Awesome Brain and Spinal Cord Flashcards

1
Q

What is the difference between a focal neurological defecit and a non-focal problem?

A
  • Focal: affects a specific area of the brain or spinal cord
  • Nonfocal: not specific to a certain area of the brain or spinal cord, may include a general loss of consciousness or emotional problem.
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2
Q

Name a condition which is associated with a ‘hyperconnected’ brain (large number of dendritic spines)?

A

Autism Spectrum Disorder

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3
Q

Name a condition associated with a ‘hypoconnected’ brain (small number of dendritic spines)?

A

Schizophrenia

Alzheimer’s disease

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4
Q

What is clonus?

A

Muscular spasm which involves involuntary muscle contractions - results in uncontrollable, rythmic, shaking movements.

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5
Q

What does Hebb’s learning rule refer to?

A
  • Correlated pre and post synaptic activities cause synapse to strenghten/stabilize
  • Uncorrelated pre and post synaptic activities cause synapse weakening
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6
Q

What is white matter mostly made up of?

A

Myelinated axons

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7
Q

What are the three types of white matter fibres?

A
  • Projection
  • Association
  • Comissural
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8
Q

What do projection fibres connect?

A

Connect the cortex with the brain stem and spinal cord

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9
Q

What do association fibres connect?

A

Different regions within the same hemisphere

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10
Q

What do commissural fibres connect?

A

Same cortical areas in opposite hemispheres

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11
Q

What are the comissural tracts?

A

Type of white matter tracts that cross the midline, connecting the same cortical area in opposite hemispheres

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12
Q

What is the largest white matter structure in the brain?

A

Corpus Callosum

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13
Q

What white matter structure connects the eo temporal lobes?

A

Anterior commissure

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14
Q

What does the anterior comissure play a role in?

A
  • Sensation of sharp pain

- Processing smells, emotion, speech, hearing and memory

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15
Q

Where does the posterior commissure cross the midline?

A

On the dorsal aspect of the upper end of the cerebral aqueduct

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16
Q

What does the posterior comissure play a role in?

A

The bilateral pupillary light reflex

17
Q

What does the habenular comissure connect?

A

Habenular nuclei on both sides of the diencephalon (sits in front of the pineal gland)

18
Q

What processes is the habenular nuclei involved in?

A

Sleep-wake cycles, learning, stress responses, pain processing, and reproductive behaviours

19
Q

What is the commissural tract in the fornix?

A

Hippocampal commissure (connects to hippocampi across the midline)

20
Q

What therapy has showed promise in being able to regain strength to an upper limb after a stroke?

A

Contralateral constraint

21
Q

What part of the brain does parkinson’s affect?

A

Basal ganglia (removes dopamine)

22
Q

What therapy can be used to treat parkinson’s disease by disrupting the simulation of thalamus inhibition?

A

Deep brain simulation surgery

23
Q

What disorders/diseases can be treated with mirror box therapy?

A

Various unilateral pain and/or motor disorders

  • Hemiaparesis after stroke
  • Reduced mobility after wrist fracture
  • Spastic hemiparetic cerebral palsy
  • Phantom limb pain
24
Q

Why is the CNS prone to disease?

A
  • Neurons are sensitive to lack of O2 (3 mins till death)

- Prone to “degenerative” processes

25
Q

How many neurons are there in a human?

A

10^11

26
Q

How many connections are there in the human body?

A

10^15

27
Q

Where does the afferent neuron synapse with the efferent?

A

The ventral horn

28
Q

What medicine can be used to “clot-bust” in a stroke?

A

tPA

29
Q

What is Nogo-A?

A
  • Important inhibitor over neural sprouting

- Treatment with anti-Nogo can encourage sprouting

30
Q

What is the basal-ganglia movement feedback pathway?

A

Basal ganglia deep in brain listen to movement process it and produce a cloud of inhibition in the thalamus, basal ganglia selectively removes areas of the thalamus to allow movements to happen.

31
Q

What is the subthalamic nucleus?

A
  • Important modulater of basal ganglia output.
  • Located ventrally to thalamus - plays fundemental role in circuitry of the basal ganglia.
  • Electrodes put here in DBS