Brain Bee Book Cards Flashcards
(729 cards)
1
Q
How many Americans are affected by neurological illnesses annually?
A
50 million
2
Q
How much does it cost annually to treat neurological illnesses?
A
$500 billion
3
Q
How many adults are struck by mental disorders per year?
A
44 million
4
Q
How much does it cost to treat adult mental disorders per year?
A
$148 billion
5
Q
How much money would be saved if AD was delayed by five years?
A
$50 billion is annual health care costs
6
Q
What is the probability that an identical twin will also be affected by a disease that their twin gets?
A
30-60%
7
Q
What are four environmental influences on disease?
A
Exposure to toxic substances, diet, level of physical activity, stressful life events
8
Q
What is the brain’s ability to modify neural connections?
A
Plasticity
9
Q
What is the adult brain’s ability to continually generate new nerve cells?
A
Neurogenesis
10
Q
What is one of the most active regions for neurogenesis in the brain? What is it involved in?
A
The hippocampus; learning and memory
11
Q
What halts electrical signaling in nerve cells and in targeted doses can be used to shut down cells that send chronic pain?
A
Tetrodotoxin (TTX); pufferfish poison
12
Q
What does PET stand for?
A
Positron emission tomography
13
Q
What does fMRI stand for?
A
Functional magnetic resonance imaging
14
Q
What are two major advances in neuroscience?
A
How and why neurons die, stem cells
15
Q
What is the cerebrum associated with?
A
Higher order functioning, control of voluntary behavior
16
Q
How do the two hemispheres communicate?
A
The corpus callosum
17
Q
What covers the outermost layer of the cerebrum?
A
Cerebral cortex
18
Q
What is the cerebral cortex also referred to as?
A
Gray matter
19
Q
What is the frontal lobe responsible for?
A
Initiating and coordinating movements; higher cognitive skills like problem solving, thinking, planning, organizing; personality
20
Q
What is the parietal lobe responsible for?
A
Sensory processes, attention, language
21
Q
What happens if you damage the right side of the parietal lobe?
A
Difficulty navigating spaces, even familiar ones
22
Q
What happens if you damage the left side of the parietal lobe?
A
You might damage the ability to understand spoken and/or written language
23
Q
What is the occipital lobe responsible for?
A
Vision, including recognition of shapes and colors
24
Q
What is the temporal lobe responsible for?
A
Hearing, integrating information from the other senses, short term memory with the hippocampus, emotional memory with the amygdala
25
What makes up the forebrain?
The four lobes, the basal ganglia, the thalamus, the hypothalamus
26
What are the basal ganglia?
Cerebral nuclei that help coordinate muscle movements and reward useful behaviors
27
What does the thalamus do?
Passes most sensory information on to the cerebral cortex after helping to prioritize it
28
What is the hypothalamus?
The control center for appetites, defensive and reproductive behaviors, sleep-wakefulness
29
What makes up the midbrain?
Two pairs of small hills called colliculi and clusters of neurons that regulate activity in widespread parts of the CNS and are thought to be important for reward mechanisms and mood
Tectum and tegmentum
30
What do colliculi do?
They play a role in visual and auditory reflexes and in relaying that information to the thalamus
31
What makes up the hindbrain?
The pons, medulla oblongata and cerebellum
32
What do the pons and medulla oblongata do?
They control respiration, heart rate, and blood glucose levels
33
What is the cerebellum responsible for?
Coordinated movement and cognitive processes that require precise timing and also play a role in Pavlovian learning
Knowing the difference between picking up an empty water bottle and a full water bottle
34
What is the spinal cord an extension of?
It is an extension of the brain through the vertebral column
35
What is the function of the spinal cord
Receiving all sensory information below the head; relaying that information to the brain and cerebral cortex; reflexes in response to pain in response to that information
36
About how long is the spinal cord?
17 inches (43 cm)
37
What makes up the CNS?
Forebrain, midbrain, hindbrain, spinal cord
38
What makes up the PNS?
Nerves and small concentrations of gray matter called ganglia, a term specifically used to describe structures in the PNS
39
Give one sentence to describe the nervous system
A vast biological computing device formed by a network of gray matter regions interconnected by white matter tracts
40
What connects the CNS with the parts of the body that interact with the outside world?
The somatic nervous system
41
What nerves are related to the neck and arms?
Somatic nerves in the cervical region
42
What nerves are related to the chest?
Somatic nerves in the thoracic region
43
What nerves are related to the legs?
Somatic nerves in the lumbar and sacral regions
44
What connects the CNS with internal organs?
The autonomic nervous system
45
What does the sympathetic NS do?
Mobilizes energy and resources during times of stress and arousal
46
What does the parasympathetic NS do?
Conserves energy and resources during relaxed states, including sleep
47
What is the range of neurons in the mammalian brain depending on the species?
100 million to 100 billion
48
How many disorders of the brain and nervous system are there?
Around 1,000
49
What is the range of axon length?
Tiny fraction of an inch — three feet (about one meter) or more
50
What is the name for myelin sheath glia in the CNS and PNS?
Oligodendrocytes and Schwann cells
51
What is the glia to neuron ratio?
10:1
52
What are 4 functions of glia?
Transport nutrients to neurons, clean up brain debris, digest parts of dead neurons, help hold neurons in place
53
What is a nerve impulse?
A rapid reversal in the electrical potential of the membrane as the inside of the neuron switches from negative to positive and that change passes down the axons's membrane
54
How fast is an AP?
Several hundred miles per hour
55
What are the three kinds of cells that might receive chemical signals?
Other neurons, muscle or gland cells
56
What can a chemical synapse trigger in the target cell?
An AP, muscle contraction, stimulation of enzyme activity, inhibition of NT release
57
When was acetylcholine (ACh) discovered?
80 years ago
58
What neurons release ACh? What does that do?
Neurons that are connected to voluntary muscles (causing them to contract), neurons that control the heartbeat and also in many other regions in the brain
59
Where is ACh synthesized?
Axon terminals
60
What happens once ACh has bound to receptors?
It is broken down by acetylcholinesterase and resynthesized in the nerve terminal
61
What is caused when one type of ACh receptor is blocked?
Myasthenia gravis; fatigue and muscle weakness
62
What neurons are lost in AD?
ACh-releasing neurons
63
What are the current type of drugs that are usually used to treat AD?
Drugs that inhibit acetylcholinesterase (increasing ACh in the brain)
64
What are the inhibitory amino acid NTs?
Glycine and GABA (gamma-aminobutyric acid)
65
What increases the activity of GABA?
Benzodiazepines (e.g. Valium) and anticonvulsant drugs
66
What happens to GABA in Huntington's? What does that cause?
Neurons that produce GABA in brain centers that control coordinated movement degenerate, causing uncontrollable movements
67
What are the excitatory amino acid NTs?
Glutamate and aspartate
68
What is activated by the excitatory amino acid NTs?
(Among other things) NMDA receptors (connected to learning and memory in development and specification of nerve contacts)
69
Stimulation vs. overstimulation of NMDA receptors
Beneficial changes in brain vs. nerve cell damage or cell death (what happens as a result of trauma and strokes)
70
Name 2 catecholamines
Dopamine and norepinephrine
71
First dopamine circuit
Dopamine circuit that regulates movement, directly related to disease (Parkinson's)
72
Second dopamine circuit
Dopamine circuit that is thought to be important for cognition and emotion (schizophrenia)
73
Third dopamine circuit
Dopamine circuit that regulates the endocrine system, directs the hypothalamus to manufacture hormones and hold them in the pituitary gland to release into the bloodstream or to trigger the release of hormones held within cells in the pituitary
74
What is levodopa?
Treats Parkinson's; a substance from which dopamine is synthesized
75
What diseases show norepinephrine deficiencies? What do these diseases have in common and what does that say about norepinephrine?
AD, Parkinson's, Korsakoff's syndrome (cognitive disorder caused by chronic alcoholism); all related to memory loss and decline in cognitive functioning; norepinephrine is therefore probably connected to learning and memory
76
Norepinephrine is secreted by what nervous system to regulate what?
Sympathetic NS, regulates heart rate and blood pressure
77
Acute stress releases norepinephrine from what?
Sympathetic nerves and the adrenal medulla
78
Where is serotonin most often found?
Blood platelets and the lining of the digestive tract
79
What has serotonin been connected to?
Sleep quality, mood, depression, anxiety
80
What might be able to manipulate the emotional switches that serotonin controls?
Analogs (chemicals with a similar molecular structure to serotonin)
81
What is Prozac's scientific name and what 2 disorders does it treat?
Fluoxetine; depression and OCD
82
What are peptides?
Short chains of amino acids
83
Where are peptides synthesized and are there more or less peptides than the other NTs?
The cell body; way more
84
When were opiate receptors discovered in the brain? Why was this surprising?
1973; meant the brain produced stuff similar to opium
85
What did scientists name the first natural opiate peptide found? What drug does it resemble?
Enkephalin ("in the head"); morphine
86
What is morphine?
An opium derivative used to kill pain
87
What are opioid peptides (opiate peptides naturally produced by the brain like enkephalin) called?
Endorphins ("endogenous morphine")
88
What are C fibers? What do they contain? What sensation do they cause? What acts through this pathway?
Tiny unmyelinated sensory nerves; substance P; burning pain; capsaicin (active component of chili peppers)
89
What are trophic factors?
Small proteins in the brain that are necessary for development, function, and survival of specific groups of neurons
90
Where are trophic factors made? What do they bind to?
In brain cells; specific neurons that have receptors for them
91
What disorders/diseases could the study of trophic factors help with?
Brain disorders of development and degenerative diseases like AD and Parkinson's
92
What are the chemical signals of the endocrine system?
Hormones
93
What are the organs and such that are sources of hormones?
Pancreas, kidneys, heart, adrenal glands, gonads, thyroid, parathyroid, thymus, even FAT
94
How does the endocrine system work?
It acts on neurons in the brain, which controls the pituitary gland
95
What does the pituitary gland do?
It secretes factors into the blood that act on the endocrine glands to either increase or decrease hormone production
96
What is the relationship between the pituitary gland and the endocrine system called? What is this important for?
A feedback loop; sex, emotion, responses to stress, eating, drinking, regulation of body functions (growth, reproduction, energy use, metabolism)
97
What main hormone receptors does the brain have? What does this activate?
Thyroid hormone receptors, steroid hormone receptors; the receptor proteins then bind to DNA and regulate the action of genes
98
What are the 6 classes of steroid hormones?
Androgens, estrogens, progestins, glucocorticoids, mineralocorticoids, vitamin D
99
What are steroids synthesized from?
Cholesterol
100
What other hormones does the brain have receptors for and what do they do?
Metabolic hormones: insulin, insulin-like growth factor, ghrelin, leptin; taken up from the blood and act to change neuronal activity and certain aspects of neuronal structure
101
What is the main affect of hormones on the brain?
Hormones alter the production of gene products that participate in synaptic transmission as well as the structure of brain cells; this means the brain's capacity for synaptic neurotransmission changes all the time
102
What is a stress hormone that inhibits the ability to learn when you're stressed for prolonged intervals?
The glucocorticoid cortisol
103
What causes the release of FSH and LH into the bloodstream in both males and females?
The neurons in the hypothalamus produce gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH)
104
What do FSH and LH stand for?
Follicle-stimulating hormone; luteinizing hormone
105
What do FSH and LH do in females?
Stimulate ovulation, promote release of ovarian hormones estradiol and progesterone
106
What do FSH and LH do in males?
Promote spermatogenesis, release testosterone into the bloodstream
107
What are the sex hormones?
Testosterone, estrogen, progesterone
108
What do the increased levels of testosterone in males and the increased levels of estrogen in females act on?
They act on the hypothalamus and the pituitary gland to decrease the release of FSH and LH
109
What causes sexual differentiation?
Sex hormones acting in fetal and early postnatal life, and (maybe) genes on either the X or Y chromosome contribute to the differentiation
110
What are 2 sex differences in the brain?
Size and shape of brain structures in the hypothalamus and the arrangement of neurons in the cortex and hippocampus
111
What are the two gas brain messengers?
Nitric oxide and carbon monoxide?
112
How are gas brain messengers made? How do they work?
They are made by enzymes as they are needed and released from neurons by diffusion (they don't act at receptor sites), where they act upon chemical targets (like enzymes in the cell)
113
What are the 4 functions of nitric oxide?
erections, the relaxation that contributes to the normal movements of digestion in intestinal nerves, regulator of cyclic GMP in the brain, neuronal damage (maybe) that follows conditions of excess glutamate (stroke)
114
What lipids serve as brain messengers?
Prostaglandins, endocannabinoids
115
What makes prostaglandins?
Cyclooxygenase
116
What do prostaglandins do?
They induce fevers and generate pain in response to inflammation
117
What does aspirin do and how does it work?
Aspirin reduces a fever by inhibiting cyclooxygenase
118
What is the brain's marijuana?
Endocannabinoids
119
What do endocannabinoids do?
The control NT release, usually by inhibiting NTs, and can also affect the immune system and maybe other stuff (still being discovered), control of behavior
120
What causes endocannabinoids to increase in the brain?
Stressful conditions
121
How can lipid messengers be described?
They are membrane-derived messengers
122
What are second messengers?
Substances that trigger communication within the cell after NTs have bound to their receptors and triggered a response
123
What do second messengers do?
They communicate the chemical message from the NTs to the internal cell machinery
124
What is the "lifespan" of second messenger effects?
A few milliseconds to a few minutes; might also cause long-term NS changes
125
What is an example of a second messenger?
Cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP)
126
How is cAMP made?
It is made when norepinephrine binds to its receptors and the activated receptors binds to a G protein, which then causes adenylyl cyclase to convert ATP into cAMP
127
When does the brain/NS start to develop after birth?
3 weeks
128
What is an example of a disease that scientists think might be developmental?
Schizophrenia
129
Genes important for brain development might lead to susceptibility to what disorder?
Autism spectrum disorders
130
What are the three germ layers (inside out)?
Endoderm, mesoderm, ectoderm
131
About how many genes does the DNA contain within each human cell?
25,000
132
Which germ layer produces signaling molecules?
Mesoderm
133
What do signaling molecules do?
They "turn on" or "turn off" genes
134
What is neural induction?
Signaling molecules triggering some ectoderm cells to become nerve tissue
135
What do the leftover cells in the ectoderm that don't receive any signaling molecules become?
Skin
136
What determines the "fate" of different cells?
Proximity to signaling molecules
137
What is an example of a signaling molecule? Where is it secreted from?
Sonic hedgehog; mesodermal tissue under the developing spinal cord
138
Cells that are closest to sonic hedgehog; cells that are in the middle; cells that are the farthest
A specialized class of glia; motor neurons; interneurons
139
What occurs after induction? When does migration begin?
Migration; 3-4 weeks after conception
140
What forms the brain and spinal cord?
Neural plate (then neural tube)
141
What happens in week seven?
The eyes and the brain's hemispheres begin to appear
142
Where do neurons move as they continue to be produces?
They move from the ventricular zone (inner surface) of the neural tube to the marginal zone (border/outer surface)
143
What happens after neurons stop dividing? Then what?
They form an intermediate zone, where they slowly accumulate as the brain develops; then they migrate to their position with the help of guidance mechanisms
144
What is the main form of neuron guidance? How do they help?
Glia (90% of the guidance); they project radially from the intermediate zone to the cortex (temporary scaffolding)
145
What is the name for how migration occurs? What does it refer to?
"inside-out"; the oldest cells form in the innermost layer of the cortex, the youngest form the outermost
146
How do small inhibitory interneurons (typically found in the CNS) migrate?
They migrate tangentially across the brain
147
What are 3 outside forces that can affect migration?
Alcohol, cocaine, radiation
148
What is caused by misplacement (lack of proper neuron migration)?
Mental retardation or epilepsy
149
What 2 processes allow for neurons to connect?
The growth of dendrites; the growth of axons
150
What is the term for APs jumping from node to node?
Saltatory conduction (saltatory means "to jump")
151
Do APs move faster through myelin or through the nodes?
Myelin
152
How many neurons survive to function in adulthood?
50%
153
What is programmed cell death called?
Apoptosis
154
What is activated in a neuron when it does not receive trophic factors during development?
Apoptosis
155
What produces trophic factors?
Target tissues
156
What does each type of trophic factor do?
Supports the survival of a distinct group of neurons
157
What are trophic factors?
Chemical signals
158
What does NGF stand for? What is it? What does it do?
Nerve growth factor; trophic factor; sensory neuron survival
159
What was discovered about injuries/neurodegenerative diseases and apoptosis?
Injuries and some neurodegenerative diseases kill neurons through apoptosis (instead of directly)
160
What is pruning also referred to as?
Paring back
161
Does most paring back occur before or after birth?
In the embryo
162
What are critical periods characterized by?
High learning rates and enduring consequences for neuronal connectivity
163
What happens after a critical period?
Synapses are lost, the remaining ones are stronger and more precise
164
What does each critical period period do?
It develops a certain brain function
165
When is the last critical period? What brain function does it develop?
Early 20s; prefrontal cortex/frontal lobe
166
When are most critical periods?
Early postnatal life
167
What is a phrase that represents how paring back works? Why?
"Use it or lose it"; connections not used in childhood permanently damage them (monkey that had an eyepatch as a baby)
168
Heightened activity during critical periods can lead to what? Does it go away?
Childhood disorders such as epilepsy; many types of epilepsy fade away by adulthood
169
What is the brain's ability to modify itself?
Plasticity
170
What are the two categories of plasticity?
Experience-expectant, experience-dependent
171
What is experience-expectant plasticity?
Plasticity that requires environmental stimulation (finches need to hear adult songs in childhood)
172
On what organisms are initial stages of visual transduction studied?
Drosophila and mice
173
What is visual transduction?
How light is converted into electrical signals
174
On what organisms is visual processing studied?
Monkeys and cats
175
What two parts of the eye does light first pass through?
Cornea then lens
176
How much of the focusing does the cornea do?
Three-quarters
177
What does the lens do?
Adjusts the focus
178
What is the retina?
A sheet of photoreceptors that line the back of the eye
179
Is the retina part of the PNS or CNS?
CNS
180
How do photoreceptors gather visual information? What happens after that?
Absorbing light and sending electrical signals to other retinal neurons for initial processing and integration; signals sent to other parts of the brain via the optic nerve (there the image is actually processed)
181
Do objects to the right of the center project images to the right part or the left part of the retina?
Left
182
Do objects above the center project images to the top part or the bottom part of the retina?
Bottom
183
What is the size of the pupil controlled by?
Iris
184
What does the size of the pupil control?
How much light enters the eye
185
What is the shape of the lens controlled by? What does this allow for?
Muscles right behind the iris; near or far object ban be brought into focus on the retina
186
What is vision using two eyes called?
Binocular vision
187
About how many fibers does each optic nerve have?
A million
188
Where do (some) nerve fibers cross over? What does this allow for?
The optic chiasm; both sides of the brain can receive signals from both eyes
189
The left half of a scene is registered on what side of the retina and what hemisphere of the cerebrum? What else does this apply to?
Right, right; movement and touch
190
What is the intermediate way station between the retina and the visual cortex?
The LGN (lateral geniculate nucleus)
191
Myelination increases AP speed by a factor of what?
100x
192
If neurons are cultured with muscle tissue, what NT do they produce?
Acetylcholine
193
If neurons are cultured by themselves, what NT do they produce?
Norepinephrine
194
What molecules guide (by attracting/repelling) axon growth?
Signaling molecules
195
Name three signaling molecules.
Netrin, semaphorin, ephrin
196
How many semaphorins have been identified?
At least 15
197
How many ephrins have been identified?
At least 9
198
What guides axon growth (part of the neuron)?
Growth cones
199
In what organism was the first netrin discovered? What did it do?
A worm; guided neurons around the worm's "nerve ring"
200
How do growth cones know where to go?
They have receptors that receive the different signaling molecules
201
What molecules (by attracting/repelling) make neurons connect and form synapses?
Recognition molecules
202
What happens to the tiny portion of the axon once it contacts a dendrite?
It becomes specialized for NT release
203
What happens to the tiny portion of a dendrite once it contacts the axon?
It becomes specialized to receive NTs
204
What passes between the sending and receiving cell to ensure proper contact is made?
"Special molecules"
205
What coordinates the maturation of the synapse once it has been formed? Defects have been related to susceptibility to what?
"Special molecules"; disorders such as autism
206
About how many photoreceptors are in each eye?
125 million
207
What are the two major types of photoreceptors?
Rods and cones
208
Rods constitute what percent of photoreceptors?
95%
209
What are the 3 types of cones?
Red, green, blue
210
What is the central part of the retina where light is focused? What cones does it contain?
Fovea; red and green
211
What is the area around the fovea called? What is it critical for?
Macula; reading and driving
212
What is the leading cause of blindness among the elderly population in developed countries?
Macular degeneration (death of photoreceptors in the macula)
213
What does the first layer of the retina consist of?
Rod and cone photoreceptors
214
What does the middle layer of the retina consist of?
Interneurons
215
What does the third layer of the retina consist of?
Multiple different types of ganglion cells, specialized neurons near the inner surface of the retina
216
What do the axons of the ganglion cells in the retina form?
The optic nerve
217
Near the center of the gaze, ganglion cells receive input from how many cones? What does this allow for?
One, at most a few; high visual acuity, fine detail
218
Near the margins of the gaze, ganglion cells receive input from how many rods and cones? What does this cause?
Many rods and cones; causes the lack of detail at the edges of our vision
219
What is the region of visual space providing input to a visual neuron called?
It's receptive field
220
When is a visual neuron's receptive field activated?
When light hits a tiny region in the center of the field
221
When is a visual neuron's receptive field inhibited?
When light hits the area surrounding the center of the field
222
If light covers the entire receptive field, how does the cell respond?
Weakly
223
Visual information from the retina is relayed through what to what?
Through the LGN of the thalamus to the primary visual cortex (thin sheet of tissue in the occipital lobe)
224
How thin is the primary visual cortex?
Less than one-tenth of an inch thick
225
What does the middle layer of the primary visual cortex receive messages from?
The LGN
226
What kind of response is seen in the middle layer of the primary visual cortex?
Responses similar to those in the retina and LGN
227
What kind of stimuli do the cells in the top and bottom layers of the primary visual cortex respond to?
Stimuli in the shape of bars or edges and those at a particular angle (orientation)
228
Visual signals are fed into at least how many separate processing systems? What do they process?
3; shape, color, and movement, location, and spatial organization
229
Does the perception of movement, depth, perspective, shading and texture depend primarily on light intensity or color?
Light intensity
230
When can major regions of the brain be recognized after conception?
4 weeks
231
When can gyri/sulci be recognized after conception?
6 months
232
What is the cause of an inherited form of blindness that may be corrected by gene therapy?
Mutations in the RPE65 protein
233
What is the condition where the eyes are not properly aligned and point in different directions?
Strabismus (cross-eye)
234
What happens to children with strabismus?
Since they cannot fuse the images in the two eyes, they favor one eye and the other "dies"
235
About when does the blindness in one eye become permanent with strabismus?
8 years
236
When did strabismus used to be treated? When is it treated now?
Waited until kids were older than 4; now before age 4 (when normal vision can still be restored)
237
What makes up the external ear?
The pinna (earlobe) and the external auditory canal
238
The external ear funnels sound into what? What does the funneling do?
The tympanic membrane (eardrum); makes it vibrate
239
What is the malleus (hammer) attached to and what does it do?
The tympanic membrane; transmits the vibration to the incus (anvil)
240
What does the incus (anvil) do?
Passes the vibrations on to the stapes (stirrup)
241
What does the stapes (stirrup) do?
Pushes on the oval window, which separates the air-filled middle ear from the fluid-filled inter ear to produce pressure waves in the inner ear's snail-shaped cochlea
242
Where does the separation of frequencies occur?
The cochlea
243
What are the two membranes of the cochlea called?
The basilar membrane (has the hair cells) and the tectorial membrane (has the fluid)
244
How does the cochlea work?
It is tuned along its length to different frequencies, so that a high note causes one part of the basilar membrane to vibrate and a low note causes another part to vibrate
245
What is riding on the vibrating basilar membrane?
Hair cells topped with microscopic bundles of hairlike stereocilia, which are deflected by the overlying tectorial membrane
246
How many fibers does the auditory nerve have?
30,000
247
What do the hair cells in the inner ear convert the vibrations into? What does this do?
Electrical signals; excites the fibers of the auditory nerve
248
Where does the auditory nerve carry its signals to?
Brainstem
249
How many frequencies does each auditory nerve fiber respond to?
One
250
What is the part of the brain involved in perceiving sound?
The superior temporal gyrus (auditory cortex)
251
In the auditory cortex, proximal neurons tend to respond to similar what but different what?
Similar frequency; different combinations of tones
252
What is the left auditory cortex specialized for?
Perceiving and producing speech
253
What can damage to the left auditory cortex cause?
Someone who can hear but not understand language
254
Sound is the perception of what?
Changes in air pressure
255
Taste and smell is the perception of what?
Chemicals in the air and in food
256
What is flavor a combination of?
Taste and smell
257
What are the five tastes?
Sweet, salty, sour, bitter, umami ("savory" in Japanese)
258
What are the small protuberances on the tongue that taste buds are embedded in?
Papillae
259
What are the chemicals detected by taste buds? Name 3 examples.
Tastants; sugars, salts, acids
260
Besides the tongue, where are taste buds found?
The back of the mouth and on the palate
261
How many taste buds does a person have?
5,000-10,000
262
How many specialized sensory cells does each taste bud have?
50-100
263
When the gustatory cells in taste buds are stimulated, what sends impulses to where? Where are the impulses then relayed to? Then where?
Cranial nerves (that are gustatory nerves), medulla; thalamus; orbital cortex
264
What is another word for "taste nerve"?
Gustatory nerve
265
What are airborne odor molecules called?
Odorants
266
What are odorants detected by?
Receptor proteins found on hairlike cilia at the tips of specialized sensory neurons located in a small patch of mucus membrane lining the roof of the nose
267
What do the axons of olfactory neurons have to pass through to enter the olfactory bulbs?
A thin layer of bone
268
Since an odorant acts acts on more than one receptor (to varying degrees), how do we differentiate between them?
Each odorant has its own "pattern of activity" that is sent by the nerve fibers to the olfactory bulb
269
When an olfactory pattern of activity enters the olfactory bulb, what is created by neurons there?
A spatial map of the odor
270
Impulses stimulated by an olfactory spatial map go where? Then where?
The primary olfactory cortex; the orbital cortex
271
What is another way to say "the back of the underside"?
Orbital
272
In hairy skin areas, what do some touch receptors consist of?
Webs of sensory nerve cell endings wrapped around the base of the hairs
273
Signals from touch receptors pass via what to what? There they synapse with other nerve cells that send the information via what to what?
Sensory nerves to the spinal cord; thalamus to the sensory cortex
274
What does it mean to say that touch is topographic? What is this brain map called?
Larger areas of the sensory cortex are devoted to sensitive areas of the body and smaller areas to less sensitive areas; the homunculus
275
What test do neurologists use to measure sensitivity? How does the test work?
They determine the patient's two-point threshold by poking them at two different places and finding the distance necessary in order for the individual to distinguish that it's two stimuli, not one
276
What are the sensory fibers that respond to nerve-damaging stimuli?
Nociceptors
277
What is an example of an itch-causing chemical that is produced by itch nociceptors?
Histamine (bug bites/allergies)
278
What is another adjective for painful?
Noxious
279
What do prostaglandins do?
Enhance the sensitivity of receptors to tissue damage (can ultimately induce more intense pain)
280
What clinical condition do prostaglandins contribute to?
Allodynia (harmless stimuli is painful)
281
Persistent injury can lead to what?
Hypersensitivity; amplification and prolonging of the "pain" signal
282
Pain and itch messages are transmitted by what to where?
Small, myelinated fibers and C fibers (small, unmyelinated fibers) to the spinal cord
283
Myelinated nerve fibers send what kind of pain?
Fast and sharp (pinprick)
284
C fibers send what kind of pain?
Slow and dull (capsaicin)
285
Where is the pain/itch message received in the brain (from the spinal cord)?
The thalamus/cerebral cortex
286
Pain messages can be suppressed by systems (descending or ascending?) that originate from where? They suppress the pain signals going from what to where?
Descending systems; within the gray matter in the brainstem; from the dorsal horn of the spinal cord to higher brain centers
287
Some of the descending anti-pain neuron systems use naturally occurring chemicals called?
Endogenous opioids (endorphins)
288
What chemical are endorphins functionally similar to?
Morphine
289
Where are opioids medically distributed to (often after surgery)? Why?
The spine; dense distribution of opioid receptors in the spinal cord horn
290
Is there one single area of the brain that generates pain?
No
291
What did H.M. develop as a child? What did he have removed? What was the result?
Severe epilepsy; the medial regions of his temporal lobes; greatly alleviated the seizures but gave him amnesia (he could only remember events/things for a few minutes)
292
What does the medial temporal region include?
The hippocampus and the parahippocampal region (region beneath the hippocampus)
293
Could H.M. remember his childhood?
Yes
294
What is the medial temporal region responsible for? What are cortical areas (areas in the cortex) responsible for?
Forming, consolidating, organizing and retrieving memory; long-term storage
295
What is declarative memory?
Our ability to learn and consciously remember everyday facts and events
296
When we have new experiences, what kind of memory is initially used?
Working memory, a transient form of declarative memory
297
What areas does working memory depend on?
The prefrontal cortex and other cortical areas
298
The prefrontal cortex interacts with a large network of what when dealing with executive memory?
Posterior cortical areas
299
What is semantic memory?
A form of declarative knowledge that includes general facts and data
300
How does semantic memory work?
It has different cortical zones that process different categories of knowledge (animals, faces, words)
301
What are memories of specific personal experiences?
Episodic memories
302
What region initially stores episodic memories?
The medial temporal lobe areas
303
What regions play distinct roles in processing "what," "where," and "when" information about specific events?
Different parts of the parahippocampal region
304
What region links the "what," "where," and "where" elements of an episodic memory?
The hippocampus
305
What is nondeclarative knowledge (procedural memory)
The knowledge of how to do something
306
Procedural memory requires processing by what two brain regions?
The basal ganglia and the cerebellum
307
What kind of nondeclarative knowledge is the cerebellum specifically associated with?
Motor tasks that involve coordinated timing
308
What kind of memory does the amygdala play a role in?
Emotional memory (attaching emotional responses to events)
309
The expression of emotional memories involves what to brain regions? Why?
The hypothalamus and the sympathetic NS; they both support emotional reactions and feelings
310
How are memories stored?
Through a persistent change in the strength and number of synapses
311
What is the scientific name for the sea slug used to understand memory?
Aplysia californica
312
What is long-term potentiation (LTP)?
A long-lasting increase in the strength of a synaptic response following stimulation
313
Where does LTP prominently occur?
Hippocampus (and the cerebral cortex and other brain areas involved in memory)
314
LTP is the result of changes in the strength of synapses at contacts involving what receptors?
NMDA receptors
315
What stabilizes LTP-related synapses? Where is it activated?
Cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP); postsynaptic neuron
316
What activates the release of cAMP?
The release of calcium ions into the synapse
317
What are the two functions of cAMP?
Activates enzymes that make the synapse more sensitive to NTs, activates CREB
318
What does CREB stand for? What does it do?
cAMP-response element binding protein; activates genes that make neurotrophins
319
What disorders are caused by damage to different regions of the left hemisphere?
Language disorders (aphasias)
320
What aphasias are caused by damage to the left frontal lobe?
Nonfluent aphasias (Broca's aphasia); speech is impaired
321
What aphasias are caused by damage to the left temporal lobe?
Fluent aphasias (Wernicke's aphasia); understanding is impaired
322
The mutation of what gene impedes jaw/mouth movement learning for speech and impairs written and spoken language?
FOXP2
323
What region of the brain is important for sentence level comprehension?
Anterior temporal lobe
324
What has been found in the left posterior temporal lobe (related to language)?
A sensory-motor circuit for speech (connects the system for speech recognition with the system for speech production)
325
Muscles that attach to bone and cross one or more joints are what muscles?
Skeletal muscles
326
Muscles that open the joint(s) they span are called what? Close?
Flexor; extensor
327
Muscles that move a joint in the intended direction are called? Opposite?
Agonist; antagonist
328
How many muscle fibers are in each skeletal muscle?
Thousands
329
What is each muscle fiber controlled by?
One alpha motor neuron in the brain or the spinal cord
330
How many muscle fibers does each alpha motor neuron control?
Anywhere from a few to 100 or more
331
What is the term for the unit of an alpha motor neuron and all the muscle fibers it contains?
A motor unit
332
What does ALS stand for?
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis
333
What do muscles act on if they're not skeletal muscles?
Soft tissue
334
What are the muscle receptors that sense slight muscle stretches?
Muscle spindles
335
What fibers innervate muscle spindles?
Sensory fibers
336
What is activated by the sensory fibers in a stretched muscle? What is inactivated? Using what?
Motor neurons; the motor neurons of antagonist muscles; inhibitory interneurons
337
What is the contraction caused by a stretched muscle?
The stretch reflex
338
What monitors the sensitivity of the muscle spindle organs? For what purpose?
Gamma motor neurons; allows the brain to fine-tune the system to different movement tasks
339
What specialized sense organs detect the force applied by a contracting muscle?
Golgi tendon organs
340
What is the reflex that occurs when we step on something sharp? What is the reflex that occurs in the other leg?
Flexion withdrawal; crossed extension reflex
341
Where is the reflex system located? What does this mean?
Within the spinal cord; automatic (without your attention)
342
What brain region is responsible for voluntary movement and has direct control over its alpha motor neurons?
The motor cortex
343
Dysfunction of what brain area can lead to serious movement disorders?
The basal ganglia
344
Which NT helps control movement?
Dopamine
345
Neurons from what brain region supply dopamine to the basal ganglia?
Substantia nigra
346
Parkinson's patients experience the degeneration of what brain area?
Substantia nigra
347
What is a fancy word for the inability to move?
Akinesia
348
Dysfunction of what brain region leads to poor coordination, balance, and even speech difficulties?
Cerebellum
349
What brain region helps us to adjust motor output to deal with changing conditions, like adjusting for an empty vs. full coffee cup?
Cerebellum
350
How much of our lives do we spend asleep?
A third
351
How many people in America are affected by sleep disorders?
70 million
352
How much do sleep disorders cost annually?
$15.9 billion
353
What does EEG stand for?
Electroencephalography
354
What is the first hour of sleep called?
Slow wave sleep
355
How many sleep stages does slow wave sleep contain?
3
356
What stage of sleep is most similar to wakefulness?
REM (rapid eye movement)
357
REM sleep is paired with paralysis of the body's muscles, called what?
Atonia
358
How long does the first REM period usually last?
10-15 minutes
359
What stages of sleep shorten as one gets older?
Slow wave sleep
360
Up to how many hours do infants sleep per day?
18
361
What is the one sleep disorder that doesn't occur at night?
Excessive daytime sleepiness
362
What is sleep disorder that causes the throat to relax to the point of collapse? What other problems can it cause?
Obstructive sleep apnea; high blood pressure and heart attack
363
What are treatments for sleep apnea?
Losing weight, avoiding alcohol, sleeping on one's back, positive pressure mask, surgery
364
What are the arm and leg movements that can occur as one enters slow wave sleep?
Periodic limb movements
365
What sleep disorder causes the muscles to fail to become paralyzed during sleep?
REM behavior disorder
366
What two sleep disorders are connected to Parkinson's? What can they be treated with?
Periodic limb movement and REM behavior disorder; drugs for Parkinson's, a benzodiazepine called clonazepam
367
One out of how many people have narcolepsy?
3,000
368
What is the cause of narcolepsy?
The loss of neurons that contain orexin in the lateral hypothalamus
369
What is orexin also known as?
Hypocretin
370
What is the term for narcoleptics entering a dream state while still awake?
Hypnagogic hallucinations
371
What is the term for narcoleptics having sleep paralysis while still awake? What can trigger this?
Cataplexy; emotional experiences (hearing a joke)
372
Where are most of the brain's wakefulness systems?
The upper brainstem
373
Besides orexin-containing nerve cells, what nerve cells (in what brain area) are important for the sleep-wakefulness cycle?
Hypothalamic nerve cells containing the NT histamine
374
The activation of which two brain regions by which neurotransmitter is particularly important in maintaining activity in the cerebral cortex and consciousness?
Activation of the thalamus and basal forebrain by acetylcholine
375
During slow wave sleep there is an active suppression of arousal systems by a group of nerve cells in the hypothalamus, what is this group of neurons called?
The ventrolateral preoptic nucleus (VLPO)
376
What 2 neurotransmitters does the VLPO contain? What is caused by damage to this area?
Galanin and GABA; irreversible insomnia
377
What kind of EEG does wakefulness trigger?
Low-voltage
378
What kind of EEG does REM trigger?
Activated EEG, but with external input suppressed
379
How often does REM sleep recur?
About every 90 minutes
380
What are the REM-generating neurons?
Neurons that produce acetylcholine and glutamate
381
What are the REM-suppressive neurons?
Neurons that produce norepinephrine, serotonin and GABA
382
What regulates the circadian rhythm? Where is it? What proteins do the cells express? Where do they receive input from?
The suprachiasmatic nucleus; hypothalamus; clock proteins; retina
383
What is the full name of the fruit fly?
Drosophila melanogaster
384
What is the chain of nuclei that receive signals from each other to control the circadian rhythm?
Suprachiasmatic nucleus, subparaventricular nucleus, dorsomedial nucleus of the lateral hypothalamus, VLPO
385
Orexin provides an excitatory signal to neurons that contain what NT? Where are these neurons found?
Norepinephrine; locus coeruleus
386
What is the process where you artificially insert receptors that are sensitive to fiberoptic light pulses?
Ontogenetic stimulation
387
What inhibitory neurochemical increases with prolonged wakefulness? Where is it initially found (before it spreads)?
Adenosine; basal forebrain
388
What is the cellular energy source powers nerve cells in the brain?
ATP (adenosine triphosphate)
389
What is the normal equilibrium of body function called? What is any stimulus that threatens this called?
Homeostasis; stress
390
What is harmful stress called?
Chronic stress
391
Which three communications systems in the brain are activated under stress?
The voluntary nervous system, the autonomic nervous system, the neuroendocrine system
392
What does the voluntary nervous system do in response to stress? What about the neuroendocrine system?
Allows us to move; produces stress hormones
393
What are the two branches of the autonomic NS?
Sympathetic (fight or flight), parasympathetic (rest and digest)
394
What are the stress hormones? Where are the secreted from? What brain region do the activating signals come from?
Glucocorticoids; adrenal gland; hypothalamus
395
Over the short run, which NT mobilizes energy and delivers it to muscles of the body's response?
Epinephrine
396
Which glucocorticoid promotes energy replenishment and efficient cardiovascular function?
Cortisol
397
When do cortisol levels in the body peak? What does this do?
Right before waking; produces a wake-up signal
398
What affects food intake during the sleep-wake cycle?
Glucocorticoids
399
What kind of stress enhances the memory of earlier threatening situations and increases the activity of the immune system?
Acute stress
400
What 2 NTs facilitate the movement of immune cells from the bloodstream and storage organs, such as the spleen, into tissue where they are needed to defend against infection?
Epinephrine and cortisol
401
What is a result of overexposure to glucocorticoids?
Weakened muscles
402
What are the three results of elevated levels of glucocorticoids and epinephrine? What is a result specifically for epinephrine? What can this all lead to?
Hypertension (high blood pressure), atherosclerosis (hardening of the arteries), abdominal obesity; an increase in the activity of chemicals that cause inflammation; arthritis and accelerated aging of the brain
403
Aging rats show impaired neuron function in which area of the brain as a result of increased glucocorticoid secretion throughout their lives? What is this area important for?
Hypothalamus; learning, memory, emotion
404
What is the negative spiral connected to elevated glucocorticoid levels in sleep loss?
Elevated glucocorticoids delaying the onset of sleep, and sleep deprivation raising glucocorticoid levels
405
What is a risk of an overactive immune system that glucocorticoid induced immunosuppression helps with?
An increased risk of autoimmune disorders
406
What drugs treat autoimmune disorders?
Man-made glucocorticoids (hydrocortisone and prednisone)
407
Which body system receives messages from the autonomic nervous system? When stress is chronic, what can this cause?
The cardiovascular system; atherosclerosis, heart attack/heart disease
408
What is the difference between norepinephrine and epinephrine?
Norepinephrine is released by nerves, epinephrine is been released by the adrenal glands
409
What NT produces calming effects when released in the parasympathetic nervous system?
Acetylcholine
410
What hormone is released by the hypothalamus and travels to the pituitary gland to trigger the release of another hormone (called what) that travels to the adrenal glands and stimulates the release of cortisol?
Corticotrophin releasing hormone (CRH), adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH)
411
What was the average life expectancy in 1900? How many people (what %) were over the age of 65?
47; 3 million (4%)
412
What was the average life expectancy in 2007? Today, how many people (what %) are over the age of 65?
78; 39 million (13%)
413
How old was the oldest known human and what was her name?
Jeanne Calment, 122
414
What is the term for a progressive and severe impairment in mental functioning that interferes with the activities of daily living?
Dementia
415
What is the most common form of dementia?
AD
416
Name three forms of dementia in the elderly besides AD.
Cerebrovascular disease, Pick's disease, Lewy body disease
417
Dementias affect how many elderly people in the United States? How many of these cases are severe?
6.8 million; 1.8 million
418
When does the brain reach its maximum weight?
Age 20
419
What is one way that healthy neurons respond to dead neurons? How can a damaged neuron respond to itself?
Expansion of dendrites; readjustment of axon and dendrites
420
What is the cortex of the occipital lobe called?
Striate cortex
421
What is a neurological difference between stimulated rats and nonstimulated rats (over their lifetime)?
More and longer dendrite branches in the cerebral cortex
422
What is a neurological difference between acrobatic rats and rats that only receive physical exercise or no exercise?
More synapses per brain cell
423
One theory of brain aging emphasizes the persistent accumulation of oxidative damage caused by what?
Free radicals, cell by-products that destroy fats and proteins vital to normal cell functioning
424
What do neuroscientists speculate may be linked to events leading to cell death in the nervous system?
Genes (the proteins produced by them)
425
Which two animal models have been used to discover the role of neurotransmitters in cell communication?
Rats and mice
426
Which two animal models have been used to study vision and other senses?
Rabbits and cats
427
Which three invertebrate animal models have been used to learn more about the human nervous system?
Fruit flies, zebrafish, sea slugs
428
Treatments for which 2 brain disorders target the synapse?
ADHD, Parkinson's disease
429
Neurons containing which NT are lost in Alzheimer's?
Acetylcholine
430
Which Noble Laureate discovered that dopamine was depleted in Parkinson's patients?
Arvid Carlsson
431
Which animal model was used to discover that dopamine is highly concentrated in which brain area? What is this brain area responsible for?
Pigeons, basal ganglia; motor function
432
What is levodopa converted to in brain cells?
Dopamine
433
Which part of the brain is affected by drugs? Especially neurons that contain which NT in which area? What does this area communicate with?
The reward pathway; dopamine neurons in the ventral tegmental area; nucleus accumbens
434
Which Noble Laureate used sea slugs to better understand memory? What synapses did he strengthen in them?
Eric Kandel; synapses controlling their protective reflex
435
What is a condition in which the vision of one eye is greatly reduced because the eyes do not work well together? When is it best treated?which two neuroscientists won the Nobel Prize (which year) for their work on this condition?
Amblyopia; before age 8; David Hubel and Torsten Wiesel (1981)
436
What is a technique used to measure the amount of a particular brain chemical found in the specified area of the brain?
Microdialysis
437
What kind of amino acids can be injected into brain cells in order for activity to show up on film?
Radioactive amino acids
438
What enzyme can be injected that allows for the identification of nerve fibers under a microscope?
Horseradish peroxidase
439
What is the study of the electrical properties of neurons?
Electrophysiology
440
What are the small tools used to record electrical activity?
Electrodes
441
What does PET stand for and what is it used for?
Positron emission tomography; measuring blood flow or energy consumption in the brain
442
What is a positron?
A positively charged particle
443
For PET, small amounts of what is introduced into the blood and then carried to different brain areas? It shows up on the screen in proportion to how hard what is working?
A radioisotope; local neurons
444
PET allows you to measure the changes in the release of what?
Some NTs
445
What does it SPECT stand for? What is a pro and a con of SPECT?
Single photon mission computed tomography; not as detailed, less expensive
446
What does MRI stand for and what kind of imaging does it provide? What does it measure?
Magnetic resonance imaging, high-quality, 3-D images of organs and structures inside the body; blood flow
447
How long is an MRI procedure?
15 minutes
448
What produces a bright image on an MRI?
Tissue that contains a lot of water and fat
449
What produces a black image on an MRI?
Tissue that contains a little or no water, such as bone
450
What kind of MRI can assess the path of fiber tracks in the brain (the connectivity between regions)? What does it take advantage of?
Diffusion tensor imaging; the diffusion rates of water (along fiber tracts)
451
Brain damage from which 2 conditions can be best visualized with an MRI?
Tumors and stroke damage
452
What does MRS stand for and what does it measure?
Magnetic resonance spectroscopy, the concentration of specific chemical (like NTs)
453
What does an fMRI compare? What techniques does it combine?
Brain activity under resting and active conditions; MRI and a strategy for detecting increases in blood oxygen levels when brain activity brings fresh blood to particular area of the brain (correlate of neuronal activity)
454
What does MEG stand for and what does it reveal? What does it measure?
Magnetoencephalography, the source of weak magnetic field emitted by neurons; rapidly changing patterns of neural activity, when certain areas become active
455
What 2 imaging techniques combine details about what areas of the brain are active when an individual is engaged in a particular task and when certain areas become active?
fMRI and MEG
456
What technique shines lasers through the stall at near infrared frequencies, which renders the skull transparent? Blood absorbs different light frequencies when it has consumed or not consumed what? What is then used to create maps of brain activity based on the blood flow?
Near infrared spectroscopy (NIRS); oxygen; diffuse optical tomography
457
What technique records how light scatters in response to rapid cellular changes that arise when neurons fire?
The event-related optical signal
458
What does TMS stand for and what does it induce in the brain? How?
Transcranial magnetic stimulation, electrical impulses; altering magnetic fields
459
A functional correlation between a region in a behavior can be established when what 2 imaging techniques are used?
TMS and fMRI
460
What does DNA stand for and what are its four bases? How many chromosomes in each human cell? How many pairs? How many pairs of genes? How many disorders are suspected to have a genetic basis?
Deoxyribonucleic acid; adenine, cytosine, guanine, thymine; 46 (23 pairs); 20-25,000 pairs; 7,000
461
What technique looks carefully at the overall chromosome make up of a person?
Chromosome microarrays
462
What is it called when each gene is missing? What is it called when a gene has been copied more than the usual amount?
Deletion; duplication
463
What gene, when mutated, is responsible for Huntington's disease?
HTT (huntingtin)
464
What gene is responsible for inherited retinoblastoma? What is that?
RB1; a malignant childhood eye tumor that can lead to blindness and death
465
What gene is responsible for Duchenne muscular dystrophy? What is that?
X-linked gene DMD; progressive muscular disease
466
What disease causes severe problems involving the brain, eyes, in muscles, leading to death in infancy or early childhood? How many genes are associated with this disease?
Walker-Warburg syndrome; at least 5 genes
467
What gene, when mutated, is responsible for the most common cause of inherited intellectual disability in males (what is it)?
FMR1, fragile X syndrome
468
People missing a certain segment of which chromosome have a higher chance of developing mental illness? What is this called?
22; 22q deletion syndrome
469
What gene helps the brain to grow and when mutated causes smooth brains and seizures? Does either parent have the mutation?
LIS1; no
470
What 2 conditions include autism or autism-like features as symptoms? What genes are they associated with?
Tuberous sclerosis complex (TSC1 and TCS2), Rett syndrome (MECP2)
471
Deletions of a certain portion of which chromosome can lead to a variety of neurological symptoms, including autism?
16
472
What is a problem with the new DNA sequencing technology and what is it expected to uncover?
Volume of data produced, the functional sequence of all 20,000 something genes and the remaining DNA that is thought to regulate these genes
473
What is the 20-25,000 human genes collectively called?
The exome
474
What syndrome causes congenital intellectual disabilities along with certain abnormal facial features? What gene is responsible? How was it discovered?
Kabuki syndrome (MLL2); the new DNA sequencing
475
What disorder is characterized by impaired social skills, verbal and nonverbal communication difficulties, and narrow, obsessive interests or repetitive behaviors?
Autism spectrum disorders (ASD)
476
One in how many babies is diagnosed with ASD in America?
110
477
How many genes have been linked to an increased risk of autism?
100
478
How is ASD diagnosed?
Behavioral symptoms, usually around age 3 (can be as young as 1)
479
Some forms of autism may be due to the dysregulation of what body system in either the mother or the child?
Immune system
480
When was ADHD first described? What percent of school age children does it affect? What percent of these children will continue to experience symptoms as an adult? How is it diagnosed? How long do symptoms have to last?
Over 100 years ago; 5-8%; 60%; evaluation; six months
481
Genes encoding components of the transmission of which 2 NTs have been connected with ADHD?
Dopamine and norepinephrine
482
In ADHD, altered activity is often observed in circuits connecting which three brain areas in which hemisphere?
The cortex, the striatum, the cerebellum; the right hemisphere
483
Recent imaging studies have shown reduced transmission of what in at least some ADHD patients? What brain area would be affected by this? How do ADHD medications work (name one)?
Catecholamines; prefrontal cortex; enhance catecholamine transmission (Ritalin-methylphenidate)
484
What is the most frequently occurring chromosomal condition? One in how many babies have the condition? How many babies total annually in the United States?
Down syndrome; 691; 6,000 annually
485
What is the genetic error that occurs in down syndrome?
Extra copy of chromosome 21 (or part of its long arm) is present in the egg, or less commonly, the sperm
486
At age 25, the risk for giving birth to a baby with Down syndrome is one in how many babies? The risk at age 40? However, because of higher fertility rates in younger women, what percent of children with Down syndrome are born to women under 35? Prenatal screening tests can detect Down syndrome is what percent of cases?
1,250; 100; 80%; 70%
487
How can definitive prenatal diagnosis of Down syndrome be obtained (two techniques)?
Chorionic villus sampling or amniocentesis
488
Approximately how many physical and developmental characteristics are associated with Down syndrome?
50
489
At what age do people with Down syndrome show neurological changes similar to those seen in AD? At what age do most show cognitive decline?
40; 60
490
Approximately what percent of children in the United States have some form of learning disability involving listening, speaking, reading, writing, reasoning, math? Which disability is the most common?
8-10%; dyslexia
491
Of those identified as learning disabled, what percent have dyslexia? What percent of Americans total have dyslexia?
80%; 15-20%
492
In people with dyslexia, there is a deficit within what component of the language system? What does this result in?
Phonology; difficulty in both oral language and reading
493
With what kind of languages is slow reading the only manifestation of dyslexia?
Languages that have a consistent relationship between letters and sounds, such as Finnish or Italian
494
What 3 brain regions are different dyslexic readers? Which hemisphere?
Two posteriorly (parieto-temporal, occipito-temporal), one anteriorly around the inferior frontal region (Broca's area); left
495
What does GWAS stand for and what percent of dyslexia cases did it show to be genetically connected?
Genome-wide association studies, less than 1%
496
What percent of Americans (and how many) abuse drugs on a regular basis? Drug abuse costs America how much each year?
9% (22 million); $600 billion
497
What is it called when drug abuse alters the very structure and chemical make up of the brain?
Drug addition/drug dependence
498
What circuit do abused drugs activate?
The brain reward system
499
What is the progressive need for a higher drug dose to achieve the same effect?
Tolerance
500
How many American smoked in 2009? How many Americans does tobacco kill each year? What is the overall cost of smoking each year?
70 million; 440,000; $193 billion annually
501
What is the leading preventable cause of death in the United States?
Tobacco use
502
What does nicotine act on?
Nicotinic acetylcholine receptors
503
Is nicotine a stimulant or a sedative?
Both!
504
Nicotine releases what from the adrenal glands and what from the brain?
Epinephrine, dopamine
505
About how many people are addicted to nicotine?
One million
506
What are 4 treatments for a nicotine addiction?
Nicotine gum, transdermal patch, nasal spray, inhalers
507
What was the first non-nicotine prescription drug? What kind of drug is it?
Bupropion; antidepressant
508
What is a drug used for nicotine addiction that interacts directly with the acetylcholine nicotinic receptor in a key part of the brain's reward circuitry and prevents nicotine from activating this circuit?
Varenicline
509
How many people abuse alcohol or alcoholic?
Nearly 17.6 million
510
What is the leading preventable cause of mental retardation in the United States? 1-3 in how many babies are born with this syndrome?
Fetal alcohol syndrome; 1,000
511
What is the main chronic health problem associated with alcohol addiction that causes scarring of the liver?
Cirrhosis
512
Besides cirrhosis, other chronic liver diseases are responsible for how many deaths each year?
29,000
513
What is the estimated annual cost of alcohol abuse and addiction?
$185 billion
514
What is the active ingredient in alcoholic beverages? Is it a stimulant or a depressant? What are two side effects?
Ethanol; stimulant in low doses, depressant in high doses; heat loss and dehydration
515
Alcohol's interaction with which NT receptors can calm anxiety, impair muscle control, and delay reaction time?
Gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA)
516
In high doses, alcohol can cloud thinking and lead to coma by decreasing the function of what receptors that recognize what NT?
N-methyl-d-aspartate (NMDA) receptors, glutamate
517
Animal research has shown that alcohol works in providing pleasurable feelings by activating what system?
The endogenous opioid (endorphin) system
518
What medication has been developed for heroin addiction and can also be used for alcohol addiction due to the connection with the endogenous opioid system? How does it work?
Naltrexone; blocks opioid receptors
519
What 3 brain systems are affected by cocaine and amphetamines?
Prefrontal cortex, nucleus accumbens, ventral tegmental area
520
What 4 brain systems are affected by opiates?
Prefrontal cortex, nucleus accumbens, ventral tegmental area, amygdala
521
What 5 brain systems are affected by alcohol?
Prefrontal cortex, nucleus accumbens, ventral tegmental area, amygdala, hippocampus
522
What is the active ingredient in marijuana? What receptors does it bind to? What do those receptors normally do?
Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC); cannabinoid receptors; coordinate movement
523
Which brain structure contains a lot of THC receptors?
The hippocampus
524
Cannabinoid receptors normally buying to natural internal chemicals called what (name one)?
Endocannabinoids (anandamide)
525
What are 2 examples of opiates and what do opiates do?
Morphine and heroin, increase the amount of dopamine released in the brain reward system and mimic the effects of endogenous opioids
526
What is a standard treatment for opiate addiction that is a long-acting oral opioid that helps keep craving, withdrawal, and relapse under control?
Methadone
527
What are 2 other available opiate addiction medications that act as antagonists at opioid receptors; that is, they can curb the allure of opiates by blocking the opiate receptors so that opiates produce no pleasurable affects?
Naloxone and naltrexone
528
What is a medication for opiate abuse that produces a similar effect as heroin but is less harmful and less of a high? How many patients has it been prescribed to in America?
Buprenorphine; more than 500,000
529
What is the class of drugs that includes cocaine and amphetamines?
Psychostimulants
530
In 2009, how many people over the age of 12 had abused cocaine?
4.8 million
531
How does cocaine work?
It blocks the reuptake of dopamine from the synapse
532
Alterations in dopamine activity in which brain area is thought to eventually lead to cocaine addiction?
Nucleus accumbens
533
What kind of cocaine medication is currently undergoing clinical trial?
Vaccines that produce antibodies for cocaine
534
Name 5 club drugs.
MDMA (ecstasy), herbal ecstasy, rohypnol ("roofies"), GHB (gamma hydroxy-butyrate), ketamine
535
MDMA and its side effects are similar to what other kind of drugs?
Cocaine and amphetamines
536
Are rohypnol, GHB, and ketamine stimulants or depressants? What nervous system do they affect?
Central nervous system depressants
537
What is another word for bodybuilding affects?
Anabolic
538
What drug has been used for the euphoric, sedative, and anabolic effects in the United States since about 1990?
GHB
539
What is a fast-acting general anesthetic that also has sedative, hypnotic, analgesic, and hallucinogenic properties?
Ketamine
540
What is a drug that brings about a reversible loss of consciousness?
A general anesthetic
541
What degenerative neurological disorder is rare before the age of 60 but increasingly prevalent in each decade there after?
AD
542
Alzheimer's affects what percent of Americans aged 65 to 74 and what percent of those 85 and older? Approximately how many Americans have Alzheimer's? How many people will probably be affected by the year 2050?
5%, 50%; 5.3 million; 14 million
543
AD is the which leading cause of death in the United States and the which leading cause of death for Americans age 65 and older?
seventh, fifth
544
How is Alzheimer's diagnosed?
Can be diagnosed with 80-90% (early vs. later stages) accuracy using examinations, brain imaging, medical history but final confirmation requires the examination of brain tissue, usually obtained at autopsy
545
In Alzheimer's, there are reductions in which (name 4) neurotransmitters that allows cells to communicate with one another?
Acetylcholine, somatostatin, monoamines , glutamate
546
What causes the neuritic plaques that are a hallmark of Alzheimer's disease? What causes the neurofibrillary tangles? Where is each found?
Beta amyloid peptide (spaces around synapses); modified tau protein (neuronal cell bodies)
547
What is inherited Alzheimer's disease?
Early-onset Alzheimer's disease
548
The gene encoding the amyloid precursor protein (APP) is found on which chromosome?
21
549
In some families with early-onset Alzheimer's, mutations have been identified in which 2 proteins?
Presenilin 1 and 2
550
What gene influences susceptibility for Alzheimer's later in life and exists in three forms? Which form is clearly associated with enhanced risk?
Apolipoprotein E (apoE); APOE epsilon 4
551
How many drugs have been approved by the FDA to treat AD? How many of them prevent the breakdown of which chemical important for memory and thinking? How many of them regulate which brain chemical that may cause brain cell death when produced in large amounts?
Five; four prevent the breakdown of acetylcholine; one regulates glutamate
552
Researchers are trying to modulate the genes that code for which 2 enzymes cleave the amyloid peptide from its larger precursor (APP)?
Beta and gamma secretases
553
What are the enzymes that break down amyloid called?
Alpha secretases
554
How many people does ALS strike annually? What is the average survival time from symptom onset? How many Americans have the disease at any given time? How much does treatment cost America annually? In its final stages, how much can it cost a family annually?
5,600; 2-5 years; 30,000; $300 million; $200,000
555
What is ALS commonly known as and what neurons does it affect?
Lou Gehrig's disease, neurons that controls voluntary muscle movement (motor neurons)
556
What is death usually caused by with ALS?
Pneumonia or respiratory failure
557
What 2 imaging techniques can help identify ALS?
Computed tomography and MRI
558
What percent of ALS cases are sporadic? Mutations in what gene (the most widely studied one) is responsible for the genetic form of ALS? What does this gene normally do?
90%; superoxide dismutase; defense against oxidative distress
559
What kind of drug moderately slows the progression of ALS?
An anti-glutamate drug
560
What are 3 potential causes of ALS?
An excess amount of the neurotransmitter glutamine, oxygen in a dangerous form in the body that causes oxidative distress, an auto-immune response that turns against body tissue
561
How many Americans are affected by Huntington's disease? How many Americans are at risk for Huntington's disease?
30,000; 200,000
562
When does Huntington's disease usually appear and how long is the period over which it progresses?
Ages 30-50, 10-20 year period
563
Which two brain areas does Huntington's affect? What functions do these areas serve in one word each?
Basal ganglia (coordination), cortex (thought)
564
What disease is characterized by difficulty swallowing, unsteady gait, loss of balance, impaired reasoning, memory problems?
Huntington's disease
565
When was the gene that (when mutated) causes Huntington's discovered? What is a problem with our ability to confirm diagnosis?
1993; ethical considerations
566
What mutated gene causes Huntington's? Does the mutated gene code for? What kind of mutation is the mutation?
HTT; an abnormal form of the huntingtin protein; an expanded triplet repeat (molecular stutter)
567
What protein appears to be associated with proteins involved in transcription, protein turnover, and energy production?
Huntingtin
568
Approximately how many Americans are affected by Parkinson's in the United States? When do people typically start to show symptoms? What is the only known risk factor of Parkinson's?
1.5 million; age 50; aging
569
What disease is characterized by slowness of movement, muscular rigidity, resting tremors, and walking and balance impairment?
Parkinson's disease
570
Can Parkinson's cause changes in non-motor brain functions?
Yes
571
Parkinson's is caused by the loss of what kind of the neurons in which brain area? Where is that brain area found?
Dopamine-containing neurons in the substantia nigra pars compacta; midbrain
572
What percent of cells must be lost in Parkinson's before symptoms occur?
40%
573
When was it discovered that Parkinson's is associated with a decrease in dopamine? When was levodopa first used?
1950s; 1960s
574
What drug is often combined with levodopa to treat Parkinson's and is effective in that it reduces the breakdown of levodopa in the bloodstream, allowing greater levels of dopamine to reach the brain?
Carbidopa
575
Does dopamine replacement therapy for Parkinson's slow the progression of the disease or treat the symptoms or both?
Treats the symptoms
576
What is the neurotoxin used to re-create Parkinson's in rodent and nonhuman primate animal models?
MPTP (1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6 tetrahydropyridine)
577
How was MPTP discovered?
Drug dealers were trying to come up with a heroin-like compound and self-injected MPTP and developed a neurological condition that was indistinguishable from Parkinson's!
578
Which specific regions of what brain area in animal models of Parkinson's is overactive and, when destroyed, can greatly reduce symptoms?
The pallidum and subthalamic nucleus of the basal ganglia
579
What to non-drug treatments are used to treat Parkinson's?
Pallidotomy and chronic deep-brain stimulation
580
Gene transfer of what proteins could potentially help with Parkinson's disease and is being tested in clinical trials?
Trophic factors
581
What mental disorders are considered the most common mental illnesses? What percent of the adult population is affected in any given year? How many Americans is that?
Anxiety disorders; 18%; 40 million
582
What is the fear of heights?
Acrophobia
583
What is the fear of open spaces?
Agoraphobia
584
What fraction of adults with OCD develop their symptoms as children?
A third
585
How many American adults are affected annually by OCD?
2.2 million
586
What kind of brain imaging reveals abnormalities in both cortical in deep areas of the brain in OCD patients? This implicates changes in what nervous system?
PET; central nervous system
587
What kind of OCD do dogs have?
Acral lick syndrome
588
What was the first effective treatment developed for people with OCD?
The serotonergic antidepressant clomipramine
589
What are 2 SSRIs used to treat OCD?
Sertraline and paroxetine
590
What kind of behavior intervention is useful in treating patients with OCD?
Exposure and response prevention
591
What is the lifetime prevalence rate of panic disorder in the United States?
4.7%
592
What are 2 effective treatments for panic disorder?
Antidepressants, including SSRIs, and cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT)
593
What is an effective treatment for phobias?
Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT)
594
What psychiatric disorder is associated with dysregulation of stress hormones, disordered sleep, and major depressive disorder?
PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder)
595
What is the lifetime prevalence rate of PTSD in the United States? What is the prevalence rate for women and what is the prevalence rate for men?
6.8%; 9.7% in women and 1.8% in men
596
What neurotransmitter is produced at very high levels in patients with PTSD?
Norepinephrine
597
What drug that has been used to lower blood pressure for more than 20 years is now used to treat nightmares experience with PTSD?
The alpha-1 blocked prazosin
598
What drugs are being tested on individuals exposed to trauma but must be administered shortly after the trauma, before PTSD has been established, which brings up complex ethical issues?
Beta-blockers such as propranolol
599
What are two atypical psychotherapies used to treat PTSD?
Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing therapy
600
The discovery of brain receptors for the benzodiazepine anti-anxiety drugs has sparked research to identify what chemical messengers?
The brain's own anti-anxiety chemical messengers
601
What receptors do benzodiazepines bind to? What do they enhance responsiveness to?
GABA receptors; endogenous GABA
602
What receptors have been found to be altered in the central nervous system of patients with PTSD?
GABA receptors
603
How many Americans are affected by Tourette syndrome? Males are affected how many times more often than females?
200,000; 3 to 4 times
604
When do symptoms of Tourette syndrome usually appear? How long do the symptoms have to persist for?
Ages 4-8 (rarely they can emerge in the late teenage years); more than a year
605
In what percent of individuals with Tourette's does the disorder remain constant throughout their lifetime?
50%
606
Tourette's is inherited and seems to result from abnormal activity in what brain system?
Basal ganglia
607
What 2 stimulant medications have been prescribed for ADHD and have been reported to also improve attention and decrease tics in Tourette syndrome?
Methylphenidate and dextroamphetamine
608
What drugs can be prescribed for the obsessive-compulsive symptoms if they interfere significantly with daily functioning in Tourette syndrome?
SSRIs and antidepressants
609
How is medication administered for Tourette syndrome?
In small doses with gradual increase until maximum symptom relief with the minimal side effects is achieved
610
Physical symptoms of depression may reflect disturbances in which brain region? This causes the excessive production of what?
Hypothalamus; stress hormones
611
Depressed patients have been shown to fail to shut off the secretion of what stress hormone in response to potent synthetic analogs that normally feedback to shut off secretion?
Cortisol
612
What brain imaging technique has been used to implicate what region found within the prefrontal cerebral cortex in depressed patients? What does this region normally integrate?
PET, the anterior cingulate gyrus; cognition and emotion
613
What is the chief experimental target for deep brain stimulation in severely depressed patients who have not responded to other treatments?
The anterior cingulate gyrus within the prefrontal cerebral cortex
614
What is the lifetime risk of a depressive episode severe enough to warrant treatment in the United States? In the past year, what percent of U.S. adults have experienced a major depression? What percent of such individuals respond to drugs, psychotherapy, or a combination of both?
18%; 6.7%; 80%
615
What are 2 non-drug techniques (besides therapy) used to treat severely depressed patients?
Electroconvulsive therapy and deep brain stimulation
616
What NTs do currently approved antidepressant medications increase in synapses? What kind of change does this cause?
Norepinephrine or serotonin or sometimes dopamine; plastic changes in cells and circuits, leading to an improvement in symptoms over several weeks
617
What drug that blocks NMDA glutamate receptors has been shown to alleviate depressed symptoms rapidly?
Ketamine
618
What is another term for bipolar disorder?
Manic-depressive illness
619
What is mild mania called?
Hypomania
620
Bipolar disorder that is characterized by full manic episodes and depressions affects what percent of the population worldwide? When people who suffer from hypomania along with depression are factored in, what is the percentage then?
1%, 2.6%
621
When and how was lithium discovered as a treatment for bipolar disorder?
1940s, guinea pigs were injected with it and they became placid, suggesting that it was a mood stabilizer
622
On top of lithium, what additional treatments do many bipolar people require?
Treatments for depression
623
What drug was first developed as an anticonvulsant and is now another medication that can be used as a mood stabilizer to treat bipolar disorder?
Valproate
624
How many Americans are affected by schizophrenia? What percent? What are the annual costs that go towards treating schizophrenia?
2.4 million; 1.1%; $62.7 billion
625
Brain scans and postmortem studies on patients with schizophrenia show abnormalities in the size of what parts of the brain?
Enlarged ventricles, reduced size of certain brain regions
626
What 2 brain imaging techniques were used while schizophrenic patients performed cognitive tasks to show abnormal functioning in specific regions?
PET and fMRI
627
Brain systems using what 3 neurotransmitters appear to be particularly involved in the development of schizophrenia?
Dopamine, glutamate, GABA
628
Mutations of what kind of genes been identified as increasing the risk of developing schizophrenia?
Genes that are involved in controlling neuronal communication
629
When is schizophrenia usually diagnosed?
Ages 15 to 25
630
What percent of schizophrenics return to a productive life after a single episode, what percent will have intermittent episodes throughout their lives, what percent will not recover their ability to live as independent adults?
15%, 60%, 25%
631
What was the first antipsychotic drug discovered to treat schizophrenia? When was is discovered? How many more effective antipsychotic drugs have been developed since then?
Chlorpromazine; 1950s; more than 20
632
What is an irreversible movement disorder associated with first-generation antipsychotic medications that results in uncontrollable movements, such as grimacing or rapid eye blinking?
Tardive dyskinesia
633
How does the first generation of antipsychotic drugs work?
Inhibits certain dopamine receptors, results in Parkinsonian side effects
634
How does the second generation of antipsychotic drugs work?
More effective in treating the positive symptoms of schizophrenia but they still have debilitating side effects like weight gain, blood disorders, muscle pain
635
What are the "positive" symptoms of schizophrenia? What are the "negative" ones?
Hallucinations, delusions, confused thinking; inability to experience pleasure and lack of motivation
636
Where do primary brain tumors arise?
Within the brain
637
Where do metastatic (secondary) brain tumors arise?
They arise in some other part of the body and spread through the bloodstream into the brain
638
In every 100,000 people, how many cases of primary brain tumors are there? How many new cases occur in the United States annually?
19; 35,000
639
What are the most common symptoms of a brain tumor?
Seizures and headaches
640
What is the term for typically malignant brain tumors that release the NT glutamate at toxic concentrations? Why is this particularly bad?
Gliomas; kills off nearby neurons to make room for the expansion of the tumor
641
Where do the seizures that are associated with brain tumors originate from?
Tissue surrounding the tumor
642
What destroys tumor cells that may remain after surgery and radiation?
Chemotherapy
643
Is chemotherapy effective for gliomas?
No, it is hard for chemotherapeutic drugs to reach the brain
644
What drugs relieve the brain swelling caused by a brain tumor and what drugs to relieve the seizures?
Steroid drugs, antiepileptic drugs
645
What are antibodies being studied that hone in on receptors on the surface of tumor cells?
Monoclonal antibodies
646
What is a therapy being studied during which a brain tumor's blood supply is restricted?
Anti-angiogenic therapy
647
What is a scorpion-derived toxin that interferes with the spread of brain tumors and has shown promise in clinical studies?
Chlorotoxin
648
What are scientists that study diseases in human populations?
Epidemiologists
649
How many people are affected by MS in the United States and how many people are affected worldwide?
400,000, 2.5 million
650
When is MS usually diagnosed?
Between ages 20 and 40
651
What is an autoimmune disease in which the body attacks it's own myelin sheaths in the central nervous system?
MS
652
The loss of myelin results in damage to what?
Nerve fibers
653
Following the loss of myelin in MS, the sheath is either repaired or replaced by what?
Scars, or scleroses, of hardened patches of tissue
654
What are the areas of disease activity referred to in patients with MS?
Lesions or plaques
655
Siblings of people with MS are at a what percent risk of developing MS (how many times higher than the general population)? What is the risk for an identical twin?
2-3% risk (10-15 times higher); 30%
656
How much more prevalent is MS in temperate zones such as the northern United States and northern Europe? What race is most susceptible?
5 times; caucasians
657
What do the symptoms of MS depend on?
The site of the damage
658
Which areas of the nervous system are commonly affected in MS?
The spinal cord, cerebellum, optic nerve
659
What is the form of MS that is characterized by acute attacks that last for several weeks to a month and then spontaneously improve?
Relapsing/remitting
660
What is the form of MS characterized by ongoing nerve fiber degeneration?
Progressive
661
What drugs are often used to treat MS? What are they effective for?
Steroids; shortening attacks
662
What is another word for muscle stiffness?
Spasticity
663
What disease is characterized by numbness, clumsiness, blurred vision, slurred speech, weakness, loss of bladder control, cognitive problems, fatigue, pain, tremors?
MS
664
In 2009, how many people worldwide became infected with HIV? How many people are now living with HIV?
2.5 million; 33 million
665
What is the advanced HIV infection known as?
Acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS)
666
In developing countries, what percent of the people who need therapy are receiving such treatment? What percent of the cases are made up of women?
36%; 50%
667
What is a disorder that affects more than 50% of people with HIV?
HIV-associated neurocognitive disorder (HAND)
668
What is a treatment for HIV that causes people to still be affected by HAND but not to the same degree?
Modern combination antiretroviral treatment (CART)
669
What is a protein secreted by HIV-infected cells that is suspected of neurotoxicity and could be related to HAND?
Viral Tat
670
Milder forms of HAND have been reported in what percent of HIV-infected people who are medically asymptomatic?
30-40%
671
Examination of the brains of persons dying of what disease can reveal loss of neurons, abnormalities in white matter, and injury to cellular structures that are involved in signaling between neurons?
AIDS
672
A highly active version of what HIV treatment is effective in reducing the incidence of severe HAND? What is severe HAND also called?
CART; AIDS dementia
673
What is a type of nerve injury in extremities that causes discomfort ranging from tingling and burning to severe pain and is also a major neurological problem commonly seen in patients with what disease?
Peripheral neuropathy, HIV
674
Certain antiretroviral drugs that are used to treat HIV produce what kind of toxicity and exacerbate what neuropathy?
Mitochondrial toxicity, peripheral neuropathy
675
How many people in the United States suffer from neurological trauma each year and how many die? What are the 2 leading causes of brain injury? What are the annual economic costs to treat people living with brain injury?
1.7 million, 52,000; falls and automobile accidents; $60 billion
676
Approximately how many people are living in the United States with spinal cord injury? Each year, how many new injuries reported? What are the annual economic costs to treat people living with spinal cord injury?
265,000; 12,000; $10 billion
677
What are 3 treatments for the increased intracranial pressure that is a result of traumatic brain injury?
The removal of cerebrospinal fluid, moderate hyperventilation to temporarily decrease blood volume, administration of drugs to reduce cellular metabolism or to remove water from the injured tissue
678
What is the swelling as a result of excess accumulation of water in the brain called?
Edema
679
What is another word for bruises?
Contusions
680
Contusions of the brain can increase the chance of what post-traumatic disorder?
Epilepsy
681
What is the procedure where part of the skull is removed to allow the brain to swell?
Decompressive craniectomy
682
A recent clinical trial using what hormone cut the number of deaths in severely brain-injured patients by 50%?
Progesterone
683
What is the only FDA-approved treatment for spinal cord injury? What kind of drug is it?
Methylprednisolone; steroid
684
How many Americans suffer from chronic pain each year? How much does the treatment cost?
76.2 million; $100 billion
685
What is the loss of sensation in a limited area of a person's body?
Local anesthesia
686
How do local anesthetics work?
They temporarily interrupt the action of all nerve fibers in the area
687
Name 2 local anesthetics. Which one is more popular today?
Novocain and lidocaine; lidocaine
688
What is the loss of pain sensation?
Analgesia
689
What are the four main types of painkillers? Name 2 of each.
Non-opioids (aspirin and related NSAIDs—ibuprofen, naproxen), opioids (morphine,codeine), antiepileptic agents (gabapentin, topiramate), antidepressants (amitriptyline, duloxetine)
690
What is a painkiller that has analgesic properties but does not reduce inflammation?
Acetaminophen
691
How do nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs work?
The inhibit the cyclo-oxygenase (COX) enzymes that make the inflammatory and pain-producing chemical prostaglandin
692
What painkillers are used primarily for neuropathic pain?
Anti-epileptic an antidepressant drugs
693
What is diabetic neuropathy?
Damage to nerves in the body resulting from high blood sugar levels
694
What is neuralgia?
Nerve pain or numbness, from viruses such as shingles
695
What are the 4 main neuropathies treated with anti-epileptic and antidepressant drugs?
Diabetic neuropathy, neuralgia, phantom limb pain, post stroke pain
696
What antidepressants work really well to treat neuropathic pain? What antidepressants don't work?
Ones that regulate both serotonin and norepinephrine; SSRIs
697
What can be effective for treating pain conditions in which a light touch of the skin can produce severe pain?
Topical lidocaine
698
What is commonly used as a treatment after surgery?
The injection of morphine directly to the spinal cord
699
What is the ingredient in a topical ointment that is effective in treating neuropathic pain? Why?
Capsaicin (from hot peppers); kills the sensing part of pain fibers (until they regenerate and you have to apply it again)
700
Molecular biology and genetic approaches have identified many molecules, such as ion channels and receptors, which are predominantly, if not exclusively, expressed by what nerve fiber?
Nociceptors, the peripheral nerve fibers that initially respond to an injury stimulus
701
What are sudden, disorderly discharges of interconnected neurons in the brain that temporarily alter one or more brain functions?
Seizures
702
What is a chronic neurological disorder characterized by the occurrence of unprovoked seizures?
Epilepsy
703
How many people have epilepsy worldwide and what percent of those cases occur in developing countries? Globally, how many new cases each year?
50 million, 85%; 2.4 million
704
What are the two cause-related categories of epilepsy?
Idiopathic (unknown cause) or symptomatic (known cause)
705
Most idiopathic epilepsies are probably related to mutations of what genes?
Ion channel genes
706
What are the two symptom-related categories of epilepsy (name two symptoms each)?
Generalized (loss of consciousness, convulsions) and partial (sensory disturbances, confused and automatic behaviors)
707
What are seizures that occur when there is simultaneous excessive electrical activity over a wide area of the brain, often involving the thalamus and cerebral cortex?
Generalized
708
What are seizures that arise from excessive electrical activity in one area of the brain, such as a restricted cortical or hippocampal area?
Partial
709
What are the two principal targets of anti-epileptic drugs?
Ion channels or neurotransmitter receptors
710
Which kind of seizures is more difficult to treat with antiepileptic drugs (often require a combination)?
Partial
711
Generalized epilepsies often are readily controlled by antiepileptic drugs, with up to what percent of patients seizure-free with treatment?
80%
712
What is a good option for people with partial seizures who do not respond to antiepileptic drugs?
Surgery
713
What is a new form of epilepsy treatment that is an implanted device that delivers small bursts of electrical energy to the brain via the vagus nerve on the side of the neck?
Electrical stimulation therapy
714
What occurs when a blood vessel bringing oxygen and nutrients to the brain bursts or is clogged by a blood clot or some other particle? What is the result?
A stroke; no blood to brain, neurons die
715
What is a clot-dissolving bioengineered drug used to treat strokes? If given within three hours of a stroke, what can it prevent?
Tissue plasminogen activator (tPA); brain damage
716
What is the nation's third leading cause of death?
Stroke
717
How many Americans are affected by strokes each year and how many of them die as a result? How much does this cost annually?
795,000, 137,000; $73.7 billion
718
What fraction of individuals who have a stroke are under the age of 65?Which race and gender are strokes most prevalent in?
A third; African American males
719
What can clear clogs arteries of the neck region?
Arterial stents
720
What drugs can reduce the likelihood of clots forming?
Anticoagulant drugs
721
What proteins may be used in the future to treat AD, Parkinson's disease, and ALS? Which one in particular slows the destruction of neurons that use acetylcholine?
Trophic factors; NGF
722
Antibodies have been used to override which protein that inhibits nerve regeneration?
Nogo-A
723
What does vCJD stand for? What kind of disease is this?
Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease; prion disease
724
What is the fancy term for mad cow disease?
Bovine spongiform encephalitis
725
What viruses can be used to transport genes therapies into the body? Which two are the safest as of now?
Adenovirus, adeno-associated virus (AAV), lentivirus and herpes simplex virus; AAV and lentivirus
726
What does cyclic GMP stand for?
Cyclic guanosine monophosphate
727
What were the first antidepressants invented? What is something else that they treat?
Monoamine oxidase inhibitors (MAOIs); Parkinson's
728
What are the three main categories of antidepressants?
SSRIs, MAOIs, tricyclic antidepressants
729
What aphasia is caused by damage to the superior temporal lobes in both hemispheres?
Word deafness (you can hear sound but 100% can't understand speech)
