biological essential reading

Question 1

what is golgi staining?

Answer 1

silver staining that stains neurites with great detail, revealing the morphological heterogeneity of the neuron

Question 2

role of sensory neurons

Answer 2

receive information from the external world and convey this information to the brain via the spinal cord
have specialied endgins on their dendrites for light, sound, touch, taste and smell

Question 3

role of motor neurons

Answer 3

carry signals from the spinal cord to the muscles to produce movement

Question 4

what are interneurons?

Answer 4

connect sensory neurons, motor neurons and other motor neurons

Question 5

what are purkinje cells?

Answer 5

type of interneuron that carry information from the cerebellum to the rest of the brain and spinal cord

Question 6

what are pyramidal cells?

Answer 6

found in cerebral cortex and serve as a main excitatory neuron

Question 7

what are bipolar cells?

Answer 7

found in the retinas of the eyes and have a single axon and a few dendrites

Question 8

what is the refractory period?

Answer 8

the time following an action potential during which a new action potential cannot be initiated

Question 9

how do neurotransmitters leave the synapse?

Answer 9

1. reuptake occurs when neurotransmitters are reabsorbed by the terminal buttons of the presynaptic neuron’s axon
2. neurotransmitters can be destroyed by enzymes in the synapse in a process called enzyme deactivation, where specific enzymes break down specific neurotransmitter
3. neurotransmitters can bind to the receptor sites called autoreceptors on the presynaptic neurons. Autoreceptors detect how much of a neurotransmitter has been released into a synapse and signal the neuron to stop releasing the neurotransmitter when an excess is present

Question 10

role of acetylcholine

Answer 10

neurotransmitter involved in voluntary motor control by activating muscles
also contribute to regulation of attention, learning, sleeping, dreaming and memory

Question 11

what neurotransmitter is implicated in alzheimers?

Answer 11

acetylcholine- deterioration of Ach producing neurons

Question 12

role of dopamine

Answer 12

neurotransmitter that regulates motor behaviour, motivation, pleasure and emotional arousal

Question 13

what neurotransmitter is implicated in schizophrenia and parkinsons?

Answer 13

high dopamine levels=schizophrenia
low levels=parkinsons

Question 14

role of glutamate

Answer 14

major excitatory neurotransmitter involved in information throughout the brain
enhances transmission of info
too much=overstimulate the brain, causing seizures

Question 15

role of GABA

Answer 15

primary inhibitory neurotransmitter which stops the firing of neurons
too little GABA can cause neurons to become overactive

Question 16

role of noradrenaline

Answer 16

neurotransmitter that influences mood and arousal which is particularly involved in states of vigilance

Question 17

role of serotonin

Answer 17

involved in the regulation of sleep and wakefulness, eating and aggressive behaviour

Question 18

which neurotransmitters are implicated in mood and arousal?

Answer 18

low levels of noradrenaline and serotonin

Question 19

role of endorphins

Answer 19

chemicals that act within pain pathways and emotion centres in the brain
lack of endorphins could lower pain threshold or reduce the ability to self-soothe

Question 20

what are agonists?

Answer 20

drugs that increase the action of a neurotransmitter

Question 21

what are antagonists?

Answer 21

drugs that block the function of a neurotransmitter

Question 22

L-DOPA

Answer 22

dopamine agonist to help treat parkinsons
used to treat MPTP (destroy dopamine neurons) causing paralysis

Question 23

what are spinal reflexes?

Answer 23

simple pathways in the NS that rapidly generate muscle contractions

Question 24

levels of the spinal cord

Answer 24

cervical, thoracic, lumbar, sacral and coccygeal
higher level of damage=worse the prognosis (e.g quadriplegia)

Question 25

what makes up the hindbrain?

Answer 25

cerebellum, medulla and pons

Question 26

role of the hindbrain

Answer 26

respiration, alertness and motor skills

Question 27

what does the medulla contain?

Answer 27

the reticular formation which regulates sleep, and arousal

Question 28

what makes up the midbrain?

Answer 28

tectum (orientation) and the cerebral peduncles (movement)

Question 29

what makes up the forebrain?

Answer 29

cerebral cortex and subcortical structures

Question 30

what are mirror neurons?

Answer 30

cells that are active when performing an action oneself or when observing the same action performed by another (motor cortex)

Question 31

role of the thalamus

Answer 31

relays and filters info from the senses and transmits the info to the cerebral cortex

Question 32

role of the hypothalamus

Answer 32

regulates body temperature, hungerm thirst and sexual behaviour

Question 33

what is located below the hypothalamus?

Answer 33

the pituitary gland

Question 34

what is the limbic system?

Answer 34

a group of forebrain structures which also include the amygdala and huppocampus which are involved in motivation, emotion, learning and memory

Question 35

what are the basal nuclei?

Answer 35

subcortical structures that direct intentional movements

Question 36

what are association areas?

Answer 36

composed of neurons that help provide sense adn meaning to info registered in the cortex

Question 37

what is a prototypical executive function task?

Answer 37

stroop task

Question 38

what is a hot executive function?

Answer 38

impulses and urges that are biological imperatives or emotionally charged drives that threaten to take over control of our thoughts and actions

Question 39

what is a cool executive function?

Answer 39

logical choices one has to make when presented with a problem to solve that requires rationality

Question 40

fundemental discoveries of EEG

Answer 40

sleep and wakefulness

Question 41

hubel and wiesel (1962)

Answer 41

inserted electrodes into the occipital lobes of cats and observed patterns of individual neurons discovered neurons in the PVC are activated whenever a contrast between light and dark occurs in the visual field

Question 42

what are feature detectors?

Answer 42

neuronsin the visual cortex that selectively respons to certain aspects of a visual image

Question 43

what is computerised axial tomography?

Answer 43

technique that recombines multiple X-ray photograph into a single image this shows different densities of tissue in the brain skull is most dense so is white and least dense like ventricles and fissures are dark used to locate lesions or tumours which appear dark as they are less dense than cortex