neuroimaging result can.
While neuroimaging can provide other useful information with expectations for how behavior will be impacted, it is not perfect and expectations may not be lined up.
The patient doesn’t really care what their brain looks like. They are more concerned with how their behavior will be impacted.
What are the purposes of a neuropsychological examination?
Diagnosis
Patient Care and Planning
Treatment Part 1: Identifying Treatment Needs
Treatment Part 2: Evaluating Treatment Efficacy
Research
Forensic research
What are the factors involved in recovery?
The age at the injury was received
- Younger brains tend to recover better from injuries impacting language areas. There is evidence that they don’t recover as well from other injuries as the brain is still developing, neurons are still migrating, and functions haven’t built up a solid foundation yet.
The scope of the injury/size of the lesion
-Wider-spread injuries that affect more functions may take longer to heal.
The development speed of the injury
-Did it occur quickly like a stroke or more slowly like a tumor?
-Faster-developing injuries can take much longer to heal and be more severe than slower-developing injuries.
Rehabilitation
-Being forced to exercise the functions that were damaged or lost can start rebuilding those connections in the brain and aid in the gain of that function again.
Reorganization/plasticity/accommodation of tasks.
How is the Iowa-Benton approach to neuropsychological assessment flexible and hypothesis-driven?
The approach is flexible because neuropsychological tests used vary for every patient based on personal factors and the patient’s goals.
The approach is hypothesis-driven based on the interpretation insight gained from the compilation of the patient’s medical history, neurological findings, and neuroimaging results.
How is the frontal lobe separated from the other lobes?
The frontal lobe is the most anterior, delimitated posteriorly by the central sulcus
How is the temporal lobe separated from the other lobes?
Delimitated superiorly by the Sylvian fissure
How is the parietal lobe separated from the other lobes?
Posterior to the central sulcus, delimitated on the medial surface by the parieto-occipital sulcus
How is the occipital lobe separated from the other lobes?
This is the most posterior, superiorly delimitated by the parieto-occipital sulcus on the medial surface, divided in two by the calcarine fissure (cuneus and lingula)
What is the prosencephalon?
Forebrain
What is the telencephalon?
Part of the prosencephalon that contains cerebral hemispheres (cerebral cortex + basal ganglia).
What is the diencephalon?
Part of the prosencephalon that contains the thalamus and hypothalamus along with associated structures
What is the mesencephalon?
Midbrain; contains the cerebral peduncles, midbrain tectum, and midbrain tegmentum.
What is the rhombencephalon?
The hindbrain.
What is the metencephalon?
Part of the rhombencephalon that contains the pons and cerebellum
What is the myelencephalon?
Part of the rhombencephalon that contains the medulla.
Where is the frontal pole?
The anterior part of the frontal lobe.
What is the orbitofrontal cortex?
The prefrontal cortex region involved in decision making.
Where is the gyrus rectus?
The fissure that is parallel to the longitudinal fissure in the frontal lobe.
Where is the cingulate cortex?
Superior to the corpus callosum and inferior to the frontal and parietal lobe by the cingulate sulcus.
What parts make up Broca’s area location?
Made up of the pars opercularis and pars triangularis of the inferior frontal gyrus.